A Case Of QB Controversy

I agree.

Seems like is a bit out of touch and any psychological damage certainly is on Greg and Mack.

Wonder what Phil Simms would have told Gale had he asked?

A good start on handling it is to talk to Garrett instead of saying it all in the media. I don’t give a shit about hurting feelings. It’s Big 12 football as a recently fired coach once screamed.

Part of me likes the transparency. Mack is sharing his thought process for all the world to hear. This may or may not be a good thing, or healthy for the team in general, and the quarterbacks in particular.

But I am not going to slam it outright.

A wise Texas 5A high school football coach once told me:

“I always play the kid who’s going to give me the best chance to win. He could be a senior or a junior or a sophomore or hell, even a freshman. If he shows me in practice that he’ll give me the best chance of winning, I’m playing him.”

Words to live by there.

Only Mack is in a difficult position. No other coaches have ever delt with this scenario. Guess not all positions are open. But what do I know, I’m not a coach.

A lesson was taught about backup quarterbacks and playing time last January.

The all positions open quote that Mack likes to drop is such bullshit. The best evidence ever for this is Scott Derry.

I’m fine with Mack saying it to the media or keeping it all behind closed doors but if he wants to get Case some snaps then do it and stop talking about hurting feelings and sending messages. Fuck messages. Win a fucking game.

Let’s get our annual mindfreak on the shitbird and his Pokes.

Sailor, my friend, this is a year of firsts in the William Brown era. This weekend, Mike Gundy and His Merry Band of Okies are going to push the DKR Divas’ shit in.

So we burn McCoy’s shirt after nine games when we’re 4-5, and when he, out of any of the freshmen, needs a year to get stronger? I have a really hard time believing he would play as well as Gilbert. Gilbert’s first three picks against KSU were volleyball sets, and the last two were when we were down 30 and needed to make something happen. He deserves some but not nearly all the blame. This just screams of another effort to deflect attention away from GD schemes and playcalling. Letting Gilbert keep gaining experience and keeping McCoy’s shirt is best for the team long-term.

McCoy lost his redshirt against Rice.

No coach who is softer than Mack has ever been as successful as Mack.

It will be nice to have an actual football coach again when Mack leaves

Albert – I hear you. But it would be hilarious.

The inability to get quality PT for our QB #2s has always been a source of frustration for me.

The NC game may have had different outcome if GG had played a few meaningful series during the regular season. When we’re up 21 points, say 24-3 in the 2nd quarter) on the Sisters of Mercy, get your freaking #2 in there for series so he can play REAL football and kill a few butterflies. Then, let your #1 play all Q3 and some of Q4 to rack up more stats.

Garret had 26 meaningless pass attempts in 13 games prior to that championship game. Then he had 40 attempts in that game. We had at least 3 or 4 games where we had big leads going into the half and I don’t think GG ever got into the game until late 3Q or 4Q.

So Hells yes, McCoy should play at least one series before the half. Mack should state specific parameters before the game so everyone understands this is an attempt to get your back up more experience, and not bench your #1. What’s dangerous is that this is in front of a hostile home audience. It would have been a lot smarter, aka better coaching, do get McCoy into the KState game.

Imagine a scenario where GG throws a pass that’s tipped by this TE and we get and INT.

Next series, McCoy comes and and moves the ball, but doesn’t score.

Next series GG comes back and goes three and out, but it’s no fault of his own. It’s play calling and/or nobody making plays.

Next series GG comes back, over throws a receiver and almost gets INT. Would not be shocked to hear boos from the home crowd if UT is trailing OK State at this point.

I’m guessing unless Case wins the job next fall he redshirts and Wood is backup.

Also, volleyball int’s have happened too much with GG to believe it’s just bad luck.

Texastough,

The redshirt ship sailed once McCoy entered the Rice game, that discussion is moot.

Last year GD and Mack were trying to get Colt the Heisman so he needed to get the snaps to put up big numbers.

