Kansas State Post-Mortem: Offense, Defense, Special Teams

The stench of 1985 is wafting across this program, and if there are only cosmetic changes coming in the off-season then 1986 is a rolling ball of butcher knives heading our way.

(I’m talking about destruction of the program off-field obviously, as we are entering 1986 already in terms of record.)

srr50:

Why wait for the offseason? The season is done now- let’s stop the insanity and start cleaning house. Otherwise the last day of the season Mack should resign or be fired.

srr50 -
 
The timing of the off-the-field arrests and thugs in our program when many of our staff stopped giving effort on the recruiting trails are not coincidental. Something went really wrong after the MNC and those chickens have come to roost in the talent and effort we have on the field and the effort from the coaching staff once the upper classmen from 2006-2009 who carried us graduated.
 
Mack never created any system for enforcing a vitality curve on this staff. That’s why I’ve always laughed when people call him a CEO. The CEO is Dodds.
 
He’s a director of sales, at best.

Wow. It really can get worse. I always thought Mack Brown taught resilience, especially after the 2000 and 2003 OU games. How those 2 teams didn’t quit I will never know now. All those close victories I thought were a testimony to Mack Brown’s coaching style and personality. I thought that is what truly differentiated Mack from Mackovic. But this year swept those opinions away like dust off the porch. How sad. How very, very sad.

For the seniors, how can they sit by and let the end of their career come to this? You would think someone would have spouted off or something. There was a WR in 1997 that cussed every body out and quit to focus on baseball but this year? Not even that.

Actually, let me ask maybe a better question…

How long should Mack be given to make wholesale changes until we decide it is time to cut him loose? First day of offseason? A month after? Now?

I am not asking what the decisions should be (this would be a big debate)- it could include a new OC, new S&C, new OL coach, or a new head coach (through resignation)- but I am asking how long should he be given until the decision gets made for him?

GDGD needs to GTFO. He and Wade can go play golf the rest of their lives. Until that happens, there is sad little that can be written or said about this program. If GDGD is OC for game one next year, I swear before The Interwebs that I will straight up ignore Texas Football until either he’s gone or he somehow makes some miraculous recovery as a valuable employee of the state.

This is an offensive staff of lazy yes men – Applewhite excepted; who is amusingly treated like some junior intern when he may be the only guy on the offensive side of the ball that gets it

Are we confident that Applewhite is good at his job?

I’m glad you utilized the Tender Caress of Will Muschamp tag. I fear it may have to be retired soon enough, so it’s good that it gets to stretch it’s legs while still relevant.

The grim reality is that mack brown is too entrenched to just flat out get pressured out of his job right now, and the capital he has amassed at Texas is so monumental that he will be difficult to dislodge. If we lose out this year, and post a similar year next year, maybe. The best hope we have now is that he flat out resigns, like Scipio and others have suggested. Otherwise, he has the power to tell everyone to fuck off. We can’t fire a man with his career here thus far after one bad season, no matter how much those of us who are paying attention realize that he’s probably incapable of righting this ship.

He has three games – OSU, FA Something, and the GD Aggies. If we suck this bad then he needs to go

Patron-

A lot of us are confident that Major is good at his job. He’s been hamstrung and then had the barstool kicked out from under him since he arrived on the Texas staff. Thank Brown and Davis for that maneuver.

Will Muschamp and Major struck an instant bond through shared accountability and being of a similar mindset. That should tell you something. Another thing to consider is that Major spent several years in the service of other coaches, one of which is Saban. He’s seen more than just the stink of Greg Davis. And it’s telling that privately he’s pulling out his hair over the changes he thinks he can make that would bring success, and is not allowed the opportunity. That’s good enough for me.

Teejay-

I doubt you’ll have to wait that long. The biggest indicator of what might be coming could come as early as the week after the aTm game. If we see Muschamp fielding offers and looking to get the fuck out of dodge, then you know that Mack is staying, as is Greg, and Muschamp has thrown up his hands. If that happens, the rest will be a pretty simple exercise of connecting the dots.

PatronSaint -
 
This we is confident that Applewhite is a staff asset. Not only because of what I see on the field, but from what I know behind the scenes.
 
He works. He recruits. He cares. And he knows what good players look like. His counsel is routinely ignored and I think he’s frustrated as hell. Being the smartest, most junior guy in a meeting isn’t fun when you don’t suffer fools gladly.
 
That doesn’t mean he’d be a great OC. But he’s a keeper in my realignment.
 
Sydney -
 
You’re correct.

Teejay: It probably depends on how the last three weeks go. Three more “efforts” like this and the timetable would be moved up. If they somehow got bowl eligible, that would be like Purgatory.

The fact that this staff, for some unimaginable reason, could not get a backup QB loose in time to enter the game stands as an inglorious microcosm to it’s total ineptitude. How the fuck is that even possible, and since apparently it was, why the fuck would you ever admit that? Or was it a last-minute propaganda maneuver designed to quiet the mustering, muttering masses, when in reality they had no intention to bring McCoy in in the first place?

To your point Scip — Mack is either a fool or a liar.

Well Scipio, since you basically write about the same shit being wrong every week why don’t you just go ahead and put up the OSU post mortem right now. I’m willing to bet you’re 95% correct even before the game is played.

In years past, I would have been frustrated and angry after watching a terrible game like that. I wouldn’t have even made it to the end. This team is so terrible that I actually found humor in their play. I didn’t turn the game off for even a second.

I just hope changes real changes are made so I can get back to enjoying Longhorn football.

ACE-

Think Washington State and We Never Imagined They’d Blitz. Or Keep Blitzing. This is purely speculation on my part, but from what we’ve seen in the past, I don’t think the staff ever considered putting McCoy in – not seriously. I imagine they’re hoarding over his redshirt at this point in the year and the idea of putting him in never occurred to them.

Also spit-balling, but I’m more concerned that the staff is so convinced that Gilbert is their guy that they’ll never be able to see it if he isn’t. Cognitive Dissonance is quite possibly the most powerful force in the universe.

Great write up as usual Scipio. I know its getting harder and harder every week. One question. How the hell did we beat Nebraska? I don’t understand how this happened? Was it the players bringing it upon themselves to win the game, did the coaches actually prepare, or was it really down to drops?

The parallels between Fulmer and Brown are down right scary and true. Coach who won a lot of games, but never enough championships and who almost always finished second best to their main rival in the same division. Both stumbled into a national championship due to either, a transcendent talent (Vince Young) or sheer luck (Clint Steorner fumbling the ball while trying to run out the clock., Chris Weinke getting hurt, K-State and UCLA choking on the last day of the season, USC not punting the ball, Reggie Bush lateral, etc). Both couldn’t win a national championship with two of the winningest quarterbacks in college football history. The only difference between Fulmer and Brown is that Fulmer’s program went into a gradual decline. They made the SEC title game every other season, but lost it every time. Then the bottom completely fell out. With Mack it appears to be completely sudden.

I like many of you think this is the end for Mack, but I do think he deserves another season. I don’t think this is a “bump in the road” as many of the main stream media is pointing out. A bump in the road should be at worst an 8-4 season. Its pretty obvious that this program has been hanging on a thread for years, but McCoy and Young were able to keep that thread from breaking.

Fucking-A right. This program reached the tipping point on Saturday, and it’s nothing but an accelerating plummet tp 5-7 from here. I’m not totally convinced that we’ll beat FAU, but I’m not quite that apocalyptic yet.

