Brett Yormark has now joined the long list commissioners who have been mercilessly booed by fans during a trophy ceremony.
The Big 12 commissioner struggled to deliver his speech with boos coming down as he gave Texas its trophy for winning the conference championship game, 49-21, on Saturday afternoon after a blowout win over Oklahoma State.
With quarterback Quinn Ewers on the podium with head coach Steve Sarkisian, Yormark’s words were mostly drowned out inside AT&T Stadium.
At one point, Sarkisian even tried to get the crowd to settle down, gesturing his arms up and down like a quarterback at the line of scrimmage trying quiet things down.
But the Big 12-title-winning coach’s actions did little, as the large Longhorns contingent in the stands continued to not only boo but also chant “SEC, SEC,” which is the conference Texas is soon joining.
That conference moves explains the source vitriol the fans have toward the Big 12 leader.
Before the season started as Texas geared up for its final Big 12 campaign, Yormark attended a Texas Tech event and had a request for the Red Raiders to accomplish in their regular season finale against the Longhorns.
“Coach [Joey McGuire], I’m not going to put any pressure on you, but I’m gonna be in Austin for Thanksgiving, OK? And you’d better take care of business like you did right here in Lubbock last year,” Yormark said in August, per ESPN.
Well, Texas ended up steamrolling rival Texas Tech, 57-7, on Nov. 24, locking up a berth in the Big 12 title game on Saturday.
Yormark did indeed attend that game and was even trolled by the Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium when the clip of the infamous comments was played on the video board.
The commissioner addressed the beef before the Big 12 title game.
“I never go backwards; I never look back,” Yormark said Saturday, per the Austin American-Statesman. “I enjoyed my time in Austin. I embraced the moment. The fans were great. One thing I love about the fans in college sports, I love the passion. They’re showing their passion, and I love it.”
Texas now awaits its fate to see if it will reach the College Football Playoff or not.
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