Parker Livingstone was one of Texas’ top offensive players in the 2025 season. His subsequent transfer to Oklahoma drew heavy jabs for moving to his former team’s fiercest rival, the “Red River Rivalry” opponent.
Parker Livingstone Earns Support From Former Texas Head Coach After Oklahoma Move
When Livingstone decided to head to Oklahoma from Texas, his mother said that he would get “much hate,” but the former Longhorns star made a backup plan by deleting social media to ignore hate. Livingstone said he was “happy to cross the Red River,” but Texas fans haven’t stopped criticizing him.
As Livingstone is now on the other side of the Red River Rivalry, Hall of Fame football coach Mack Brown shared his take on the discussion in his “The Stampede” podcast on Tuesday.
“I think what everybody’s got to do is, if you got to do what’s best for you,” Brown said. “I always tell coaches, while you’re with me, loyalty is doing the best you can possibly do, and then when you leave, not talking badly about our program, that’s loyalty, not staying if it was best for you. I never tried to talk to an assistant coach or a player if I thought it was best for them to leave, and they thought it was best for them to leave, because they’re not going to be happy, and it’s not going to work anyway.
“So if Parker had stayed, and then let’s just say the fifth receiver, and he’s really a good player, and they’ve got great receivers because five can be a really good player and still be fifth and not get a lot of playing time, and you’re unhappy, it doesn’t work. And then what you want to do, if that’s the case, is just stay.. but then are you happy because you want to play?
“So it gets complicated because a lot of people just stay, play the two years, but that’s difficult when you’ve got other great programs that want you as well. This just happens to be a program that these two don’t like each other.”
Coach Brown shared a wise take, especially given how crowded Texas’s wide receiver room became with the return of Ryan Wingo, the rise of Emmett Mosley V, and the addition of Cam Coleman from Auburn.
Before committing to Oklahoma, Livingstone also considered Curt Cignetti’s Indiana, as he took a visit to Bloomington and even admitted that his trip was impressive. However, he ultimately valued Oklahoma’s combination of championship pedigree and proximity to home. He is now expected to be a key contributor for an Oklahoma offense that finished the 2025 season with a 76.7 PFSN’s CFB Offense Impact Metrics.
Livingston finished his last season with Texas with 516 yards and 6 touchdowns on 29 catches. He finished the season with a 76.9 score in the PFSN’s CFB WR Impact Metrics.
