The Coaching Hires: Who Is Calling The Shots?

Nice analysis, as always. Just wish I didn’t suffer from insomnia to be up reading it after 1 AM. More references to Japanese habits and things that are “short and squirty” would’ve been helpful.

Excellent point that few (if any) of us have been able to make changes—especially wholesale ones—without everything falling apart around us. Yes, we’ve all seen GD’s deficiencies for years. But imagine a couple of “young guns” telling you that you need to make sweeping changes when you’re just months removed from winning a national title if Colt doesn’t get hurt. Not making excuses for Mack, but I can’t say I would be too receptive, either.

I liken this year to an intervention. Going 5-7 was Mack’s “rock bottom,” and now he’s finally agreed to get some help. If he makes the right hires, he has a chance to make Texas even more successful than during his run of 10-win seasons—no transcendent quarterbacks needed. I believe that’s the legacy Mack wants before he walks away. Let’s see if he makes the most of his chance.

It does tend to appear that Muschamp is the dominant force right now, almost all of the candidates being mentioned for the various positions are people Muschamp already has established relationships with.

By the day it seems more likely that Mack will hang it up after NSD, or after 2011 by the latest.

P.S. I’ll take Muschamp guys over Mack guys. Muschamp comes from a league where if you don’t slit people’s throats then your own will be slit soon enough. Mack has never had that kind of killer instinct and neither have his underlings.

Flashback time:

“Hello and. Welcome to? TEX. The Telephone Enrollment Exchange. For the University of Texas. At Austin.”

“YOU MAY NOT REGISTER. For this class. Because? This class is. Full.”

Nice write up Scip. And thank you for making the point that OF COURSE Mack knows that he trusted the wrong staff and the young gunz were generally on the right side of things after all. He’s no fool. Getting pantywhipped by Iowa State and Baylor back-to-back tends to clear one’s sight, and while Mack may be stubborn he ain’t blind. Plus he wouldn’t stick around if his role was purely ornamental; he’s still boss.

While things might be a bit messy right now, I think once the hires are made the chain of command will be clearer than before, and the whole coaching staff will be gunning to prove they can turn things around pronto. That should make running the team easier for all involved. I’m excited. Things are panning out well so far.

If you guys manage to hire John Papuchis from Nebraska (looking VERY likely), you’ll have hired a good one.

He absolutely kills it on the recruiting trail, and is a hell of a DT coach.

I wish he’d stay but, not much of a chance for moving up the ladder at Nebraska.

Check out the post here

I follow the horns from afar so I am not as familiar with the specific position coaches still with us. I have a few questions maybe the community could clarify for the expatriates:

+ is the X&Os as important to the Dline as they are to the Oline? Does Giles have the requisite skills? Our DEs have been doing well.
+ It sounds like the reclamation on the offensive side of the ball requires more coordination and paradigm shifting decisions. Is it be safe to assume that the D & ST hires will be made first?
+ Is 1 D-line coach vs. split assignments a question of the candidates available or a strategical change for WM?

Thanks, and I’ll hang up and listen

Good writeup, Scip.

As I’m sure you recognize, there’s one obvious flaw in your analogy. It’s one thing to be clueless and stubborn at 20. With the exception of Sam Acho, all of us have been there and done that. But oblivious and intransigent at 58 is something else entirely.

Whenever I think of Mack Brown, I’m reminded of Carl Icahn’s explanation for why Fortune 500 CEOs are rarely counted among the best and brightest:
http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/daily-brief/2007/10/11/how-did-this-guy-get-in-charge
Given the persistent agency problem that Icahn describes, it’s no wonder that corporate fortunes often wax and wane in the space of a single generation. Yet that’s not to say that the cycle is inevitable.

Mack is an altogether likable fellow, and he’s been a tremendous ambassador for The University. At the same time, though, things should never have come to 5-7. It’s not asking too much to hold Mack accountable for what happens right under his nose, nor is it unreasonable to take him to task if he misses it. Moreover, a Division I head coach (or a corporate CEO) simply can’t afford the luxury of being thin-skinned. If for no other reason, hypersensitivity is quickly perceived and easily manipulated by one’s opponent. In the words of Sun Tzu, “He who seeks honor must be careless of public opinion.” More to the point, it’s wrong for Mack to continue to indulge his need to be liked at the expense of the Program.