I am just sick of tired of Mack’s excuses. If you bench Gilbert for poor play and his psyche is damaged…. he doesnt have the makeup to be a college quarterback. Period.

All positions should be up for grabs and the best player will get the snaps.

Mack’s coddling of players retards the growth and maturation of players on this team. I am ready for a REAL football coach on the 40 and not a politician.

I’m pretty sure that Case is not going to be good or good enough to make any difference. Certainly not this year.

Gilbert has shit the bed plenty, as SR said, but he has also had the worst set of targets, deployed more incompetently, than any of his predecessors. He runs better than I thought he would and he has thrown picks trying to force plays — which is exactly the kind of thing that a young player dealing with shitty surrounding parts does.

There is only one solution to the stench that is our putridity on offense this year and, unfortunately, he plays receiver for LSU. You cannot tell me that we would not be a better team with a pure running quarterback than we are with what we have.

How about this for a stat. Passing attempts by our #2 QB

13 attempts by Chiles in 2008
9 attempts by Chiles in 2007
48 attempts by Snead in 2006

And, drum roll please…

In 2005, when we demolished just about every team we played

11 attempts by Nordgren

We’ve come a long way from smashmouth Texas football to “I don’t want to hurt the QB’s feelings.” Any QB who gets pyschologically damaged because he’s pulled after four picks shouldn’t have played QB past his previous level.

If Peyton Manning or Brett Favre throw four picks, you pull them. Any halfwit QB or coach knows that. Team first, individual player’s feelings second. Mack seems like he’s getting senile.

After the Baylor game, Mack said this: “You’re not going to bench a guy for playing great. Now if a guy isn’t playing well, you bench him and you move on. You sure don’t do that with guys who are helping you win and getting themselves in position. …. We’re not going to let the losses we had jerk them out of the game when they’re playing well. So, we will not do that and they know that.”

How did Mack get from that to “I’m-not-benching-Gilbert-after-five-picks” to “I’m-getting-McCoy-some-snaps?”

This is starting to look like lunacy.

SERENITY NOW!!!!

Mack’s a little old school. Maybe he’s not aware that the shit he says week after week is actually documented, written down and available for anyone to see.

A few points about Mack Brown and backup QBs:

1. He feels he and the staff can make a better — or at least sufficient — evaluation of the non-starting QBs in practice than in mop-up time.
2. He won’t put the No. 2 on the field until it’s mop-up time.
3. In mop-up time, he won’t let his QB do more than throw a few dink passes, fearing the deeper stuff might lead to more points and maybe embarrass the opponent.
4. Having endured the Simms-Applewhite era, MB wants to bury the No. 2 QB out of sight so that fans don’t do what fans always do — tear down the starter, call for the backup.

Not defending this. Mack Brown also buries non-starters at other positions. It never has made sense not to sub in a second-teamer with the first unit for a series or two to let the No. 2 man develop and get comfortable. Subbing a whole unit is a totally different issue than putting a Hicks or Hopkins or Phillips on the field surrounded by the rest of the starting unit. It’s just Mack’s way.

Sailor:

I think you said it when you characterized Mack’s comments as having “a wimpy tone”.

I know that Mack is a good, caring human being, and I appreciate that he doesn’t want to appear to be a total prick to the entire world. That said, every halfway-decent football coach that I ever knew of or played for was a little bit of an asshole at times – mainly because football is by nature an aggressive sport played by aggressive men (and boys). I liked Mack more last year when he seemed to have a little more edge in his interviews.

I don’t really need to know the internal struggle that Mack is going through – that’s what goes with being the leader of a major enterprise with a large compensation package attached. Maybe his comments aren’t made in such a plaintive, melancholy style when you hear them live – but they certainly translate that way in type.

On the question of QB, the eggs are already broken at this point. Realistically, Mack should have been working on getting legitimate playing time for McCoy sooner than the 10th game now. I don’t know that it really matters at this point – I fully expect to see a new OC (one way or the other) for 2011, and I don’t see putting McCoy in at this point will have any real benefit to his development or to the team’s chances of winning, either now or in the future.

