Vance Bedford, former UT, U-M assistant and Longhorn DB, breaks down Texas vs. Michigan

Vance Bedford, a four-year letterman for the Texas Longhorns in the late 1970s and early 1980s, has both burnt orange and maize and blue connections tugging his heart in different directions ahead of the No. 3 Texas Longhorns‘ matchup with the No. 10 Michigan Wolverines.

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Bedford was a coach for the Longhorns under Charlie Strong, coordinating his alma mater’s defense and serving as secondary coach. Almost two decades prior, he was coaching Charles Woodson to the Heisman and helping Lloyd Carr‘s Michigan Wolverines to the 1997 national championship.

Bedford keeps close tabs on both programs. He regularly takes in Longhorn games and is a contributor for The Michigan Insider.

Inside Texas caught up with Bedford ahead of Saturday when his 1A will meet his 1B.

We’re excited for this weekend and I’m sure you are as well.

VB: “Yes I am. I think it could be a really good game. Two great programs playing each other, which normally doesn’t happen in the regular season. I’m looking forward to it.”

You’re in an interesting spot with connections to both these schools, playing and coaching at Texas and coaching on the national title team with Coach Carr. I’m curious how exciting is it to get to watch these two schools who you have great connections to battle on Saturday.

VB: “I’m excited. I’m going to be happy and I’m going to be sad at the same time. I love both programs. As I’ve told people before, Texas is always going to be 1A because I played there. Michigan is going to be 1B because of my time spent with Lloyd Carr and coaches on the staff I’m still close to. Some of the players that I coached back in the late 90s, also.”

In addition to those schools, I know you were in Fort Collins for a little while and on the Colorado State staff. Texas handled them on Saturday, so I’m curious what your impressions from the Longhorns’ season opener were.

VB: “I thought they were going to win by at least 31 points. I didn’t think the game was going to be close. I thought that the heat would affect Colorado State. Also, talent-level wise, I didn’t think it was close. When I look at the University of Texas, I see four (returning) starting offensive lineman, a quarterback who has been in the program for three years, and outstanding speed. And to me, their defense played as well as they’ve played in the last three years. I expected for them to win. I thought it was 31-0, but of course it was a lot more. I was not surprised at all about that score.”

With your secondary background, what did you see from the Longhorn defensive backs, especially going against a team that didn’t seem to really want to block Texas for that long?

VB: “I saw a secondary that was more aggressive as far as how they played things. The fundamentals showed up better. I saw us play some man-to-man better. That secondary this past Saturday was the best I’ve seen them play in over three years. I don’t know who is a returning starter and who they lost, but watching those guys play with a lot of confidence, with a lot of technique. The fundamentals were good. I’m real excited about what I saw. I know in the past, I’ve criticized how they’ve played as far as how they play their coverages and certain things. What I saw on Saturday, I was very impressed and very happy to see my alma mater do the things they did.”

What were your thoughts on Michigan?

VB: “Wink Martindale came in and his system is pretty close to being the same. He’s more aggressive defensively. Offensively, I think they have one starter that came back and that’s Loveland, the tight end that I loved from last year. The offensive line has five new starters and they look that way. The quarterback was a walk-on that earned a scholarship. He looked like a walk-on. They don’t show a lot of speed at wide receiver. I think they can struggle quite a bit versus Texas’ defense.”

Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham are difference makers. How much can those guys help Wink in what he’s trying to do?

VB: “Any time you have great talent inside, your defense has a chance to be special. The guys who played well for them this past weekend were both defensive ends. They gave tremendous pressure because everybody’s so worried about the two guys inside. They forgot about how talented those defensive ends were. I think the way Texas can attack Michigan’s defense is even though the linebackers played a lot last year, they’re still first-time starters. You lost a key safety to a knee injury before the season started. Right down the middle of the defense, the linebackers and the safeties, that’s how you attack Michigan’s defense because they’re all new.

“You’ve got a new defensive staff. Terminology may be a little bit different. Coaching might be a little bit different. To me, that’s how you’re going to attack Michigan’s defense. Again, people talk about those defensive tackles. Those defensive ends? They can give Texas’ tackles the blues.”

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Who are you rooting for in this one?

VB: “I have an M-ring from the University of Michigan, so I have both a T-ring and a M-ring. Texas will always be 1A for me. I played for Texas. I tell people that in 1980, I injured my knee for the University of Texas playing football. Michigan’s always going to be 1B. When they play each other, of course I’m always going to root for my own school first. I’m going to be happy and I’m going to be sad no matter what happens in the ballgame. I picked Texas to win by 11 points.”