It’s not inconsistent to be appropriately grateful for all Mack has done for The University, but at the same time to demand much more and far better from Mack – even under the most trying circumstances – than what he showed in 2010.

Spawn -
 
I’ll make sure to work that in next time.
 
Cricket -
 
Thanks. Isn’t part of a 12 step program that you contact all of the people that you’ve wronged? 100,000 phone calls.
 
Mad Clapper -
 
I think Muschamp is the dominant force in supplying the candidates. Mack’s roladex doesn’t skew under age 40. Mack wants to go young. But Mack is calling the shots on the O hires – I think it’s wrong to think he’s content to be a figurehead.
 
Dagga -
 
I miss TEX. I feel like the kids today are missing out on the drama he provided.
 
I’m happy too. Yeah, we can fret over the hires, but at least we ARE fretting over the hires. And we’re looking at turning over a half dozen staff members. That’s big.
 
Mister Mike -
 
NU fans seem to love him. Definitely fits the specs of what I outlined. Does he have coordinator potential one day? Y’all should all follow his link. It was informative.
 
donGato -
 
- D Line is much less X and O intensive than OL. OL and QB are the most coached position on the football field. Giles is solid, I agree.
 
- It makes sense to me to hire D first, but there’s no imperative. I’d love to get our man on the staff ASAP.
 
- I split the DL if I can bring in a coach who adds value in other areas besides just coaching that position. A lot of program just have one DL coach. I think we take the best candidate at DT or LB coach and adjust accordingly.
 
Good questions, man.

Dmitri -
 
Great write-up yourself.
 
I don’t think any of us gets much wiser to our own flaws if they’ve never been exposed brutally.
 
Sure, he had the OU destructions, but when they “went away” – seemingly magically, in his mind correlated to firing Reese – so did his own inquiry into the problem. Other offensive disasters were disguised by selective use of statistics and his over-reliance on emotional factors to explain a game result. “We were arrogant” “Kids were down” “Energy was bad” “We looked past them”
 
Then the Vince/Colt improvisation show kicked in.
 
Mack’s not a process guy. He is an outcomes guy. He generally takes an outcome that’s pleasing to him and works backwards to create some fictitious process to explain it rather than tinkering with process and looking at results.
 
Outcomes were good from 2004-2009. How they got that way isn’t of deep intellectual interest to him. Hell – look at our QB recruiting. He clearly didn’t see the causation in our offensive production and the mobile QB.
 
And criticism of process enrages him. We’re undefeated! Why do they care if we beat Nebraska 13-12 and OU 16-13?
 
As for your Sun Tzu quote on thin-skinnedness – right on. I think it ties to his overall mindset regarding process/results. A lot of process guys more easily adopt a thick skin IMO. Mack is a pleaser. I’d love to his Myers-Briggs. 5-1 it’s an ESFJ.

Scipio Tex:

 Excellent write-up and analysis. I’ve been anti-Mack Brown since about ‘02, mainly because of the OU horse-fuckings, but never really considered his psychological underpinnings. I just concluded that The. Man. Can’t. Coach.

There’s no question in my mind that his tendency to look the other way in the face of his assistants’ incompetence and rely on excess talent to win has prevented him from attaining an unapproachable legacy at UT.

He may yet reach DKR status, but he’ll always have that stain.

Excess talent is not a bad thing. Very few teams win championships without it. DKR had excess talent that MB can only dream about because there were no limit on ships.

With the rumors swirling of possible interest in both Papuchis and Nebraska’s LB coach, is there a chance we end up with two hires on both sides of the ball? This would free up Muschamp to focus solely on his DC responsibilities.
 
- New DT and LB coach.
- New OL coach/run game coordinator/co-OC/full OC.
- New WR coach. Or if they want to bring in someone as co-OC or full OC whose expertise is with QB’s rather than OL, i.e. Bryan Harsin, I bet Major could coach the WR’s in a pinch.
- If not, Applewhite coaches QB’s and is likely co-OC or full OC.
- Chambers moves back to coaching RB’s.
- Then, instead of having a dedicated TE’s coach, the TE’s work part-time with the WR’s and part-time with the OL. It seems that most programs do not have a dedicated TE’s coach.

Just a thought, given the info that is out there.