One comment on the OL:
He [Hopkins] had some miscues on Saturday, as you’d expect from a true freshman OL thrown to the wolves, but look at the difference between him coming off of the ball and some of our upper classmen and 5th year seniors….The longer our big boys stay in the program, the stiffer they get…

As the novel progresses, the moral philosophy of the looters is revealed: it is a code of stagnation. The goal of this code is to not exist, to not move forward, to become a zero. Taggart struggles to remain unaware that this is his goal. He maintains his pretense that he wants to live, and becomes horrified whenever his mind starts to grasp the truth about himself. This contradiction leads to the recurring absurdity of his life: the desire to destroy those on whom his life depends, and the horror that he will succeed at this. In the final chapters of the novel, he suffers a complete mental breakdown upon realizing that he can no longer deceive himself in this respect.

magnus:

Thanks for typing that so I didn’t have to. Unfortunately Mack brown has just hired Saltshaker to be our new defensive coordinator, because an optometrist with peewee football coaching experience is guaranteed to get the three turnovers a game we need.

God no not Ayn Rand. That shitty book could have been written in less than 100 pages. Instead, she beats you over the head with her shallow philosophy for 700+ pages of the same poorly written crap.

In that sense you’re right though, watching this team is a lot like reading Atlas Shrugged, pointless, painful, and repetitive.

Regarding the Nebraska win: those 3-4 dropped touchdowns by Nebraska are the ONLY reason we won. If those guys hang on to the ball, we’re staring at a 6-game losing streak right now.

“Protect the pill, erase the mistakes, and Texas goes 9-4 this year with a solid base for next year.”

make me 15 years younger, give me $20 million and dick as big as a clydesdale and i will kick megan fox out of my bed so scarlette johansson can come over…

Kiffin would have had Tennessee with the death penalty within three years. Look at the garbage he was bringing in to Knoxville and the number of street agents in his employ. That program would have imploded hard.

I thought we were discussing SEC football, not some mythical conference where some programs cheat more than others and there are possible repercussions for buying players. How do you suppose Fulmer won a title?

Mack should be getting more heat for not pulling Gilbert for at least a series, especially with the lame excuse “McCoy wasn’t loose.”

I’ve been watching football for nearly 40 years and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a QB get hung out to dry like that.

bigduke -
 
The scale at Tennessee was massive. Even the SEC has gentleman’s agreements about levels of acceptable cheating.

In DC, when a scandal or fuck up occurs, I like to say “Idiot or evil?”
You’re either stupid or willingly involved in the affair. Either way, you need to be summarily dismissed like Bob Cat Goldthait in “Scrooged”

We’ve reached that point. Evil or stupid.

I’ll say it again: if Mack doesn’t want to leave, why can’t he move up to a more managerial level? He’s already got a head-coach-in-waiting, so how would it be any different?

As brutal as your description seems, it might even understate the reality. There really is no hope other than the school intervening. And will they? It’s probably absurd to even think of that happening.

ST, you are doing a great job helping many of us better understand the improbable enigma of Mack Brown’s tailspin into a predictable demise. Damned painful, but thank you.

Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. A person doesn’t just bounce back nice and functionally perky from the basic personality flaws that make them what and who they are.

I think Muschamp is gone end of season, and next year will be worse.

Mack didn’t mentor Chizik. He had already won the award for Coordinator of the Year at Auburn when we hired him. The only thing Mack did for Chizik was let Duane Akina, the “co” defensive coordinator, run him out of town. Turns out that was a blessing in disguise, but not for us.

He also hired a great Offensive Coordinator, which further proves he learned nothing from Mack.

http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/10590/qa-with-texas-oc-greg-davis – Hindsight is 20/20

http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/18278/video-texas-oc-greg-davis – Look – They even gave me a segment on ESPN.com

Yes, Saltshaker, this is all about fans being pissed we aren’t going to the MNC this year.

This isn’t too hard. This isn’t a complete implosion. It’s just a case of things being too cushy for too long without having to work at it. Entitlement culture is a bi-product of success. Letting go of the dream is all Mack has to do, and pull out his whistle.

What the fuck? Is this satire?

Hookah asks: What the fuck? Is this satire?

It actually reads like Bill Little throwing in a few “bad” words so as not to sound like Bill. But everything else seems like him.

Watching K-state play under Snyder, it always seems like their players are more veteran/professional/tougher + other cliches for mature than other teams. As individuals they don’t seem as bothered by the scoreboard, the crowds, or the failings of their teammates and coaches as most college teams. Despite usually being at an athletic (and honestly probably IQ) disadvantage, they always seem to play hard and smart throughout the game no matter bad the situation…and these positives seem to stand out the most when they play Texas.

Some of this can be attributed to Snyder being one of the top motivators/preparers in the history of college football. But the obvious big factor would seem to be the large number of JUCO players. Not only are they slightly older but I have to think it’s made them tougher playing in front of small crowds, being total unknowns on small campuses, untelevised games, getting a lot of playing time against competition that is much better than HS, probably playing for mediocre teams where they don’t get in the habit of looking for one of the other 10 blue chippers on the field to step up and make a play, and playing 2 years hoping to catch the D1 scouts’ attention every time they’re on the field no matter the score.

Texas has benefited the past few years from awesome competitors like Young, Mccoy and Shipley, but it seems like they could use more guys like Ahmard Hall (military) and Quan Cosby (minor league baseball) who didn’t step straight from HS into the luxury of the Longhorn facilities and learned to perform under adversity, and with almost no recognition/celebrity.

Texas’ recruits are almost all blue chip Texas players who have not even started their SR year in HS, who if they weren’t minor celebrities in their home areas prior to signing, after they sign with Texas there are thousands of people who know them and follow their careers. I have to think being blessed so early with this celebrity/luxury has caused some of the entitlement Mack was been complaining about.

So would it kill Texas to think about signing some JC’s after noticing he may have some holes to fill after identifying in practice the blue chippers he won’t be able to count on? Saban has been just as successful in HS recruiting as Mack, but Alabama also has 2 JC starters. The only Mack Brown JC I remember was an OL (Alfio Randall?) who had signed out of HS but had some problems and he signed him again after JC.

I know Powers/Dodds, and even Brown are very image conscious and may not like the way it looks to sign someone who probably had academic problems I’m sure there are some good JC players who are at least as good in the classroom as the the bottom 20% of Texas’ HS recruits. Or is there still an unwritten moratorium on JC transfers because of the McKelvey embarassment? It just seems like it would be a quick way to get some tougher, less spoiled players.

So had the D really quit or are they ‘helping’ to emphasize the Os incompetence? I found it interesting that K-State pretty much only scored on a short field. It was almost like the D was giving GD and Mack payback for throwing them under the bus with the three-turnover BS and blaming them for what is purely an offense/ST issue. Even with a mediocre D this team shouldn’t have a losing record and this D is better than mediocre (when it wants to).

I would be shocked if Muschamp is telling his charges to lay down, even selectively, but the players have to know (better than we do) what’s going on internally and I wonder if the D knows that a losing record means a better chance that their guy takes the reins.

This is a great thread, but one question about one thing that’s been repeated here over and over and over:

Why does everyone here apparently assume we are going to finish 5-7? What evidence have you seen on the field from this Longhorn team the last 3 weeks that would indicate to you we could beat Florida Atlantic?

