Third & Short

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University of Colorado co-defensive coordinator Tom McMahon has died of cancer at the age of 53. McMahon was diagnosed with inoperable cancer in the spring of 2000 and given a 10 percent chance to survive.

He continued to fight, likening it to the fight against an opposing offense. He also continued at Colorado for as long as he could.

He joined Gary Barnett’s staff prior to the 1999 season, after four years as the secondary coach at Notre Dame.

McMahon played at Montana as a receiver and earned a degree in 1971. He began his coaching career at Colorado State in 1973, and stayed for six years. His coaching career also included stops at Wyoming, New Mexico, South Carolina, East Carolina, Arizona State and Wisconsin.
Former Nebraska Coach Jennings Dies

Former Nebraska Head Coach Bill Jennings, an Oklahoma graduate who would later end his alma mater’s 74-game unbeaten streak, has dies at the age of 84.

Jennings’ Nebraska record was only 15-34-1, but his team delivered a shocking upset of the Sooners in 1959 in Lincoln. He also beat Oklahoma the next season as well.

Born in Norman, Jennings spent seven years as an Oklahoma assistant before joining Nebraska as an assistant in 1956.

Once named head coach, he also led the team to upsets over Texas, Penn State and Pittsburgh. One former player described the ups and downs by saying that the team would win the impossible games and lose them as well.


After Jennings left in 1961, Bob Devaney took over and led the team to consecutive 9-2 and 10-1 seasons, with players recruited mainly by Jennings.

Jennings went on to serve as an assistant at Kansas for four seasons before leaving coaching to become the athletic director of Washburn University in Kansas. He was elected to the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
Applewhite wants to coach

Major Applewhite’s NFL career turned out to be short-lived because the former Texas quarterback wishes to join the coaching ranks.

Applewhite, signed as an undrafted free agent by the New England Patriots, was considered a long shot to make the team. After about a month on the roster, he asked for his release so he could return to UT to finish his degree, with a hope of being able to join Texas Coach Mack Brown’s staff as a graduate assistant.

He said he had not spoken to Brown about his intentions, though the coach said he would do anything within NCAA regulations to keep Applewhite involved in the program. He is currently about 12 credit hours short of earning a degree in sports management, with a minor in business.

Applewhite was hampered by being a marginal NFL prospect, though Patriots management said they were serious about allowing him to compete to make the club. If he participated in New England’s summer mini-camps, he would not be able to finish an internship needed to earn his degree.

Then, if cut by the Patriots in the fall, he would be unable to serve as a UT graduate assistant for the 2002 season because he would still need to earn the degree.

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