Excellent impersonation Dagga, you may have a future there.

I remember TEX as a cross between the computer from War Games and the lottery.

TEX: Would you like to play a game of chess?
Me: Come on baby!!!
Hot Computer Voice Chick: Class FOUR-ZERO-FOUR-K has been. ADDED.
Me: Fuck yeah! Beer me!

Here is some conspiracy salt to bring out the flavor of your post—- 5-7 was needed to wake up Mack. 5-7 was at least sub consciously orchestrated by Muschamp and Davis. Each for different reasons.
First, Muschamp- he knew it would take a debacle to get changes.

Second, Davis- he resented HCIW for Muschamp.

Got to go now, my Black helicopter awaits.

I’ve been anti-Mack Brown since about ’02, mainly because of the OU horse-fuckings,,,

+1

This is something that has been repeated fairly regularly, although not to the extent of those disasters. Deere-in-the-headlights of a tractor bearing down on him at 3.141592653589793… MPH, unable to make meaningful position adjustment of any sort as harrowing disaster overtakes him and all who follow him (see also Kansas, State University of; California, University of, at Los Angeles).

I sometimes worry that Muschamp has been infected by this, although I hope that he simply has been forbidden from calling a 1stQ timeout or signaling in the “Injury Play”. We should know within the next twelvemonth.

Oh, yeah… INTJ here. Rude and arrogant – unintentionally, but it happens.

Fine analysis, as always, Scipio. I have been thinking similar thoughts re:

-Mack needed 5-7 to get it but he appears to have gotten it (O, happy day!)
-Mack making offensive decisions with input from Muschamp
-Muschamp making defensive decisions with input from Mack

Importance of OL x’s and o’s make me slide toward the Bostad OL/run co-OC hire. However, the Harsin route would also be a huge upgrade.

S&C may be a different discussion but it looms large over all of this. Thoughts there?

TEX sounds downright charming compared to standing in lines in the Erwin Center. Yes, lines. Like 1970s Bucharest.

hmmph.

the kids today and you kids of yesterday are missing out on the drama that was a hot, sweaty gregory gym and 15,000 mostly youngish people milling about the tables, hoping against hope to get those cards they knew wouldn’t be there while hundreds stood outside or sat on the steps and walls, hoping that when they got in something worth having was left.

yes, as many have noted, mack has deep flaws for a coach that would serve a grandfather well.

way back when tom landry was no longer the talk of the country, i puzzled what had happened to him. did he change or did the landscape change and he was no longer the ideal coach to have. i finally decided that he did, in fact, change, and it happened when people began describing him as a coaching genius. from that point on, i think he labored to prove them right, forgetting what it was that made him great. mack should break every mirror in his house and just coach.

mildly concerned, you are wrong when you typed. “DKR had excess talent that MB can only dream about because there were no limit on ships.”

There were limits on scholarships for DKR. Not NCAA limits, but there were definitely SWC limits.

Just because you read something in a Randy Galloway column 20 years ago, or heard an Aggie co-worker state something doesn’t make it true.

Scipio – I had a similar path (minus the pledging). An ‘F’ in M408C is the gift that keeps on giving.

I’m on board with bringing back TEX – it’s not Adds & Drops at the Drum, mind you. But, it’s an experience in dashed hopes that all undergrads should experience.

William Livingston’s voice delivering the bad news of an unavoidable degree path-detour just can’t be duplicated.

“This class was not added. The section you have requested is full. All other sections of this class are full.”

Scipio,
Great post, although I could’ve done without the “Joy Behar’s sweaty perineum pressed against a mirror after jazzercise” gem…almost got to reexamine the breakfast I had two hours ago on that one.

It’s reassuring that Mack is much more welcoming of input — from people whose input will help the program — in the wake of this bowl winder of a season. Even more reassuring that Boom is driving the defensive side of things, with Mack’s input.

So true about people not being able to see the forest fire for the trees, and at least Mack was willing to accept the helpful “suggestions” of the cash money folks and not stubbornly dig his heels in, forcing an ugly power play. Make the right hires, and this wreck could be cleaned up fairly quickly.

