AUSTIN (KXAN) — Vic Schaefer started coaching as an assistant boys basketball coach at Milton High School in Houston back in 1985. Now nearly 38 years later, Schaefer is still coaching with a focus and fire.

“I want to be in place where there’s a way we do things,” said Longhorns women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer. “And it’s the right way to do things, we all treat each other correctly.”

Schaefer’s Longhorns are coming off a Big 12 regular season championship. His programs have a clear intensity that starts from the top. The determination is learned.

“I’ve felt the wrath of the colonel before,” Schaefer said with a smile about his father. “I certainly wouldn’t want to feel that again or want to disappoint him.”

Schaefer’s father Charles was a World War II veteran. His mother Dorothy, or Dot, was a nurse in the Navy. The Texas women’s basketball coach knows the influence they have on his coaching style.

“The discipline piece, the attention to detail. Little things matter. I think all that I get from my parents.”

Love was evident in the Schaefer household growing up, according to Vic. Charles worked as a civil engineer but always made time for his son.

“This was a man that would drive to downtown Houston, work 8-5. Fight the traffic. Come home. Get home. Sit in his easy chair. And who would be there? It would be me saying, ‘Hey dad can we go out and throw the ball?’ Not one time did he ever say, son I’m tired.”

Charles’ best friend was another veteran Vic Koenig. Koenig was referred to as ‘Big Vic,’ and is the namesake of ‘Little Vic.’

“Between him and my father, I know what their country meant to them. If you were to come to my house, I’ve got the flag that was on my father’s casket. I’ve got all his medals.”

Schaefer says he has a major appreciation for veterans because of the people he grew up around. He and the Longhorns open the regular season at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8 at Moody Center against Southern.