Good post.
 
Bottom line: I don’t see Case McCoy giving us a better chance to win than Garrett Gilbert. That doesn’t mean that Gilbert shouldn’t be pulled when he’s gone in the tank and he has just thrown his fourth pick though.
 
None of our current QBs satisfies the #1 requirement we know we need at the QB position unless we luck into one of them growing into more athleticism than we’d imagined (see Colt McCoy).
 
This team is a grab-bag of misaligned parts and our offensive recruiting has no unifying rhyme or reason. You need only satisfy the following criteria:

1. Will you drive to our camp so I don’t have to recruit you?
2. Will you say yes right away?
3. Do you have some stars by your name?
 
That’s it.
 
I wrote in another thread that I know exactly what a Wisconsin football player looks like at every position. Same for Florida. Same for a number of schools.

Texas? Ha. Not so much.
 
It’s never surprises me when a team with no way loses its way.

Mack is just insane. His old quirks have become full blown neuroses through age and stress

I’m not holding my breath. As seen on a number of other occasions, when the staff tries to find opportunities to put player x in the game, it’s not that easy. Evidently it is a complex process requiring weeks and weeks of preparation before said player steps on the field. This program is snakebit with a lack of leadership from top to bottom. All this self conscious introspective psychoanalysis is just weak.

Good f’n grief. You have a shit record, the starting QB has thrown for twice as many picks as TD’s, and you already burned the #2’s redshirt. Sit the starter’s ass and bring in #2.

Playing Case McCoy gives the team nothing. If GG were at Stanford, then everyone is drooling at what a great QB he is. GG is not the problem.

At worse, he is Chance Mock or Brett Stafford. The problem are the receivers and the O-line and the offensive coaching.

At what point, when will Muschamp go “Kevin Gilbride” on Davis?

Fuck messages. Win a fucking game.

No wasted words there.

Save the explanantions. Show results. And yes there is a coddling wimpyness manifesting in the face of real adversity.

I’m taking a step back from trying to decipher from afar what Mack says because the signal he gives is different depending on the audience and, moreover, even when he shifts from being defensive to being candid, what he thinks sounds candid belies his own beliefs. Recently regretting being critical of the style of team play after Rice despite the win is a prime example of the last point.

But I hate seeing this from his quote in the OP:

"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.

Does it not occur to Mack that it the players that are sending a message to the coaches that they have quit? And why might they send that message? That is a crucial question, and I don’t think the answer is as big a mystery as it seems to be for Mack. But to take a first step in responding to it, you don’t even need the answer, you find which players have the least quit. I’m not getting my hopes up though. Finding which players have the least quit is an attitude from the top down, not an exercise in substitution.

If Peyton Manning or Brett Favre throw four picks, you pull them.

Bullshit

Also, volleyball int’s have happened too much with GG to believe it’s just bad luck.

It’s not just bad luck, but it is mostly bad receivers.

Peyton threw 6 int’s against the Chargers a few years back. Doesn’t Favre do it every other week? These guys have proven they are championship QB’s. GG hasnt proved dick since high school. Big difference.

It’s a shame that we’ll only see Case throw a few bubble screens and hand-off to a RB here and there.

You see, he doesn’t yet know the full playbook, so….

I don’t really see this supposedly huge athleticism gap between Colt and Gilbert as being anything close to the most significant difference between the two quarterbacks. It just seems like the most convenient narrative.

Message to Case: Putting you in to the game equals quitting on the season, but thanks for all your hard work, son.

BigDukeSix – expand.

I see the biggest differences between them being experience, surrounding cast, and scheme/reps. What do you see, bigdukesix?

It’s obvious that many of the explanations Mack gives in his pressers are to hide stupidity that surfaces during games. This is no different. The only value in these pressers is factual data such as so-and-so is out for the year or so-and-so has been moved to waterboy. The interpretive and explicatory remarks are worthless.

edsp,
4. Having endured the Simms-Applewhite era, MB wants to bury the No. 2 QB out of sight so that fans don’t do what fans always do — tear down the starter, call for the backup.

