Texas Hall of Famers Colt McCoy and Jamaal Charles on the title that wasn't | Golden

WACO — Colt McCoy loves Jamaal Charles, but every time he sees his former Texas football teammate, he can’t help but wonder about what could have been.

“If he would have come back, he would have been a first-round, pick,” McCoy said at last Saturday’s Texas Sports Hall of Fame media availability. “We would have won two national championships.”

Charles beamed as McCoy spoke. The running back famously left for the NFL after his junior season in 2007 along with star tight end Jermichael Finley. The Horns still turned in a banner 12-1 season, but they fell short of a Big 12 title and a second appearance in the national championship game in four years.

“It would have it been nice,” said Charles, 37. “It would have been crazy if we had stuck around.”

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The Longhorn legends were inducted into the Class of 2024 along with former UT track coach Bubba Thornton and softball pitcher Christa Williams. The football program was well represented by McCoy, who rewrote the school passing record book, and Charles, Texas' most electric two-sport athlete since Eric Metcalf.

McCoy, who traded friendly barbs for most of the day with fellow Hall of Fame inductee Jackie Sherrill, a longtime Longhorns thorn from his days coaching Texas A&M — I can’t wait for Thanksgiving weekend — was the last of the nine honorees to speak and was gracious in his praise of the coaches and teammates who helped him through a record-setting college career before he played 12 seasons in the NFL.

He also couldn’t help himself when it came to my brother and colleague Kirk Bohls when master of ceremonies Brad Sham had the TSHOF selection committee — including Kirk and yours truly — stand and be recognized.

“I can’t believe Kirk Bohls actually voted for me on something,” McCoy quipped, referring to Taylor’s favorite Duck casting his 2009 Heisman Trophy vote for Nebraska defensive end Ndamukong Suh. He didn’t bother to mention that Bohls had voted him No. 1 on his ballot one season earlier.

Texas' 2008 team stands out as special

Which brings us to the purpose of this discussion.

We all agree that the 2005 Texas Longhorns were Mack Brown’s greatest team, but the No. 2 spot on that list gets a bit complicated.

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Some would argue that 2009 team deserves the nod because it came within one win of a national championship, but it’s possible those people aren’t paying close enough attention.

Give me the 2008 team all day long.

Texas went 12-1 that season and McCoy set school records with 34 touchdown passes, 3,859 passing yards and 4,420 yards of total offense. The Horns had legitimate NFL talent at wide receiver (Jordan Shipley and Quad Cosby) and an all-time great kicker in Justin Tucker.

Most important, the Horns were absolutely loaded on Will Muschamp’s defense with 16 future NFL players, including eventual Pro Bowlers Brian Orakpo, Henry Melton and Earl Thomas. Nose tackle Roy Miller supplied the leadership and toughness in the locker room and in the middle of the defensive line.

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Texas came up just short in 2008

The 2008 crew famously got robbed by a bad Big 12 tiebreaker. Ranked No. 1 in the country, Texas ventured to Lubbock on Halloween weekend and the Texas Red Raiders, led by coach Mike Leach — who was also inducted posthumously on Saturday — nabbed the biggest win in school history after quarterback Graham Harrell and wideout Michael Crabtree connected for a 28-yard touchdown in the final seconds.

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The 39-33 loss was an absolute gut shot that eventually ended Texas’ national championship campaign. The fact that the Horns were able to go 12-1 was a testament to Brown’s coaching staff, his masterful recruiting and McCoy’s brilliance, but it would have been difficult to imagine too many teams hanging with the Horns had Charles returned after rushing for 1,619 yards in 2007, including a scintillating performance against Nebraska when he ran for 216 of his 290 yards in the fourth quarter.

“I was telling coach (offensive coordinator Greg) Davis that we needed stop the drop-backs and give the ball to Jamaal, who was our best player,” McCoy said.

If only Jamaal Charles had been on that 2008 team ...

But the Longhorns would end up being the odd team in a three-team tie atop the conference. Texas was great without Charles, but adding him to that 2008 lineup with McCoy at the top of his game could have possibly helped avoid that nightmare Saturday on the South Plains.

Charles turning pro turned out to be the right decision. He went to the Kansas City Chiefs in what turned out to be an absolute steal in the third round with the 73rd overall pick and retired as the franchise’s all-time leading rusher. He also the league’s career leader in yards per carry at 5.4. He’s unlikely to make it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but any gold jacket owner who played against him in the pros would attest that he was one of the most amazing runners of his generation.

Of course he would have been a real difference maker had he come back. To that end, Charles joked that in another era, he may have made a different decision.

“It would have been different if we had some of that NIL money,” he said as he and McCoy broke into laughter.

It’s cool to watch how those two cherubic-faced kids from the 2007 team have grown into the successful community-minded family men that they have become. The TSHOF event was equal parts induction ceremony and family reunion. Later that night at the annual lavish banquet, McCoy closed his speech by acknowledging Charles, a three-time first-team all-Big 12 selection and the 2006 Big 12 100-meter champion.

Connected by a sport they loved and bound by a football brotherhood, McCoy and Charles were part of an amazing backfield in 2007.

But what could have been.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football legends Colt McCoy and Jamaal Charles recall 2008