After a brief illness, Mike Cotten, a former University of Texas football player (1959–1961) and 1981 Texas Athletics Hall of Honor inductee, passed away on Saturday. He was eighty-four years old.
Austin native Cotten was born on December 12, 1939, in Uvalde, Texas. He started two seasons as a quarterback and was named to the All-Southwest Conference team in 1961. Cotten oversaw Darrell Royal’s renowned Flip-Flop offense. Cotten was a native Longhorn who never thought about attending another school or went to another campus after graduating from Austin High School. At the time, he was even Royal’s neighbor in Austin. Following the Austin High Maroons’ state semifinal run, Cotten enrolled at the Texas and quickly guided the freshmen squad to an undefeated season—a first for that team.
The following year, 1959, he transferred to the varsity squad, sharing quarterbacking duties with Bobby Lackey. He also played defensive back for a 9-2 team that ended No. 4 in the country and shared the SWC title before losing to No. 1 Syracuse in the Cotton Bowl. In 1960, he took over as the starting quarterback as a junior. Despite the team’s 7-3 record, they managed to defeat No. 11 Baylor and end the season in a 3-3 draw with No. 9 Alabama in the Bluebonnet Bowl. That year, he led the club in total offense and scoring.
He co-captained the team in 1961 as a senior alongside Don Talbert, leading Royal’s storied offense. This was among the most effective assaults in the history of the Southwest Conference. Cotten was always the perfect team player who only wanted to win, even if All-American tailback James Saxton spearheaded the rushing attack for a large chunk of that era.
Still, with seven passing touchdowns, Cotten led the SWC. After guiding Texas to a 12-7 victory over No. 5 Ole Miss in the 1962 Cotton Bowl, he was named the game’s Outstanding Player, earning him praise. After that game, the Longhorns finished with a 10-1 record. For the majority of the season, they were ranked #1 in the country, until TCU defeated them 6-0.