I see that logic, but there were at least two years, 2005 and 2009, where it was obvious that our #1 QB had zero reason to worry about getting benched, and getting our #2 more time would be a smart idea.

in ’05 our real backup was probably colt, who was redshirting and in ’09 we were trying to win colt the heisman. not defentding just stating the coaches POV.

Mack should have put McCoy in. The game was over at that point and it wouldn’t have hurt to see McCoy play against real competition, and see how the team responds to him. GG would have gotten over it. Hasn’t Mack spoken on several occasions about GG’s mental toughness?

Mack shouldn’t try so hard to prevent a QB controversy from happening. Many coaches juggle QBs when their offenses stall. The fans will debate the merits of one QB vs. the other and keep on doing so until one of the QBs has graduated. Is it really that big a deal? I the fans wren’t griping about the QBs, they’d be griping about something else. It’s not fair to Case to keep him on the bench because Mack is worried about the political implications of playing him.

It is true that some sound coaching decisions can actually cause political headaches. Usually you’d think that the typical football coach has to be sternly reminded every now and then to pay more attention to politics. Not our Mack. It’s the opposite with him. He needs to be told not to worry so much about politics.

I’m not averse to pulling a quarterback, but I’m not as haphazard about it as some. It’s not a jar of peanut butter we can’t get open, everybody doesn’t get a try. There’s more to it and there’s more at stake.

Replacing Gilbert with McCoy does not somehow magically make our receivers able catch the ball or block in space. With an inconsistent line, no viable tight and receivers who can’t block worth a shit; I don’t really see the 169 pound, 4.7 speed McCoy lighting up the K-St. Defense. At best, he would have gotten us the same 2 garbage time TDs Gilbert got us, but with a QB controversy to boot.

Think about it, do we really want another improv QB just because it fits? More importantly, ask yourself why it fits? The reality is, it fits the situation because it fits GDGD. It masks the awful stench of his ineptitude. Choosing this path is more or less caving to a fate with Greg Davis in it and finally accepting him as or rightful OC.

In the end, Gilbert is the most prized recruit coming out of high school. No slam on Case, but he was not and he doesn’t have Gilbert’s talent. In the long run Gilbert is our man.

Case may have the edge in a particular situation or two, but not in the long run. In the end, Gilbert is the most prized recruit coming out of high school. No slam on Case, but he was not and he doesn’t have Gilbert’s talent. In the long run Gilbert is our man.

The comments that Mack should not consider the ramifications on Gilbert’s confidence/psyche seem to be the exact opposite of what posters on this site said when VY was pulled in favor of Collins 2 years ago. VY always seemed to be one of the toughest minded SOB’s to ever play on the 40, but getting pulled (and boo’d) sent him into a downward spiral I wasn’t sure he was ever going to pull out of.

Right as rain, SR. But I don’t know what any of this has to do with pickin’ up my goddam tote bag on Saturday. Stampede is rollin’ into town and gots to know the locale for the parting gift y’all been promising since purtineer launch date of this interweb waterin’ hole.

Mack’s a little old school. Maybe he’s not aware that the shit he says week after week is actually documented

I wouldn’t mind that old-schoolness if it came bundled with some “we’re gonna get it done, and fuck anybody who gets in my way” old-schoolness.

A coach who wants to win titles needs to be ready to charge Hell with a bucket of water.

This coach seems afraid of hurting the bucket of water’s feelings.

So we burned the shirt against Rice and McCoy hasn’t seen a snap since then . . . awesome

It’s all spin and has been from day one. When the programs clicking along well, Mack’s strength has been finding/creating stats and measurables that advance the marketablity of the program to donors, recruiters, networks, etc. I dont believe there ever has been any fundamental football principles by which decisions are made.

