Randy McEachern
| Randy McEachern | |
|---|---|
| College | Texas |
| Conference | Southwest Conference |
| Sport | Football |
| Position | QB |
| Jersey # | 6 |
| Class | 1979 |
| Major | finance |
| Career | 1975–1978 |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 172 lb (78 kg) |
| Born | October 5, 1955 Bastrop, TX |
| High school | Dobie High School |
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Randy McEachern (born October 5, 1955) is a former American football player. He started as quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. He started the 1977 season as the 4th string quarterback on an unranked team and finished as the starter of the #1 team in the country, playing for the National Championship.
Randy McEachern was an all-district quarterback and district MVP for the Pasadena Dobie High School football team, which he led to the district championship. He was also captain of the golf team and ran track. He wanted to go to play at TCU, where his father Bobby McEachern had quarterbacked from 1951-2. TCU was interested, but they wanted him to go to Junior College first and so he prepared to go to Navarro Junior College. But then, at the urging of then-Offensive Coordinator Fred Akers, the Longhorns offered him a scholarship and he chose to go to Texas instead.
McEachern came to Texas as the heir apparent to All-American Marty Akins. But he didn't play in 1974 and redshirted in 1975. In the spring of 1976 he competed with Mike Cordaro for the backup position, but was lost for the season following a knee injury at the first fall scrimmage in August. In the spring of 1977, Coach Fred Akers moved him to defense as a fourth string safety, but McEachern begged to be left at quarterback and Akers relented. For there years, he never played a down. In fact, the year before the Oklahoma game that catapulted him into the role of starting quarterback, he had watched the game from the press box where he was a spotter for a radio network broadcast.
McEachern started the 1977 season as the #4 quarterback on the depth chart and was not even listed in the team's media guide. Through Texas' first three wins he threw only 4 passes, as the Longhorns went from unranked to #5 in the country. Then came the Oklahoma game. Starting quarterback Mark McBath broke his ankle on the 7th play. Backup Jon Aune lasted only another nine before tearing ligaments in his knee, and preseason #3 quarterback Ted Constanzo had injured his knee playing racquetball in July. With all three players out with what appeared to be season-ending injuries, the ball was given to McEachern. Relying on eventual Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell, three-time All-American kicker Russell Erxleben and solid defense, McEachern and the Longhorns did just well enough to win 13-6.
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