AUSTIN, Texas – Fred Akers followed a coaching giant at Texas and came agonizingly close to glory himself with two undefeated seasons before his national title hopes ended in the Cotton Bowl. Akers then left Texas to become the head coach at Wyoming for two seasons before returning to Austin after Royal retired in 1976. Royal and Akers came from poor families in neighboring states — Royal from Oklahoma, Akers from Arkansas. And Akers won big, for a while, by disrupting some of what Royal had built but had become stale. After his firing at Texas, Akers spent four seasons at Purdue.