This team has quit on its coaches. Absent some unforeseen miracle, it is not going to win another game. 4-8 is our most likely final record, not 5-7.

Hook ’em!!!

“…Applewhite excepted; who is amusingly treated like some junior intern when he may be the only guy on the offensive side of the ball that gets it”

I suppose there is some ancedotal evidence to support this claim – what is it? Your running game?

Excellent post Joe Kemp. I eagerly await the day Muschamp or another man take over our program and remove this illogical self imposed shackle.

Re: Bowl vs. No Bowl and extra practices.

Extra practices to what purpose? What sense does it make to abandon your professed new offensive style in order to win six games so that you can practice … what? The style you’ve abandoned already? Why not work on that new style during the remainder of the season during REAL games, using players that will be here next season? It makes no sense to me.

Phaeded -
 
I love how you can’t be found on this blog when we’re whipping the shit out of you, but you can’t wait to chime in with babble when things look rosy in Soonerland. You define being a front runner.
 
Yes, you jackass. RB coaches are responsible for the running game. Cale Gundy made Adrian Peterson what he is, you ginormous Sooner twat.
 
Joe Kemp -
  
Good post. I’m leery about taking many JUCOs, but I think the bigger point you make is about entitlement. These kids get their fair share of coddling. A guy like Quan shakes it off or ignores it entirely – he’s on a mission. A lot of this current group enjoy being a Longhorn football player more than they enjoy playing football.

What if a light switch goes on and we reel off 4 straight wins (no I’m not on meth, just playing devil’s advocate). Would you feel the same?

Me personally, I’m ready for Mack to go. I was sick of his spin when his teams were “soft” and we were getting our ass kicked by OU every year. I convinced myself then, that I expected too much and was too hard on the coach. But one thing I can’t tolerate is a soft team in any sport. I don’t let my 7 year old daughter play soft in soccer.

We have gone from being soft – to great – to soft and stupid….what a journey.

On the defense….I went to the UCLA game and sat in the north endzone. I saw some of the devastating plays that the D was forcing. They nearly killed the QB right in front of me and gave the O the ball at around the 15.

I told my Florida fan buddy sitting with me that the D should have scored because the O wouldn’t. After losing three yards in 3 plays, they kicked a FG. If I knew what was coming, do you think the D players did? I can’t deal with it, and I’m a 35 year old dude with better things to worry about. If I was 20 and my life was playing Texas Football I think I would come unglued.

Cincinnatus -
 
Don’t be obtuse. Bowl practices are for young guys. They benefit from the reps. And there are units other than offense.

Great post Scipio! And no Mack does not deserve another year. As a CEO he knows that this is a business and he desrves what he has earned, the same treatment that Wade Phillips received. I have only read this blog for 2 years; before I read Hornfans. Even so it was obvious that both MB and GD are not good coaches. Go back on HF and read the posts from the UNC fans that were glad to be rid of MB. Mack does have a system that works well if he does his job, which is to recruit well. As you have already noted, after the MNC MB stopped trying to do a really good job of recruiting and basically was just going through the motions. Anybody that knows anything about football knows that after a team reaches this point , it will not be turned around by the coaches that allowed it to get here. Mack does not deserve to be allowed to drag this program down another year. At least DKR realized after that final crappy year that he did not have it within himself to turn it around, and like the honest man he is he left at a good time. Lets see how honest Mack is.

Went to the Apple Cup a few years ago in Seattle. Washington won on a last second play over Wazzu, but damn if Wazzu didn’t blitz on every play. I said to my friends afterwards if we play them we are screwed.
As luck would have it we were paired with Washington State in the Holiday Bowl that year. They blitzed almost every play and won 28-20 or something to that effect. Of course, I already knew that having only seen one game. In the post game GD and MB were shocked that they had blitzed that much. I remember screaming at my TV. I always knew GD was terrible but now I actually had proof that he did not game plan tendancies based on the game film of our opponents. It was and still is asinine to be that underprepaired. GD is a drain on resources and always has been. He sucks the life our of our program

Okay I was cool about firing just Greg Davis. But after seeing Mack keep GG out there after the
2-3 int. means he is really stupid, and that behavior is grounds for dismissal, especially given his track record of this odd behavior.
I guess Muschs stock is dropping rapidly. However, I feel they have quit because they want a change at QB and OC.

Look. Mack Brown WAS the right man at the right time for UT. But things have changed. He’s won two conference championships in his 27 years as a head coach, one with VY and one with Colt. Is that good enough to be coaching at UT? This isn’t 1998 anymore. Everyone else is getting more aggressive, complex, hard driving HCs. A quick look at Mack’s career records reveals that 2010 is NOT just an off year. It’s sign that things are not ok.

1983 6-5
1985 1-10
1986 4-7
1987 6-6
1988 1-10
1989 1-10
1990 6-4-1
1991 7-4
1992 9-3
1993 10-3
1994 8-4
1995 7-5
1996 10-2
1997 10-1
1998 9-3
1999 9-5
2000 9-3
2001 11-2
2002 11-2
2003 10-3
2004 11-1
2005 13-0
2006 10-3
2007 10-3
2008 12-1
2009 13-1
2010 4-5

The most lethal disease that can infect a football team is when the players know that some of the best and hardest working guys who give the best chance to win aren’t getting on the field. Favorites are being played by this staff, and the chickens have come home to roost. I have no idea how badly a guy as to play to be benched on a Texas team. I’m not sure it’s ever happened in recent years. How lousy do Chiles , Kirkendoll and Williams have to play week in and week out to earn a permanent seat? How many false starts do Hix and Mitchell have to commit before they find the pine? How many critical whiffs does Gideon have to make that turn a runner loose for a big gainer, or a TD, before someone figures out that he just isn’t a very good safety, and he has very poor field instincts.

 I have concluded that in no circumstance would any of these players I mentioned ever be punished for poor play. When low performers are allowed to continually hurt the team’s chances for success, with no accountability, then the team as a whole will at some point quit caring. This team is past that point. Why should they bust their asses, and try to do their jobs, when others are constantly screwing up with no consequences? Mack Brown may be a public relations genius, and a fundamentally good person, but he’s committed the cardinal sin of allowing his personal friendships with some of his staff, and his prejudices for some of the players to supersede his responsibilities to the team as a whole. You think those kids don’t know this? This is a major corporation on a college football stage, and Mack Brown is running the enterprise like it’s his private empire. Someone needs to tell him that he has stockholders, and they aren’t very happy.

I agree, I don’t see that 4-8 is at all out of the question.

And while I’m openly not rooting for us to tank the remaining games, I kinda sorta don’t want us to win and give Mack and GDGD a chance to hang on.

And now I feel dirty.

Even though it seems remote at this point, you get a bowl invite, you go.

Show some damn respect for the game.

Just like no coach or player is bigger than Texas, no school is bigger than the game.

You dont like playing in Shreveport over Christmas, man up and play better football. I dont care if we do any reps. I would dedicate the whole time to a bootcamp. Get Jerry Schmidt in here.

Agreed. We accept a bowl regardless. I dont care if its the Pinstripe in NY. We are not above the game and we are not a bunch of primadonnas. We earned a shitty bowl, we go. However we will not make a bowl so this is much ado about nothing

Fall of 2011 is the target start date for the Longhorn Channel. Let’s say that slips to the right a little bit, and doesn’t get off the ground till spring of 2012. Perfect timing for Mack to focus on being a full-time media personality and quit his part-time gig as Texas HC.

