Texas football coach Mack Brown was asked if co-defensive coordinator Duane Akina would be back calling plays next season.

The answer wasn't exactly an endorsement for the Punahou School alum and former University of Hawai'i assistant.

"What we'll do is — you constantly look at what you can do to re-evaluate and upgrade your program," Brown said.

The Texas coach in his 10th year went on to say he'll evaluate all of his coaches after tomorrow's game against Arizona State in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl.

Brown said he spent the past two weeks looking back over a season plagued by inconsistency, adding, "I've probably worked harder the last two weeks than I have my entire life."

It was a season that saw Texas need to recover onside kicks in the final minutes to secure victories against Arkansas State, Central Florida and Nebraska. Texas suffered the worst home loss in Brown's tenure in a 41-21 shocker against Kansas State, which finished 5-7. UT trailed TCU, 10-0, at halftime at home before winning, 34-13, and led only 17-10 at Baylor midway through the fourth quarter. There were also losses to rivals Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

Talent wasn't the issue, Brown said.

"People have talked about this team maybe not being as talented as the last two," Brown said. "This team was talented enough to win each week. Maybe they weren't as talented as all those guys in the NFL. Still doesn't matter. They were as talented as the guys we were playing against."

Brown said when a team doesn't play up to its talent, it's the coaches' fault.

"When we lose a game, I question my leadership, the staff's and then the players," Brown said. "And I question the players last because we're supposed to recruit and develop leaders. So any lack of leadership is on us."

Brown took a chance on promoting Akina to defensive play caller. He did it, in part, to stabilize the position after having Carl Reese, Greg Robinson and Gene Chizik all call plays on defense in a four-year span.

Outside of last year's 26-24 Alamo Bowl victory against Iowa, Akina had never called plays on defense before this year. His only play-calling experience was as offensive coordinator at Arizona from 1992-95.

Brown also trusted Akina's recommendation to hire Larry Mac Duff as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach before the season. Mac Duff, another former UH assistant, worked as defensive coordinator at Arizona under Dick Tomey (a former University of Hawai'i head coach) from 1987-96. Mac Duff and Akina, both of whom earned $300,000 this season, worked together at Arizona in 1996, with Mac Duff calling plays on defense and Akina serving as defensive backs coach.

But whether it was substitution patterns that called for older players to start and younger players to rotate in or inability to make adjustments, the defense has given up a school-record 4,498 yards, including a school-record 3,306 passing yards.

Texas never generated a pass rush, posting just 25 sacks, among the lowest in the country.

MICHIGAN

CARR DEFLECTS SPOTLIGHT IN FINAL GAME AS COACH

Lloyd Carr knows this week — his last as Michigan's head coach — will be littered with distractions as the Wolverines prepare for the Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla.

The first came last night when he was told this week would probably be about him.

In typical Carr fashion, he wasn't letting the comment escape.

"No it isn't," he said, moments after the team arrived at the Peabody Hotel. "I want this to be about this team, and there's always a lot of guys playing their last game. Even that can be a distraction.

"What we're trying to focus on is an outstanding Florida team, and there really is not much room for anything else if you're going to play your best. So, as coaches, we're trying to focus and do the best job we can to prepare this team. There's been a lot of things happening in the past month and there's also a lot of things that happen at a bowl site. We want the players to have a good time and we want to have a good time, but it's the age-old story of trying to prepare for a bowl game."

This age-old story is not about the usual questions about the opponent or it may not even be about the usual focus on a significant senior class.

Carr's retirement and the ripple effects are still being felt. The biggest was the month-long coaching search and eventual hiring of West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez. And then Rodriguez indirectly stirred the pot again last week, firing Carr's entire staff of assistants before hiring back only one so far, running backs coach Fred Jackson.

"The guys that are on my staff are very talented people who every one of them has had a lot of success and very capable people and are going to find very good jobs," Carr said.

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