Mack runs a recruiting machine, set up to land the best in state early commits regardless of scheme or system. That is to me the only fundamental identity of the program. Beyond that, whether it’s gameplan or depth chart, it’s a scattershot cluster of contradictions.

Anyone know where to buy “Fire GD” bumper stickers? Mack’s recent comments make it clear that he has every intention of working with GD for his 17th year. How many top coaches keep their OC for 17 years? Anyway, we’re going to have take care of this ourselves and wage a campaign. I’m ready to buy bumper stickers, and I know lots of other who’ll put em on their trucks.

GM Platter -
 
Except that we didn’t run a recruiting machine on O for two years after the MNC game. Mack didn’t ask enough questions of a staff that had grown allergic to going on the road.
 
I know people that were intensely involved in recruiting during that time period and the stories are absurd to say the least. Beyond the anecdotal stuff, you need only look at the roster talent and the weird distribution of athletes with upper classman offensive players.

The difference in running ability to me is moot. McCoy me be hair faster, but Gilbert gets yards after contact.

Experience and accuracy are the two biggest differences.

Experience: Both QB’s locked on to their WR’s, the difference being Colt did it pre-snap after reading the defense. He got rid of the ball extremely fast because he knew what the D was going to dictate, and because that’s the type of routes we ran. Gilbert’s still locking on to his guys, and the long delivery exasperates things. Gilbert also needs to realize when to run and take the gimme first down.

Accuracy: Accuracy isn’t just hitting a sitting target, or even a moving one. Put it where the WR can make a play. Sometimes that’s in front of him, other times it could be behind him. That’s what Colt was good at, and we have yet to see consistent accuracy out of Gilbert, though some longer passes have been dropped.

It’s amazing to me how Gilbert looks like a much better QB when throwing to Mike Davis than to anyone else.

As for Colt, we as a fan base were lead to believe that he couldn’t make all the throws and that we had to shelter him with scheme. I think Greg Davis has learned as much about Colt his last three games as I have.

Scip-Can you spill the beans on what happened after the MNC regarding recruiting? I know we got a little lazy but why were there not voices of concern at the time?

Mack is too busy working overtime on stat compilation to validate his OC staying next year. He doesn’t have time right now for coaching and shit. He’s in emergency mode….jobs are on the line so “Find me some stats I can use!” surely must be echoing through Belmont.

Here’s a stat for you:

4-5

4. Having endured the Simms-Applewhite era, MB wants to bury the No. 2 QB out of sight so that fans don’t do what fans always do — tear down the starter, call for the backup.

Seeing this occur year after year, why would a HS coach risk sending his star QB to Texas? Seriously…..

I am just sick of tired of Mack’s excuses. If you bench Gilbert for poor play and his psyche is damaged…. he doesnt have the makeup to be a college quarterback. Period.
Any QB who gets pyschologically damaged because he’s pulled after four picks shouldn’t have played QB past his previous level.

Yes, because Vince Young has always been the pinnacle of psychological fortitude.

The comments that Mack should not consider the ramifications on Gilbert’s confidence/psyche seem to be the exact opposite of what posters on this site said when VY was pulled in favor of Collins 2 years ago. VY always seemed to be one of the toughest minded SOB’s to ever play on the 40, but getting pulled (and boo’d) sent him into a downward spiral I wasn’t sure he was ever going to pull out of.

Great post.

Wanna go halfsies on a copy of The Inner Game of Tennis for Garrett?

…mainly because football is by nature an aggressive sport played by aggressive men (and boys).

Is this really a good thing, though? I want to see assertive, decisive, driven—but aggressive?

Mike Locksley is aggressive. Mike Leach never played college ball. Who would you rather have as a coach? I’m not arguing aggressive coaches can’t be successful or cerebral quiet types (or politicians in Mack’s case) are the ticket to success. But I don’t think aggression correlates to success on the field…

…for coaches. I wanna see players who are out for blood.