I hear and understand all the clamoring for Mack’s head, but lets be real, that just isn’t going to happen after one bad season, despite every argument in favor of it. I believe that Mack would have another year to right the ship without making ANY changes to the staff, under circumstances based on wins/losses during a “reasonable” shitty season(meaning not losing at home to the likes of Baylor and Istate). However, given the losses this year…..at home……to greatly inferior teams……and in the manner in which we lost (not like we were that close in any of these games), I believe Mack absolutely has to make changes on the coaching staff to keep the wolves away for another year. Thoughts? I am thinking that if he got rid of Davis by the end of the season/year, that most of the fan base would breath a little easier and give Mack a little room to maneuver next season. Thoughts? I don’t think you can force Mack out after one bad season given all his success. I hear everyone and agree with most of you – that if he refuses to get rid of Greg, then Mack can go too, but I just don’t think its going to happen. I wholeheartedly believe that Davis has always been the issue here and that Colt and Vince covered his deficiencies all those years.

How the hell can we as a fan base make Davis’ departure a sure thing at the end of this season? I can’t stand to watch this shit any longer.

8-4 is one bad season.

7-5 losing closely to some good teams is a bad season.

4-8 is not one bad season. Neither is 7-5 getting blown out by crappy teams, some at home.

This is not one bad season. This has slipped into damaging the UT brand. This affects recruiting, which affects several years of the program. This affects TV network contracts.

Jerry Jones didn’t fire Wade Phillips for one bad season. He fired Wade Philips because the Dallas Cowboys brand was beginning to be damaged.

Did you know that in 2010 both of Mack Brown’s prior teams, North Carolina and Tulane, score more points per game than the Texas Longhorns? Are they paying their HC $100,000 per week?

A defense can play its heart out with even an average or below average offense (read: LSU). But a defense cannot play its heart out, game after game, knowing its offense will turn the ball over 4-5 times, including in the opponent’s red zone. No defense can maintain hope week in and week out knowing that is their team.

It has all been said over and over. Mack can fix this. He knows the problems.

Will he? The only thing left to resolve.

Soothesayer – well put.

If McCoy was to be put in the game a coach would have instructed him to warm up. I can’t believe the kid didn’t take it upon himself to start warming up after the first two series in the third quarter. I would have been throwing the ball letting them know I was ready.

utex01 said: “How the hell can we as a fan base make Davis’ departure a sure thing at the end of this season? I can’t stand to watch this shit any longer.”

If Deloss doesn’t fire Greg Davis, we’re stuck with that retard until some disgruntled fan kills his sorry ass. Maybe Deloss will fire Greg, and Mack will resign in protest. How great would that be?

Why would Case ever think he was going in? Nobody on this team EVER gets benched no matter how much shit they leave in the bed!

If we have another dismal offensive showing on Saturday, who’s parking the moving van in front of Greg Davis’s house?

Being on the wrong side of ol’ Mr. Schade N. Freude’s house really sucks. The Aggies at work today were goddamn insufferable. I get that we’re rivals and all and it makes you giddy to see us have a rare shitty year. I really do get that. But show a little respect for the fact that we’ve actually accomplished more shit of consequence in the last five years then you’ve accomplished in your entire miserable history. Also, show some respect for the fact that I didn’t come dance outside your door when K-State hung 70 on your ass last year. By comparison, the 39 we gave up looks downright respectable.

“I think Saltshaker hooked up with a bottle of rot-gut tequila, because his post is incoherent. It’s amazing to me that there are still people stupid enough to defend the shit we’re being force-fed. A lot of people have been warning of this nightmare for eight or ten years. It finally caught up with us. And anyone who thinks Mack should be kicked up to the AD’s job is delusional, because he most assuredly is NOT a CEO. He’s a fucking snake-oil salesman, and a damn good one.” — BluesHorn

I will give you this much: You appear to be intimately familiar with incoherent!

Damn, man. Did you actually read your post before you hit “submit”? Is that really the way you intended for it to read???

You wrote that a lot of people were “warning about this nightmare for 8-10 years” and now it’s finally happened.

In effect you are saying that people were “warning about this nightmare” all through a decade when the Texas program was absolutely dominant.

You are saying that those people were “warning about this nightmare” in 2005 when we won the national championship.

You are saying that those people were “warning about this nightmare” in 2009 when we played for the national championship.

I think the prognosticative ability of “those people” falls in the category of even a broken clock is right twice a day.

What the hell do you and those retarded raging Casandras want?

No team is going to win ten plus games and play in a BCS bowl game and win it every year. No team. It’s not going to happen. Not at Texas. Not at OU. Not at Florida. Not at Alabama. Not at USC. Nowhere is it going to happen.

That it actually did happen at Texas for the better part of a decade is little short of miraculous and is a real tribute to the program created at Texas by Mack Brown.

Since there are indications in your post that you may have trouble processing reasonable argument, let me try to rephrase this in a way that you can understand: You are an idiot. Concentrate on continuing to screw up your own career — you know, the one for which you might have some actual training — and leave the football program in the hands of the people who resurrected it 13 years ago from the ash heap of college football and restored it back to one of the handful of Cadillac brands in college football.

Same goes for all you other dickheads. Don’t write one word, not one word, about how you saw the 12-1, national-championship-contending season coming next year when it happens. Not one fucking word.

I think some people may have misunderstood what Blake Brockermeyer meant by saying the team should decline an invitation to a bowl if invited.

He wasn’t suggesting that the team or the program are too good to accept some minor bowl invitation; quite the contrary. He was saying that they’ve shit the bed so badly this year that they don’t deserve an invitation to any bowl and should decline if they receive one after having so thoroughly embarrassed themselves and the program.

In other words, it’s not that we’re above the game, it’s that we’re not deserving of the game.

I’m not sure I agree with that sentiment entirely; I believe if you’re invited to a bowl, you man up and play with as much integrity as you can muster. But I also think Brockermeyer’s been misinterpreted by some of the posters here, and I sure as hell understand where he’s coming from.

jpsantini said:
“No team is going to win ten plus games and play in a BCS bowl game and win it every year. No team. It’s not going to happen. Not at Texas. Not at OU. Not at Florida. Not at Alabama. Not at USC. Nowhere is it going to happen.”

I don’t believe that people here expect 10+ win seasons and a BCS bowl each and every year. I think that most of us could live with 8-4 or even 7-5, as long as it seemed that the team was working through some of its snags, so we would could be hopeful about the rest of the season and next season as well.

After the NU game, the majority of posters on this board were pretty positive about the team. The losses to UCLA and OU were forgiven mostly, because it seemed, at the time, that the team was improving.

The main concern now is that the team appears to be getting worse. The KSU game was the worst performance of the year. It makes one think that the coaching staff is helpless at this point. Give the status quo, the only remedy is to wait for next season when more talented players will be on board.

For a while, we were compared to Florida which has also features a new QB. The Gators started the season 4-0. Then they lost three in a row to good teams; Alabama (7-2), LSU (8-1), and Mississippi State (7-2). The LSU and MSU losses were close games.

