The first emotion parents must feel is the most single more frequent feeling in parenting: fear. When the head coach calls you and says, "This is Tom Herman. I just wanted to call and tell you [your son] has been..." their mind has to immediately fill in the blank with "injured horribly."
But that's not how Herman finishes the sentence. Instead, he says, "... elected team captain." The dread that filled the parents' hearts instantly evaporates, and the vacuum is filled by relief, joy and satisfaction.
It's their son's head coach calling to thank them for raising a son who is so respected and valued by his peers that they've exalted him to a position of leadership among them.
It's something that will go a long way with the players, their parents and, oh yeah, the parents of all Longhorn recruits.
It's also something every head coach at every level of football can copy. All it takes is a phone and 15 free minutes. The video camera is optional.