I’ve finally come to the point some of you have……Mack’s got a lot of BS he’s serving up while grappling at trying to turn this thing around. The Simm’s/Applewhite issue made no sense, especially in the Big 12 champ game, and this year isn’t going to start making any sense anytime soon. Save your time and energy. I believe there is less than 5% chance that Davis will be gone next year and probably about the same likelihood that Macwhorter or Kennedy will be replaced, unless we really tank these last few games…..which is very probable. But even then, that percent goes up to at most a 15% chance. Mack see’s all the good in Davis’ rotundity, despite what Mack’s thinks is Davis’ only bad year, and therefore won’t fire him because he’s “been so good” all those other years.

I don’t think Mack has any idea how to turn this around, hence calling everyone in the country for advice. Its scary really, but like some of you above, I’m going to follow the rest of the season from afar, instead of scrutinizing every play of every game and every one of Mack’s comedic and confused comments. You’ll probably have a more likely chance of figuring out the meaning of life than piecing together this team/season and the coaches decisions.

I continue to think that all of this teeth-gnashing over things Mack says is press conferences is way overblown, and even more so that Scip insinuated in his previous post. Mack is a level 36 spin doctor. His primary audiences aren’t you and me, the hardcore fans, because we’ll be tuning in no matter what – or at least if we tune out, the casual fan will tune out long before we do. He’s directing his comments directly to the know-nothing writers for local and national papers and wealthy donors and the parents of current and potential players. Everything he says in a press conference is intended to deflect their criticism and convince them that Texas is a great wholesome place for young men to go, so they can feel good about contributing their positive words/money/children to the program.

There’s been plenty of telltale signs that the politics behind the scenes of the program has been madcap mayhem over the last few weeks. Does Mack talk about that? Hell no. But he has to say something. So he reaches for some cockamamie bullshit to make the close-but-ignorant observer think that the coaches have a handle on what’s going on. Mack may or not be primarily concerned with his player’s feelings, but I can guarantee you that parents and donors and blowhards like Kirk Bohls want to believe that player’s feelings are at the center of the problem, and can be fixed at the drop of a hat. And that, first and foremost, is why Mack’s talking about it.

Does Mack have a clue about what’s actually going on? I fear not. History has shown he’s stubborn and loyal to a fault. But one way or the other, sifting through the tea leaves of press conference clippings isn’t going to reveal much, and reflects our sense of crippling disappointment more than anything else. The only thing that will show whether Mack has identified the real problems is on-field performance and whether there’ll be any major (Major?) personnel changes in the offseason or not. We should save our ammunition for the real thing, not the shadows.

Sunrise Studly, you’re wrong. Vince went into no tailspin after being booed. His mom (not the most stable) freaked out when he went off alone to mull it over, and did the worst thing imaginable- cried all her fears to Vince’s boss. Put yourself in Vince’s shoes- you come home po’ed after being pulled from a project, and storm out, and your wife or mom calls your supervisor.

After that night, Vince kept quiet and bided his time. He’s better than ever. I don’t see any evidence of a tailspin or needing coddling. He just needs snaps.

Dagga, good post.
 
However, when he starts babbling about the NFL telling him that tight ends are extinct, I seriously start to wonder what that’s supposed to serve instead of just saying “we’ve had some unfortunate injuries there and some guys not pan.”
 
Obviously, people who know better start to think he’s completely ignorant of the fact that the NFL has its greatest collection of TEs in history right now and the league is 30 deep with studs. And that tight ends – for the first time in a long time – are considered legit early 1st round material.
 
What could that Grade A bullshit lie possibly serve? It’s surreal.

derryl said:
“Mack is too busy working overtime on stat compilation to validate his OC staying next year. He doesn’t have time right now for coaching and shit. He’s in emergency mode….jobs are on the line so "Find me some stats I can use!" surely must be echoing through Belmont.”

He keeps on dishing out those bizarre stats, and the fawning media goes on aiding and abetting him. It’s an assault on one’s perception of reality. He seems to be relishing each and every opportunity to get his side of the story out to the public.