Florida has now won two in a row and is actually tied for the lead in the SEC East. This is an off-year for Florida by Gator standards, but it’s the type of season that their fans can make sense of. The three losses were fathomable, and there is evidence of improvement. On the other hand, we Horns fans are totally perplexed. We were in the preseason top 10 — how could we collapse like this? Why aren’t we getting better?

“Same goes for all you other dickheads. Don’t write one word, not one word, about ho”w you saw the 12-1, national-championship-contending season coming next year when it happens. Not one fucking word."

Getting kind of angry, aren’t we? Your idol, Mack Brown, is getting unfairly bashed and it just burns. I personally seethe when I think of all the taxes he has to pay on his 5 million per year salary. Our tax laws definitely punish success too much. People need to keep in mind that he’s been “tearing his guts out” trying to fix the team’s problems.

BTW, speaking only for one dickhead - me — I don’t predict a 12-1 season for the Horns next year.

“Same goes for all you other dickheads. Don’t write one word, not one word, about how you saw the 12-1, national-championship-contending season coming next year when it happens. Not one fucking word.”

This may well be the single dumbest sentence ever written by a poster who does not use the word “cheese” in his user name. Thanks for the laugh.

Hook ’em!!!

The talk of forcing out GDGD or/and Mack is all a bit abstract here.
For that to happen, there has to be a SOMEBODY who is the trigger man.
Who is the SOMEBODY? Deloss, obviously. Right? Technically, he’s Mack’s boss, right?
Is Deloss enough of a CEO to force necessary changes? If he is unwilling, is any of the talk of change meaningful? Who has leverage on Deloss if Deloss doesn’t want to take decisive action?
We have recently seen a seeming implosion almost across the board in Longhorn Sports in general. Isn’t Deloss Dodds responsible for overseeing the whole of Texas Longhorn athletics? Has Dodds been on cruise control too long while he worked out the TV deal?
Who is going to look at the bottom line and say, “Ahem! We may have a problem.”?
In other words, do we have a Jerry Jones who can take ultimate responsibility and act on it as a completely independent, self-contained, self-determining “decider”?
Or are we doomed to wait for “the big boosters” (whoever they are) to put “pressure” (whatever that means) on “whomever” (see above) to get change?

Well, maybe “across the board” implosion is a bit much, but it has been a shitty year.

Santini wrote:

“In effect you are saying that people were "warning about this nightmare" all through a decade when the Texas program was absolutely dominant.”

Yes, he’s right. This site wasn’t up yet, but on another site, TexasFootball (who actually is an authority) noted before the 2005 season that Vince Young would fix the Davis/Brown offense. What had previously been a bug (the propensity for the offense to get stymied mid-play) would become a feature (because VY would either beat a would-be tackler one on one or throw the ball on the scramble). That offense was college football’s best, but it was absolutely dependent upon the skills of one guy that the staff had replaced with Chance Mock the prior October. It was completely accurate to appreciate what we had, while recognizing it was not sustainable.

People were warning about this nightmare in 2006, when the team and coaches no-showed the TAMU game.

People were warning about this nightmare in 2007 when we were hit with a spate of arrests.

Santini wrote,

“You are saying that those people were "warning about this nightmare" in 2009 when we played for the national championship.”

Yes. several on this site noted that our offense wasn’t that good last year. It has gone from “OK” to “really, really crappy”. Do you not think that was a good warning?

Look, Longhorns are a demanding fanbase. Part of that comes from attending a decent public university that needs a heavy academic attrition rate to manage upper-division class size. We graduates understand the difference between showing up and succeeding, between tring honestly and coasting. No apologies for pointing out that the emperor is showing his ass.

“Same goes for all you other dickheads. Don’t write one word, not one word, about how you saw the 12-1, national-championship-contending season coming next year when it happens.”

You honestly see us contending for a national championship next year? Might be time to get your dosage adjusted.

TaylorTRoom, when did you attend the University? During the Great Depression? The six-year graduation rate for the 2004 cohort was 82%. There is no such thing as heavy academic attrition at UT; it’s not even an occurence within your beloved Cockrell School of Engineering.

We need more Quan’s and maybe a Wheedon. Who is scouting minor league baseball fields?

jpsantini, I was one of the few (idiots) on here saying we’d play for it all this year. The joke is obviously on me. My folly was not properly appreciating Colt McCoy (he’s now proving to me that I know nothing about the sport). Greg Davis has done more with less this year than any other OC I’ve ever seen. He must go. If he was replaced with a good OC, we could improve greatly, but 12-1 next year after the mind fuck the team as a whole is sustaining this year is borderline preposterous. Luckily we have a schedule next year that Blinn with Cam Newton could navigate.

As for Case not having time to warm up, ha ha ha ha!! As if baseball doesn’t provide us with a reference point 1 million times a year. Pitchers are swapped with regularity with little time to warm up. There are actually stall tactics, both built into the rules, and stretching them. Take a time out, or tell a player to “cramp up.” Once pitchers do come in with minimal warm up time, they then go out and exert way more effort on just about every throw than a QB does. Don’t lie to me, Mack, you stupid SOB.

Barking Carnival,
I was always taught to respect and welcome professionals for what they do to suceed in life but this comment about “My Son James” is truly unprofessional! “They don’t even care enough to walk over the offensive side of the locker room and punch James Kirkendoll in his Whoopi Goldberg head.” He has earned the right to be respected as a man and a athlete. What does this type of comment have to do with playing football? Where does it have a place in the repected world of journalism. What does this say about the type organization and it’s senior editor who allow this type immature language to be printed. As a concerned father and a United States Marine Coprs veteran of 26 years of fatihful service to this country , I’m very diappointed and demand that this unprofessional brand of journalism reporting be discontinued immmediately. Show some mature respect for all the players and above all respect the game of football.
Sincerely ,
Zachary D. Kirkendoll Sr.
Proud Parent of James Kirkendoll #11 Texas Longhorns
United States Marine Corps Retired!

I missed the game because of a wedding. I had taped it but damn if I’m gonna watch that whole shit fest. I did try and watch the first couple series. There was a complete difference in attitude at the start of the game that was so evident its not even funny. K-State looked like the Miami team that kicked the shit out of us many years ago. Fired up, aggressive, all over the place and even somewhat taunting on several plays. I stopped after that. Those guys came in knowing they were going to kick the shit out of us and were ready to do it. Our guys looked like a team that didn’t really give a shit if they were there or not because they expected to lose. Go figure.

Is it bad that I enjoyed a nice single malt as I flipped through the comments on this post?

jpsantini, here’s next year’s schedule, which has FIVE road games.

Rice
BYU
at UCLA
at Iowa State
OU
OK State (how did we get them at home again?)
at Baylor
Kansas
Texas Tech
at Missouri
K State
at A&M

Anyone expecting 12-1 with the current coaching staff is f’ing crazy.

It will take a serious turnaround for this season’s team to get out of that schedule with only a couple of losses. Many of those teams we lost to (and will probably lose to) this year will be even better next year. Right now, the only gimmes I see on that schedule are Rice, BYU and Kansas.

The Longhorns are going to have to work very hard to get to 10 wins next season. Let’s say theres little or no coaching changes. Anyone capable of critical thinking will conclude that next year could be marginally better based on the fact that our QBs will have more experience and we might be getter a RB that can overcome play calling limitations.

Having said that, getting in a major infusion of fresh blood on the coaching staff could take next year’s team and go undefeated. Despite what we’ve season this season, there is a ton of talent on this team. I have little doubt that our defense would be Top 10 in every category if the offense and special teams weren’t so inept. And if that were the case, we’d have one or two losses, maybe none.