And thanks for dredging up memories of TEX, which I had blocked out all these years. I remember when they rolled out TEX in 1990 (’91?). We originally saw it as a huge upgrade over the hapless ritual of endlessly circling the Erwin Center concourse, looking for the Liberal Arts table and trying to cut in line so we could attempt (usually in vain) to add this class or that. However, it soon became apparent that TEX had been programmed with a heaping dose of sadism. My frustration finally boiled over one semester and I smashed the phone receiver as TEX giddily proclaimed for the 40th time, in that creepy robot voice, “That class was NOT added.” Good times.

Totally agree with Dmitri. I didn’t have my “life is kicking me in the balls because I’m acting like an idiot” epiphany until about 24, and I’ve always considered myself a bit of a slow learner in that regard. Having it in your 50s speaks volumes about the type of person you are dealing with.

Never beating FSU while at Carolina, 5 game losing streak to OU, a couple of 60 something ass whippings, and the 2007 season ending debacle (I actually thought he got it here, but apparently not) all would qualify as things that would make a rational person stop and say “hey maybe I’m doing something wrong.”

I’m thinking he’ll make the changes necessary to fix the immediate problem, but after 2 or 3 years of a little success, just slip back into the old habits and be shocked when he begins to get the exact same failures. Probably a moot point to us, as he is unlikely to be here in 3 years, but I doubt that this season has permanently changed Mack’s approach.

stuck, the great beauty is that he doesn’t have to change. good thing, as you point out, because he probably can’t really change. he just needs to do things differently for a while. he’s done that before. that’s why we got good for a while. he just needs to do that again, and when things are ginning, step off the bus at a high point and let the new guys take over.

I don’t think any of us gets much wiser to our own flaws if they’ve never been exposed brutally.

Moshe Dayan didn’t start wearing an eye patch until Golda Meir made fun of his lazy eye. True story.

I’m pretty sure that Dmitri Kissov is your every day run of the mill Russian billionaire. The kind that buys World Cup bids.

Just because you read something in a Randy Galloway column 20 years ago, or heard an Aggie co-worker state something doesn’t make it true.

That’s hilarious because I’m 99.2% certain that that is an Ag_in_Tx dig.

great write up…but more than anything else, thanks for bringing up Tex. haven’t thought about that cat in a long time. that was good stuff. I also enjoyed buying the course schedule, as opposed to viewing it online.

TEX: Goodbye and good luck.

(Wasn’t the TEX guy’s voice also used in some of the We’re Texas commercials?)

If you were to take 22 randomly selected players and pick any coach in college football to coach them for one game. Where would Mack fall in the selection order?

The old-school system of lines at the Drum was the best; just get in the same line as the best-looking girls.

“If you were to take 22 randomly selected players and pick any coach in college football to coach them for one game. Where would Mack fall in the selection order?”

Dunno.

Now, if you were going to take a hundred-million-dollar plus company with 140 or so employees and a heavy reliance on public goodwill for its revenue base, and then pick any college football coach to run it for 5-7 years, where would Mack fall in the selection order?

Nice write up Scip…
Ah TEX….kids today are missing out..
“Goodbye and Good luck”

Scip,

As someone who works with Myers-Briggs on a fairly regular basis, I’d bet my house that Mack is an ESFJ. As such, I recognize that analytical thinking isn’t Mack’s strong suit. As an INTP, people skills aren’t my forte. But personality type doesn’t excuse either of us from making an effort to learn what doesn’t come naturally.

Your observation about outcome vs. process orientation actually pinpoints the main source of my ideological frustration with Mack. Nassim Taleb (among others) has shown that an outcome orientation is naive and suboptimal. In most cases, we can’t even identify all of the variables that influence a given outcome, let alone measure them. And then there’s randomness.

A CEO who insists on taking all of the credit for $120 a share, has to take all of the blame for $1.20 a share. At the end of the day, process is the only part of the equation we can control.

Just my 2 cents… I am still a fan of getting Tom Herman from Iowa State. He did a better job at Rice than Major did and has produced All-Americans at just about everywhere he has been. Looks like he is a great wide receiver coach as well. He would be good as the OC or Co-OC.

Registering at the Drum was great if you were in Plan II. If there was no room in a class you wanted you just had to go back to the Plan II table and drag an administrator back with you. Then a space would magically appear. It was like being part of the mafia, a geeky, awkward mafia

TEX on the other hand was like the bouncer who looks at you and says “I don’t give a &^#@ who you are get back in line.”

