But what would E. King Gill say?

Up until now, only two schools participating in Division 1A football (that I'm aware of) have fielded student-body walk-ons for kickoff coverage. The first is, of course, Texas A&M. The second is Mississippi State. The unifying factor of both is the former head coach at both universities, Jackie Sherrill. Well, add one more school to the list, one that has never seen old Jackie prowl the sidelines: 'Utah Man' more than a fight song

In the Texas A&M tradition, the University of Utah football team will have an Everyman element next season. Coach Urban Meyer was so impressed with his first visit to College Station, Texas, last year that he wanted to adopt some of the Aggie rituals, starting with a student body representative taking the field.

...Meyer suggested copying the 12th Man name--and you thought he was innovative--before Kim Raap of the marketing staff came up with "Utah Man," the title of the school's fight song.

Interesting bit, that last line. What's left out of the article is that "12th Man" is trademarked by Texas A&M, and had Utah attempted to use it, well, they'd have gotten a call from the Aggie lawyers. It's happened before--about five years back ESPN had an "NFL 12th Man" promo that ran for a few weeks at the beginning of the season, vanished for a few days, then returned after a deal was worked out giving A&M a licensing fee and a disclaimer at the end of each ad stating "12th Man is a trademark of Texas A&M University" blah blah blah.

While I never begrudge a college from trying to instill traditions and fan loyalty in the student body, these things don't necessarily spring from whole cloth. They're often born of desperation. E. King Gill was the original 12th Man way back in 1922, and the student section has stood throughout games ever since. After Jackie Sherrill's disastrous first seasons in College Station, he concocted the 12th Man Kickoff Team, which was a tremendous hit. Which was a Good Thing as far as Sherrill was concerned, because disgruntled deep-pocket boosters were reportedly taking up a collection to buy out his contract. For most of its existence, it led the nation in kickoff efficiency, and only allowed one kick returned for a touchdown during that time--a far better legacy than the varsity kickoff team of the same time (which performed those duties on road games). When he took over after Sherrill's ouster, R.C. Slocum disbanded and diluted the 12th Man team concept, to my everlasting disappointment. Coach Slocum always had a conservative coaching bent, and the 12th Man flew in the face of that. I'd hoped that Dennis Franchione would revive the full team, rather than the single representative on the field, but it looks like that is not to be. Ah well. For one brief period, the 12th Man Kickoff Team embodied all that was great about college football, and that will never change.

No matter what Utah calls its version.

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