Rarely in the history of team sports has a coaching staff done so little with so much.

It’s never bad to enjoy a good single malt. Congrats on the big win, btw – it was well-deserved.

Hook ’em!!!

ColoradoAg said:
November 9th, 2010 at 7:19 am
Is it bad that I enjoyed a nice single malt as I flipped through the comments on this post?

at 7:19am? It’s admirable.

Ayn Rand works in another way. Watching our offense is like reading John Galt’s radio address.

Prince Albert, I graduated in ‘84. I remember very well the first day of ME324 Kinematics, the final gateway course (ME students had to get a C or better in the gateway courses) to upper division (the first gateway, Engineering Mechanics I dropped those who had no business in engineering, the second gateway, Thermo I, dropped those unwilling to work). The prof came in a little late to his waiting class of 140 students, each holding a new copy of the most obscure textbook without a solution manual the department could find. He said, "I’m sorry I’m late. I was at a faculty meeting. We decided that no more than 60% of you will get C’s". About 10 students stood up and walked immediately to Adds and Drops.

Colorado Ag, the only thing to caution about is that you have to make sure you really prefer the single malt. Don’t drink them just because they are more high tone than the blends. Frankly, I prefer the Irish whiskeys despite them having less cache, although I do like a MacAllan.

OK State (how did we get them at home again?)

Thanks to the Big 12-2 — they had to have a couple of teams go on the road for two straight years to set the schedule for future years.

The year to make hay was this year.

Look at our schedule. 7 home games against mostly unranked teams or teams on the edge of being ranked.

The way this season has gone down it kinda does feel like it should count double.

Colorado — it’s not bad at all, as long as you also reflect back on the glory days of A&M football as you sip that Scotch. You know the days I’m talking about — the ones that culminated in a Cotton Bowl victory.

“he’s now proving to me that I know nothing about the sport.”

Magnus: me too. Love that guy for what he’s doing right now; love to be proven wrong in this fashion.

I turned TTR on to the Irish Whiskys, btw.

Mr. Kirkendoll – as the son of a USMCR NCO, I’ll start by thanking you for your service to our country.

And as the father of a son who played college football, I’ll give you this advice – stay away from Internet sites about your son’s team.

These types of sites are where angry fans often come to vent. They say things with no thought as to how the kids and family members may respond to it. They have no idea the sacrifices the kids and their families make for them to have what amounts to a really demanding part time job (that frankly doesn’t pay all that well).

I wish your son the best in his college career – except on Thanksgiving Day, of course. ;)

As a concerned father and a United States Marine Coprs veteran of 26 years of fatihful service to this country , I’m very diappointed and demand that this unprofessional brand of journalism reporting be discontinued immmediately.

Translation: I don’t believe in the First Amendment, but boy do I believe in the Second, and such remedies as the Second implies.

I also cannot distinguish between

(a) totally informal, unpaid blogging by amateur writers
(b) professional journalism as rendered by news outlets and their paid employees.

Don’t forget about my guns.

Yeah, he did. I started on Jamesons two summers ago in Dublin, and have been on Bushmill’s since.

If that is the real Mr. Kirkendoll above, I respect him for coming to his son’s defense. However, his son’s criticism is deserved. I was flat-out embarrassed for my school when:

a.) James Kirkendoll thought he scored on that long TD from GG but it was eventually called back for a holding penalty. While the refs are busy discussing the penalty, James is the end zone shaking his head and taunting the crowd even though we’re down by multiple scores. Give the ball to the ref and go to the sideline already.

b.) James Kirkendoll decides to run block on a passing play and has the ball hit him in the back. Awesome.

Louis L’am,

Leave the politics at the login, I can’t stand your fucking views, and I have trouble shutting up when they’re brought up.

The man said nothing about rights. He was referring to respect thus offering his own opinion, which is his right.

As to your letter (b), there’s no such thing anymore. Surely you can see that.

For the record, Mr. Kirkendoll, I, too, thought the remark about “punching” your son was too much, but you have to expect to see that sort of thing on a blog of this nature. We don’t have Thought Police like Hornfans does. We can say what we think, and sometimes we don’t think before posting and go a little over the top in our comments. No one seriously advocates violence to any individual, even Greg Davis.

If you have been reading BC for a while, you might have seen criticisms of your son’s play, but also you will have seen praise for his effort, and that by some of the truly knowledgeable (which I do not claim to be) writers, readers, and ranters on here. He has had some fine moments in his career from the accounts I have read on here, even if he is not a superstar.

Let me ask you, if you think it appropriate to comment on it:
Have you received any impressions from your son as to what the hell is going on with this team?

Scip obviously had it backwards. He thought Jumpin’ Jack Flash should have been punched in it’s James Kirkendoll head. (see how I deftly remove any hints that “it’s” a woman, thus making it ok?)

Mr. Kirk,

Your thoughts on Davis, Greg?

TaylorTRoom, I apologize for my last comment.

I understand your point, we – alumni and LHF members – are more sophisticated than anyone in either Belmont or Moncrief-Neuhaus seems to realize.

If Davis is still in the employ of the Texas Athletic Department after this season, then the school will lose 5K-10K season ticket holders.

TTR: Your comments about Gateway course dropouts reminded me of Physics 401 and 416, and Chemistry 453 and 454, which suffered failure rates of 40-70% of those who stayed the course to the end. This was in the late 60s, don’t know how it is now, but it was brutal back then.

I for one appreciate the balls of Saltshaker and JPSantini for speaking some truth to this mob. What happened to In Mack We Trust?

Mack is going to stay and win 10 games next year. That is a safe prediction because that’s what he does. With or without our shitty QB whom all of you were predicting multiple fucking Heisman Trophies. And some of you posters are old enough to know better. EyesOfTX especially if you are the same Eyes from 360/Hornfans.

I think In Mack We Trust is still over at Hornfans.

Mack will always win 10 games because that’s what he does…oh wait.

Can anyone relate to Mack’s comments about the possible benching of Gilbert here:

“We thought about taking Garrett out, but if you do, you’ve crushed him,” Brown said Monday. “You’re sending a message that we’re giving up, which is a bad message for a potentially great young quarterback who at times has played great.”

“You’re in a little bit of a bind that you don’t want to send a message to your players that you’ve quit and it’s all about next year,” Brown said. “That’s not fair to your seniors and, in my estimation, it’s also not fair to your team. If you say, `OK, we don’t care about the rest of the year,’ that is a huge message to them.”

Seriously, does this make any logical sense to anyone? I’m trying to picture myself as a player, on the sideline during the game and what the hypothetical benching of Gilbert would have done to my morale……and I think it would have done the opposite of what Mack’s claiming.

To me, all that says is that our starter is having a rough night so lets see if the backup can get things going and possibly turn this thing around to give the team a chance to win. Instead, it says – no matter how hard you play or no matter how many unbelievable plays you make, we’re going to stick with this guy who is killing any chance this team has to win. I would think it would show a little respect on the coaches part for the entire team by holding Gilbert accountable for his performance that night. Instead we see more coddling and warm fuzzy bubbles of psyche protection served up by Brown.

How in the hell does that send the wrong message to your team? I can barely type I’m so pissed and baffled. It seems by keeping him in that game, Brown was giving up on the game – contrary to what he’s stating.