If Mack believes his spin, then the program is in trouble. What we need now more than ever is a reality-oriented head coach who can focus on the real problems.

If Mack doesn’t believe his spin, then the program is in trouble. He’s pushing an agenda, at an inopportune time, that is not in the best interests of the program. I guess he wants to retain GD and some other ineffective coaches, although I’m not entirely convinced that this is his actual agenda.

There’s this view that as people age their dominant traits become even more dominant and their other traits, the ones that counterbalance the dominant traits, become less influential. Thus, Mack is perhaps more “Mack-like” now than he was when he initially arrived at the 40 Acres. The emotionality, the tendency to spin, the blame deflection, and the politicization of even mundane matters have all intensified, and his more rational, calmer side is in full retreat.

Scipio,

I would almost buy that line from Mack except for the fact that one of the best young tight ends in the league did play for Texas.

Hmmm….then again he did leave for not getting enough catches.

Davey –
 
We have three TEs in the league. THREE.
 
And this is the greatest collection of TEs in NFL history right now. This moment. It’s the golden age of the position. It’s the most competitive Pro Bowl ballot position you can find.
 
The guy is just babbling insanely for no good reason.

Part of me likes the transparency. Mack is sharing his thought process for all the world to hear.

Um, no. Mack is feeding you a line of shit. Don’t make the mistake of believing anything you hear from him, because he’s blowing smoke up the listener’s ass about 90% of the time. And insulting the people he’s talking to and about in the process. That people consider him a great CEO is laughable.

He keeps on dishing out those bizarre stats, and the fawning media goes on aiding and abetting him.

I’m hoping the media is about to recognize the blood in the water and they may be ready to go into shark mode. I finally got Bobby Burton to acknowledge on a public board that it’s time for Greg Davis to be replaced as OC. Hopefully, their concern about looking ridiculous to their readers will overcome their fear of lack of access. The incompetence is the story at this point. There’s no hiding it.

In the politically astute mind of Mack. If he plays Case and wins he looks like a moron fort taking so long to do it. If Case looks bad too, then it makes GD and the whole program look bad, as nobody can win, then it’s on the coaches. He is acting like a shyster. Perhaps he has always been one?
If you have ever played, then you know the players want to try the other 2 guys. And by the QB stayng in there it reeks of favoritism, which typically kills a team’s morale.
At least the Aggie coach figured it out finally…

I agree with Dagga Roosta. This is all psycho-babble to keep the McCoys and the Gilberts happy. If he pulls Gilbert, guarantee he transfers. There is no way Gale has been sitting around twiddling his thumbs.

But, Mack cannot let it be know that Case has no chance of winning the job, not after everything that Colt did for this program, and Mack and GDGD’s job security and bank accounts.

Scipio,

Surely that is a miscount. Next thing you will try to tell me is some of the better teams in the league actually feature a tight end in their offense.

Scip -

Heh heh, yep that tight end bullshit is a doozy. But in a way I think it reinforces my point.

To explain: a few years ago there was a neat little faux-academic paper circulating on the Internet under the title “On Bullshit”. In the paper, the author uses analytical techniques to precisely define the meaning of “bullshit” – specifically, as something said solely because of the impact it has on the listener, and not at all in regard to truth. Now the bullshitter may be actually telling the truth, but if so, it’s an accident. The point of bullshit is to get the listener to change their thinking, period. It’s not knowing deception, necessarily, but the truth itself is irrelevant.

Mack Brown is a master of promoting his program through front-running bullshit. The whole thing about how the 2005 team excelled because Mack loosened up and started putting Li’l Wayne on his iPod? Bullshit. That team won purely because Vince was unadulterated voodoo magic, and a few other guys stepped it up when needed. But if you believe it’s the coaches mentality that was key to it all, then you’ll give the credit to the program and not just the players.