Ah, yes. Adds & Drops at the Erwin Center and TEX.

TEX was like the worst radio call-in contest ever, and you were forced to participate. At least at the physical adds & drops you might be able to find someone that was dropping the class and get right behind them in line.

TEX was more like playing academic roulette. Now that I think about it, TEX may have been the base program for Davis’ Random Screen Generator.

“Just because you read something in a Randy Galloway column 20 years ago, or heard an Aggie co-worker state something doesn’t make it true.

That’s hilarious because I’m 99.2% certain that that is an Ag_in_Tx dig."

Naw. Ag_In_Tx is a funny guy. He drops claims if you show him evidence to the contrary.

Always have to recognize a Moshe Dayan reference. Well done.

After much consideration, I’m firmly on the side of promoting major to Co-OC and bringing in a damn good offensive line/run game coordinator. Not particularly because I think Major can’t coach a run game, but because I think O-line play is the one place on the field where a great coach can make a major difference. Everywhere else (with the possible exception of quarterback) is more about athletic ability and desire.

The O-line is extremely technical and most college o-linemen are poorly coached. We need a sound blocking scheme, integrated with the run game. Forget the play calling. If we get the o-line right, the rest of our problems will fade away. Gilbert will have time to throw, our receivers will get open and our running backs will have lanes to create explosive plays. Our Defense will look better too.

Focus on the o-line that’s it. The reason we need a run game coordinator/Oline coach is because that guy needs equal say in developing our schemes, he doesn’t need to call the plays.

2 in 13 years -

Your parameters exclude recruiting with the random player concept and involve process more than anything. Assuming including their coaching staffs as well, here may be some qualified candidates:

1. Nick Saban
2. Chris Peterson
3. Jim Tressel
4. Frank Beamer (sp teams)
5. Jim Harbaugh

Now, if you were going to take a hundred-million-dollar plus company with 140 or so employees and a heavy reliance on public goodwill for its revenue base, and then pick any college football coach to run it for 5-7 years, where would Mack fall in the selection order?

5 to 7 years? Or 5 wins, 7 losses years?

I’m thinking most of the Fire Mack Brown, clan come from the post 1996 era of UT football. They clearly can’t remember the bat shit smelling stadium and the $5 HEB tickets; don’t remember being 100 yards from the football field yet having a front row seat; don’t remember the days when FSU and Miami camped out in Texas and took whoever they wanted to win national championships.

The man took GM and turned it into Google.

Thanks for the answers and comments Scip.

Given our latest round of attrition news, I would agree that stabilizing the D-side of the staff as soon as possible would make it easier to recruit and secure commitments to shore up the upcoming personnel shortfalls. It would also show the football world that the rebuilding process is progressing on schedule.

The presumptions are out of control. The one area that both bc and recruito are stretching is with major’s level of control. Make no mistake my brothers, Mack Brown runs this football team. Major is important from a legacy perspective but he has very little say in the process, no more or less than other assistants.

Saint Paul

“The presumptions are out of control.”

BC are screenwriters at heart. You gotta make these presumptions to create dramatic tension, man. The alternative is boring and don’t sell no tickets.

My answering machine at home still concludes with Tex’s (Livingston’s) voice saying, “Good bye, and good luck.” Now my two year old sometimes wanders the house say, “Good bye, and good luck.”

Oh, and good write up.

Scipio, your answer to Dmitri was IMHO absolutely brilliant and precise analysis of how Mack thinks. It is totally consistent with everything we’ve ever heard him say.
**********
This season sucked, but this off-season, though starting way too soon, is certainly more interesting than previous off-seasons. Can we do this every year?

(just kidding)

Scipio: Thought provoking. Thanks.

Question:

Is Will Muschamp maybe hiring HIS eventual defensive coordinator, whether the defensive hire coaches tackles or linebackers?

“There were limits on scholarships for DKR. Not NCAA limits, but there were definitely SWC limits.”

If there were limits, they were damn loose limits. We signed more than 60 guys after our first national championship in 1963. That is the only time I recall us signing more than 50, but it may have happened another time or two (I’m away from my stash of old Texas Football magazines). Ironically, that 1963 bunch was an absolutely terrible class of recruits.

The NCAA limits (I believe) started during DKR’s later years here. When he arrived, however, there were effectively no limits.