I’m not a Gilbert hater, I like the kid – but after witnessing the 2001 Buff debacle first hand – I don’t understand how many times Mack has to learn the same lesson over again (even with an experienced backup in Applewhite, Mack’s coaching decision cost us a probable big 12 championship and berth in the national title game). I think Gilbert should be the starter, but damn, if the kid is having the worst night of his young football life, doesn’t pulling him allow him to keep a little of his pride instead of everyone laughing at the kid who just pooped his pants and can’t do anything about it? Live to play another day instead of cementing in this kids head forever the shittiest night of his athletic life.

Just another way Mack continues to acknowledge the word “accountability” isn’t in his football vocabulary. These kids need a football coach and strong mentor, not a warm tender embrace when fundamentals go out the door.

Santini, UNC fans were warning us about these problems back in 1997.

Mack is the guy who wanted to bring Torbush here.

Torbush.

For the record, “In Mack We Trust” has never been my motto, regardless of the website we’re talking about. I’m a fan of the UT Football PROGRAM, and will support any head coach who is doing his job. Mack has not done his job this year, in any aspect. He has made horrid recruiting decisions for the last 4 years running. He has utterly failed to do his job where his offensive coordinator is concerned for 13 years now.

The day he starts doing his job again, in all respects, including firing Greg Davis 13 years too late, is the day I’ll start saying good things about him again.

Hook ’em!!!

I’m getting sick of “all those 10 win seasons” that others use as their only defense, I had one today from a friend after he said “you spend too much time on those stupid negative message boards”. We play 13 game schedules, you better win fucking 10 games with the kind of support and talent you have here!

Colorado has the recipe, in particular:

They face Iowa State at home on Saturday, and school officials were preparing for protests and empty seats if Hawkins was still in charge.

How about a silent protest? After each negative/random play just turn around (if you have to) and point at the press box. After a few times, explain to your neighbor what you’re doing. See if it catches on.

BTW, magnusbleuveigner, you need to take your belligerent horse manure elsewhere. There is not a single political statement in Mr. Kirkendoll’s post.

Hook ’em!!!

“How about a silent protest?”

This will probably take care of itself with the crowd at the FAU game.

Your piss poor reading comprehension is an embarrassment for a blogger on this site.

I even wrote the person’s name that I was directing that to. I was sticking up for Old Man Kirkendoll. After fucking yourself, feel free to re-read.

BTW, you cry way too much for a Barker.

To CasualObserver above…get another handle. I’ve been posting under that name this season, and my views are the polar opposite of yours.

This really does feel like 1997. Does that mean I can go back to banging strippers?

If people keep posting these posts on Orangebloods we are going to continue to collect more idiots.

utex: Spot on.
"You’re in a little bit of a bind that you don’t want to send a message to your players that you’ve quit and it’s all about next year," Brown said. "That’s not fair to your seniors and, in my estimation, it’s also not fair to your team. If you say, `OK, we don’t care about the rest of the year,’ that is a huge message to them."

This is so annoying Mack. Its bled for the program all over again. Who is he kidding here? Coddled entitlement syndrome starts with Mack and he acts like its the players fault. Every fucking year this BS about every position is open for competition soon to followed by, “well how would the seniors feel, its not fair to them.” He is the one who needs to be held accountable, oh wait…

Translation: I don’t believe in the First Amendment,

Okay, I don’t want to rehash the political side of LLJ’s post. But I do want to address the legal side, as it relates to a pet peeve of mine. The First Amendment only protects speech against censorship or penalization by the state. It does not prohibit private individuals or groups from objecting to stated opinions, from punishing those who speak (although, other criminal statutes may prohibit certain forms of punishment), or from attempting to persuade the speaker to keep his views to himself.

Basically, the First Amendment doesn’t guarantee you respect, success or even safety despite your loud and controversial public statements. The Bill of Rights does not absolve you of responsibility for your own words.

That said, I echo Ag_in_TX’s advice to Mr. Kirkendoll: it’s probably best to just avoid the Longhorn Internets.

Credentialed or not, we’re a merciless, unsympathetic bunch who are eager to ruthlessly belittle the performance of athletes far more talented than we are or ever were. In its own way, this blog is payback for the shame our parents felt when they had to watch kids like James Kirkendoll embarrass us in Pop Warner or Little League. Now we get to embarrass those gifted players with the rapier wit we developed around the Dungeons & Dragons table.

So, take that, talented-but-imperfect college athletes who are forbidden (by team rules and common sense) from responding to our petty criticism!

Hey CasualObserver come lately, you may use it if you want. I don’t care. But I had it first. Now you know.

Eyes, you are willing to drive Mack out of the program to get rid of GD, baby and bathwater come to mind.

When Mack stated that he was working his guts out, but he couldn’t trust HIS coaches and he couldn’t trust HIS players he lost me…. yellowbelly, throw everyone else under the bus, cover your ass childishness. When he followed that up with the excuse that he was not unlike any other CEO blah blah blah it confirmed the correctness of an opinion given to me by an old coach once that Mack could have been an enormously successful politician or a even very rich mega church preacher, but he could never be a championship coach if he were saddled with only average resources.

jpsantini aka Saltshaker,

Yes, there have been people actively campaigning for Greg Davis’ dismissal for 8-10 years. I have personally posted on the subject myself since at least 2002. He’s a fucking idiot. And his incompetence and Mack Brown’s enabling of same have successfully driven our program into a ditch. I wrote DeLo$$ Dodd$ a letter about it after the 2003 Holiday Bowl nightmare. I personally know a former regent of the UT System who said they tried every way imaginable to get Mack to remove Davis at that time, even agreeing to give him Davis cush desk job in Bellmont with full benefits. Mack refused.

I don’t personally give a shit about 10-win seasons in an era of 13 game schedules. I’ve criticized this for years. It’s Not Our Standard, or at least it shouldn’t be. Neither is winning two conference titles in 13 years, which are the only conference titles Mack Brown has ever won in over 25 years as a head coach.

Mack has put personal friendships above the interests of The University of Texas, and for that, HE should be fired. That probably won’t happen, but that’s what should happen. If it takes a 4-8 season to get this fixed, I’m all for it. And if the future of UT Football doesn’t include Will Muschamp taking over the reigns as he was promised, I’m done with UT Football.

Correction:

…even agreeing to give Davis a cush desk job in Bellmont with full benefits.

“How about a silent protest? After each negative/random play just turn around (if you have to) and point at the press box. After a few times, explain to your neighbor what you’re doing. See if it catches on.”

I wonder how much of a stretch it would be if the Defense just doesn’t line up on turnovers in our red zone. Just stand there and let the other team score. They’d probably all get into a huge amount of trouble, but imagine the message that would send.

I can barely watch the games these days, but I am having even more trouble watching Mack’s press conferences. He drives me up a wall, and I don’t fully understand what bugs me so much.

Maybe, it’s that Mack still blames the players, but now he attempts to do this in a slicker, more diplomatic way. He talks about how some players played well but then adds, of course, that other players didn’t. Thus, he pays lip service to giving some credit to the players while simultaneously transmitting his overarching message that the players were responsible for the loss. And, like he said on Monday, you can’t put the poor performers on waivers in college ball like you can do in the NFL. You’re stuck with them – poor Mack.