And who knows? Maybe Mack loosening up really was one key to that team’s performance. But the fact that you and I know that story isn’t because it’s necessarily true. It’s because it’s really effective bullshit that serves the program well.

But for all his front-running bullshit capabilities, Mack is temperamentally pretty bad at dealing with criticism. Plus, it’s really hard to bullshit your way out of a corner. And I think what we’re seeing now is the bullshit engine in Mack’s head performing under stress. He can’t answer the questions he’s given honestly without making the program itself look bad. And given the choice between an honest appraisal and a line of useful bullshit, he instinctively goes with the latter. But then you get some inane comments, and the disregard for honesty becomes transparent and we all go ballistic.

But I don’t suspect we’re hearing this stuff because Mack Brown believes it’s the truth. He’s avoiding discussing the tight end problem (or the play calling problem, or the running game problem, etc.) because an honest answer would not just be a confession of past mistakes but also an indictment of all the work done with the kids currently in the program, and honest answers should give us (and parents, and donors, etc.) reason to believe things won’t get better soon under the current regime. And either he doesn’t want to change that regime, or he doesn’t want to announce changes mid-season. Either way I think he’d behave in the same fashion, desperately flinging bullshit around and hoping it sticks.

If you put a McCoy in, don’t you have to put a Shipley in as well? What the hell are the announcers going to talk about if you don’t??

“Slick” Street replacing “Super Bill” Bradley 3rd quarter Texas Tech 1968 sez it all. Lotta guts & character by DKR. Heard it on the radio with Connie Alexander announcing. Street never lost a game that he started thereafter.We need to tie coal oil rags around Mac’s ankles to keep the pissants from carrying his candyass off. Enuff said.

Dagga Roosta -

The one reason that Mack is somewhat responsible for the 2005 success is not necessarily that he loosened up and listened to rap.

 It is because he loosened up and got out of VY’s way.

I see TE specs all over the league. aggie’s frosh TE looks like he will be something to deal with and a next level guy. They may have 6 – 8 NFL types on their offense, maybe more, while we have maybe 2. That is the talent level we are rocking right now.

As preposterous as the TE comment may be, maybe someone should suggest to Mack that you can also take a player at a different position that has TE dimensions and coach em up. 120 players on the roster.

That is what coaches do of course.

Am I understanding this correctly – Mack won in ‘05 because he loosened things up, and he’s in trouble in ’10 because things are too loose?

…Brown…did acknowledge that a decision must be made soon on getting McCoy some snaps.

Uhh, who doesn’t understand that every game he doesn’t play McCoy is a decision…?
Damn it, wasn’t Mack the one lamenting lack of backup QB experience after last years NC game?

I hadn’t seen or read the TE comment. We currently have 8, count ‘em, 8 TE’s on our roster. Only one of those is a walk-on. Wow! If that doesn’t fit the definition of Bullshit and a textbook example of cognitive dissonance, I don’t know what does. In fact, I believe we are witnessing what is close to a mental breakdown resulting from the latter at this point on both the personal (see Bryant, Cleve) and professional (see Davis, Greg) fronts.

Mack is lost. Neither he (nor obviously any of us) can comprehend this ever happening to this program under him at this stage of his tenure, and he has absolutely no idea what to do about it, or knows but just can’t. It’s sad, really. Fulmer, IMO.

I’m surprised you guys are giving Mack a pass for talking out of both sides of his mouth. I take it as an affront to my intelligence and his double speak fuels the idiot masses further. At least in football you only have to play that game when your team sucks.

And also, the TE position isn’t going to go away. It’s the evolution of man; bigger and faster. Guys are routinely going 6’5" and 260 lbs with the athletic fluidity and speed to get open.

Nehemiah Hicks, from Hutto. How in the hell did he learn the playbook so fast?

Good stuff, dagga. You are writing some good, common-sense stuff there. It’s a useful antidote for all of the crap coming from Belmont.

I hadn’t seen or read the TE comment. We currently have 8, count ‘em, 8 TE’s on our roster. Only one of those is a walk-on.