I think you’re right that we normally never signed more than 40-something, which, btw, aggies often signed as many or more, and a few other schools signed quite a few like that as well.
The SWC self-imposed limits even when the NCAA hadn’t yet, though they were fairly high compared to what we have now.

What’s intriguing is historically, there’s very dubious evidence that merely limiting ships creates more variation among the top teams. That’s changed a bit only in the last few years, which I attribute to the upheavel in offenses/spread attacks, etc, more than the ship limits. Had the latter been the case, we’d have seen a lot more variation a lot closer to the advent of the 25 limit.

From your lips to Mack’s ear.

Is this your charge with what needs to be the preeminent qualification for the new OC, or do you actually somewhat have your ear on the rail on this?

I’m thinking most of the Fire Mack Brown, clan come from the post 1996 era of UT football.

Most of them may be, but I was at school between ‘85 and ’91. And the reason I wouldn’t mind Mack being gone tomorrow is that this past year’s team looked an awful lot like some of the teams in that time period – though the much better comparison would be the ’97 team, which collapsed from within in a very similar manner.

Moreover, having been in such depths as a fan, I am dead-fucking-set against returning to them. The program during my tenure was all the proof you ever need that an apparently stable and dominating program can fall completely off the map within a couple of years or two, especially when poor play on the field is largely a result of institutional sclerosis, and that it can be excruciatingly difficult to get back.

Been there, done that, got the non-burnt-orange T-shirt.

Redmond – I don’t think so – the “We’re Texas” guy was Walter Cronkite.

Scip – Great job. Again.

Scip—you’re one of the few guys who’s a virtual auto read whenever you put something out.

CJD,

I hear ya.

I remember the surreal feeling of being on campus in September of ’84 – we were #1 and I was there just in time (transferring from UT Arlington), close enough to touch the hem of the garment of a NC season.

Didn’t last long, though, did it.

As many painfully recall, things digressed to the point of no return by ’86, my senior year. The the highlight of that season for me was the purchase of a “Longhorns Are Akers Away From Cotton… FIRE FRED!” T-shirt beside the UGL.

I’ve still got the shirt – and the memory.

Though the current administration prolly never got a shirt, they’ve still got the memory – and they didn’t enjoy reliving it last year.

Hence, Mack’s got a blank check to en$ure they ( nod aswe) won’t go there again.

Again.

I agree with a couple other posters that said they havent been Mack fans since the OU beatdowns. I feel the same way.

A great coach IMO doesnt get curbstomped the way Mack did and hide the way Mack did. It was such a spineless display…I literally threw up in my mouth just thinking about it again.

Thank goodness for Vince Young.

Thank goodness for Vince Young.

Ol’ Vince still has a year of eligibility left, yeah? Maybe if we hire Leach, he can sue the NC2A into letting Vince back on the team for that one more year…

Dammit, no edit…

I was gonna say I bet we can claim Medical Problem for Vince. Clearly, believing you can actually play for a pornstache-wearing former USC Dback is prima facie evidence of insanity. Then we just hafta show that he’s recovered, which coming back to Texas should prove to any rational human.

Dammit, no edit. Close that tag! Did that get it?

NOOO

Never experienced TEX (if you wanted to sign up for a class, you went and stood in line; if that class filled up, you went and stood in another line; grades were posted outside the classroom door) but I took two courses from Dr. Livingston!

Looks like we can add a DC hire to this mix.
 
Along with several other staff positions.

My thoughts?

God fucking dammit. Fuck my life. Shit shit shit shit motherfucking SHIT.

My thoughts right now are that we are goatfucked, unless Bellmont nuts up and gets ready to spend a lotta dough on some splashy hires SOON. Goatfucked as in the program may have just passed an inflection point and is now heading in the wrong direction.

“Mack the Knife” indeed. Underestimate him at your peril.

Mack Brown’s ego combined with this ignorance as a coach and his undeniable inability to
evaluate offensive talent has sunk this ship. He better get it right with the next batch of hires.
Then, may I suggest, a very long and permanent vacation to Tobacco Road.

the original analysis by Scipo Tex was good until late yesterday. Time to check the math again and @Texas the poster, VY ain’t coming back, not now, not ever but never. You should really move on and get someone else to hang you hat on.