He’ll talk about how some players played hard but didn’t play well. I don’t understand how a player could play hard but not well. Are they not being coached? If you’re talented, well-coached and prepared for the opponent’s tendencies, then playing hard should yield success about 98% of the time. How did the other team’s players manage to play both hard and well? Mack makes out poor performance to be this fleeting, mysterious phenomenon that our limited human faculties are incapable of understanding. Well whatever, it’s definitely not a matter of poor coaching.

Then he presents himself as the authoritarian alpha-male. The performance on Saturday was unacceptable and he’s the tough guy who’s going to get down on players and coaches alike to ensure a better product on the field. He’ll say, mainly because he has to, that the “buck stops here” and, of course, he’s ultimately responsible, but he’s still working at deflecting blame. He is now Mack the Evaluator — what we saw on the field was not his fault; he had delegated the work to others and trusted them to do a good job. Mack, please do more evaluating before the game and not afterward.

Then, there’s his talk that would titillate the psychoanalytically-oriented among us. There’s all this ruminating about needing the guts to deal with this and the guts to deal with that. He uses the word guts so often that you think there’s something repressed in his unconscious that’s trying to leak out. (Dad said to Mack: Boy, don’t be so gutless!) He goes on that you’ve got to have guts in these times to work harder and not mope in a corner feeling sorry for yourself. Are the players really feeling sorry for themselves? Is it, perhaps, that Mack is the one feeling sorry for himself? But, rest assured, that he’s “tearing his guts out” trying to fix the problems. Mack, it’s just a game, don’t mutilate yourself.

Anyway, sorry for going on so much. Mack drives me so batty, I needed to vent.

“Royal hung it up after a bitterly disappointing 5-5-1 year despite knowing that he had gems in his younger recruiting classes and that brighter days lay ahead. But he was a tired, burned out coach.”

AND SO IS MACK. All you need to do is look at a few pictures of him taken in the past year – still or moving. He’s had it. He’s through. He needs to leave while he’s still got some dignity left and before he’s forced to.

Don’t make is sound like a mob of fans just like this one didn’t drive DKR out. They did. The fact is, DKR was asked how good that team was before the season and he said it was probably a 5-5 team – and Texas fans thought he was kidding. This isn’t about a burned out coach.

When Mack does leave, the era is over and this program will nose dive into mediocrity and if you think otherwise you are either too young to vote or just ignorant of the history. It will start when we lose all the best recruits and guess where they will go?

So the history of this program is mediocrity? Second most wins ever is medicore? Mack is the one trying to return us to mediocrity. Mackovick was a douche and had as many conference champs than Mack in much less time. How is anyone not on the payroll sticking up for him when he underachieves by keeping Davis? You people want a different program than me and most here.

“When Mack does leave, the era is over and this program will nose dive into mediocrity and if you think otherwise you are either too young to vote or just ignorant of the history. It will start when we lose all the best recruits and guess where they will go?”

I guess all of our premier facilities will just disappear in a poof and our status as the marquee program in Texas will disappear as well. I don’t think so. There are plenty of really strong HCs and coordinators out there waiting to receive a call from Texas. That isn’t going to happen, so you’re just spouting hyperbole. However, if it were to come to a replacement, I have no doubts, no doubts, about this program’s ability to attract the finest of available talent. Oh and BTW, I’ve been around see the majority of DKR’s era and everything since.

I made the trip to Manhattan. The K State fans were “nice” but universally knew they would beat us and felt sooryy for the Texas fans in attendance (about 550 including the band). Sad.
Really. Awful. I think Mack has to go. Sorry but I do not see a fix with most of these coaches.

I am impressed that scipio finally figured out that the base problem is talent on the team and hence a complete failure of recruiting since 2005. I could see that by half time of the Rice game and said as much here at the time.

But – but – the STARS!!!! The RIVALS STARS!!!!!!!!

WTF?????

@BrickHorn

“Credentialed or not, we’re a merciless, unsympathetic bunch who are eager to ruthlessly belittle the performance of athletes far more talented than we are or ever were. In its own way, this blog is payback for the shame our parents felt when they had to watch kids like James Kirkendoll embarrass us in Pop Warner or Little League. Now we get to embarrass those gifted players with the rapier wit we developed around the Dungeons & Dragons table”

Gold.

I love what Mack has done for this program, and believe he is one of the top HC’s in the country. Having said that, its hard to argue with your analysis—there are some serious problems with the program.

All is not lost—Mack is in the twilight of his career, and is strongly driven by his legacy. I believe he would like to be remembered and revered in the same way as DKR. He is also competitive and intense, and recognizes he cannot “slow play” his countermeasures, otherwise he will undermine the recruiting machine he has built up over the past 10 years. He will figure out the problems (he probably already has) and will make the appropriate adjustments in the offseason. He has dealt with this type of adversity before, and has demonstrated an ability to learn from his mistakes.

He’s never learned from the OC mistake. Why will this offseason be different?

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7313541/?ref=nf

Ag_in_TX,

I am beginning to believe that Rivals awards stars based on nothing more than which program offers. Maybe in our case they are too lazy to second guess Coach February?

John Hodge,

A good example of Mack being driven by his legacy is retiring the jersey of a QB that won only one conference championship ahead of James Street who damn sure never lost to the fucking aggy.

Ok, I’ll respond so you guys can get back to your tribal council meeting:

@Confused and Dazed. When asked in any interview, Chizik gives Mack Brown nothing but credit and refers to him as "the man". The idea Akina ran him out of town is sophomoric rumor and not supported by anything real.

@ mileslong you’re 15? My point is fundamentals can be corrected, but currently they are too severe to accomplish in mid season. To correct them, would mean relinquishing the ATTEMPT to be competitive by benching the offenders.
Cut the int’s by 50%, cut the personal fouls by 75%, and eliminate 80% of the false starts and we are 9-4, same plays, same coaches, same team. Those mistakes cost us 3 games minimally, yes I’m planning on losing 7 total.

@ BevosBoss "I guess all of our premier facilities will just disappear in a poof and our status as the marquee program in Texas will disappear as well. I don’t think so". The program you refer to is the one built by the guy that you want to fire.

@AZHorn, fortunately, or unfortunately? I’m not a coach, never claimed to be. I prefer reasonable analysis backed by statistics and probabilities in regards to pee wee defensive cluster fucks.

Muschamp isn’t Akina bad yet, but he’s yet to be Chizik good. Akina finished allowing an average of 34 points per game. Muschamp is only at 23 so far. Akina did cost a lot less for us to get run over by nobodies.

I’ll leave the qualifications to shit snark to people such as yourself. No doubt you kick total ass at the roller rink with all the middle school ladies. Imagine how much you are gonna rule when you get your license next year.

@Blueshorn, I prefer a double blue agave rita with a floater of peyote before I think abstract about the Texas program. If the horns lose anymore, I’ll be doing frontal tuck mirror dances with myself in night vision goggles.

@ magnus, After two dismal seasons, the Georgia fans are unsure if there’s anyone better than Richt to get them on track. We here seem quite sure Brown should be gone following a MNC appearance. Georgia fans are more in touch with the likelihood of what happens when you change a coach.

Fundamentals are the problem, this is fixable. Brown never fires anyone, they do resign though. We’ll see how it all plays out.

After each negative/random play just turn around (if you have to) and point at the press box.

Let’s see… 10,000+ laser pointers at how many watts each?

Could we at least set his clipboard afire?