'if You Play Football Right, It Will Play Itself Right'

Swink weighs 180, stands 6 foot 1, is a geology major. Today he is the best runner in Texas Christian history and very similar to Doak Walker. "Starts and stops just as quick," says Meyer. "He drives harder than Walker in tight spots, which could be a liability. Walker used to relax and play it safe when they had him hemmed in. Another thing, Jim Swink has great acceleration. All outstanding runners must have that. And he has split vision. He can find a hole in the opposite direction from the one he's moving in and get there.

"We have a problem with him, though. The sportswriters don't see how you can be much of a great runner without having a nickname.

"They've tried everything from 'Swanky Swink' to 'The Rusk Rambler' to 'Home James Swink.' Somebody suggested 'Swink, the Cleat Star Named Desire.' But nothing seems to catch on. Too bad, I guess."

It's men like Swink and Pitts and Slingin' Sammy Baugh, of course, who help the Horned Frogs to avoid the pressure of victory-hungry alumni which makes life so difficult for other big-time coaches; but more even than these star players, Dutch Meyer's own strict principles are responsible for keeping Texas Christian's slate clean of recruiting sins. "The greatest enemy a coach has," says he, in a statement which might well make his colleague, Woody Hayes of Ohio State, turn pale (SI, Oct. 24, 1955), "is the alumni, especially if they like him real well.

"They like him. They want to help him. And to prove it, they're going to buy him a little talent here and there. If he lets them do it, he's digging his own grave; because then they figure that if he wins games, well, he should win, considering the talent they've gotten him. If he loses, he's even more of a bum than they thought all along.

"You have to be strict from the beginning. If you let one old grad help you, you've set a precedent. And as far as I'm concerned, if you let a kid take a bribe to come to your school, you've corrupted his whole outlook on life and the spirit of football. What fun is there in winning with professional players, anyway? The greatest satisfaction in college football is being able to play the game with just plain old kids who have prepared their level best to win clean and hard on that Saturday afternoon.

"If a coach has exerted a proper influence on his players and has gotten the maximum out of his material, he'll get his rewards. Not money, maybe; not the biggest headlines every week, not the longest list of candidates for the pro draft, but just the simple knowledge that he's done a grand job for everybody."