The New Texas Defensive Coordinator Is Teryl Austin

I’m done with trusting Mack. I pray that Bellmont is also forcing him to commit to a retirement date too.

Hopefully he is great. Liked Shannon’s resume’ more.

meh

well, shit

Interesting hire. Here’s hoping that the relative mediocrity of the Florida defense was due to the piss poor offense as you say and not due to a lack of scheme and adjusting on his part.

Scip,

Any chance of bringing Shannon on in some position coach, co-coordinator role or is that a ridiculous pipe dream?

Really hard to escape the feeling that we’ve taken a major step down. Look forward to finding out about his philosophy with Xs & Os, and how his schemes potentially match up with offenses in the Big 12-2.

I sincerely hope he’s good.

But this brings up a couple of questions:

1. If he’s not good enough for Will to keep, why is he good enough for Mack?

2. If his one year of experience in college is good enough for Mack, why isn’t Applewhite’s Rice/Bama experience good enough for Mack?

Shannon seems like a ridiculous pipe dream.

Heavy sigh.

this is the winter of my discontent…

LosHorn -
 
It’s not inconceivable.
 
I know we talked to Shannon, despite the denials out there. He’d be a fantastic LB coach/special teams coordinator. It really depends on what he wants to do for a year or two until he gets back into a head job and if Mack feels comfortable with a very strong presence on his staff at a position coach level.
 
I suspect my last sentence has some clues as to why not.

Good facial hair is a plus.

I like rolling the dice on a young guy. I’m open to this. I think I prefer it to Shannon. This is a guy who at least watched Meyer for a year.

So I guess we are taking Muschamp’s discards. Hope it all works out.

Tex, some possible answers:

1.) He may have been good enough for Muschamp, but it’s seems clear that he’s hell-bent on getting Smart. Maybe he sees having no DC in place as the leverage needed to get Smart on board. Clearly, this is a risky, but potentially rewarding scenario.

2.) Applewhite and Austin’s resumes aren’t really comparable. While Austin has only been a coordinator for a year, he’s been coaching a lot longer than Applewhite. Not that I don’t think Applewhite doesn’t deserve a shot (unless we can get Harsin).

Just possible answers, hardly definitive ones.

Toadvine -
 
True. He watched a distracted and conflicted Urban Meyer go 7-5.

I’m less than ambivalent. This reeks to me of Mack wanting someone who will be a yes man. 3 years of WM probably left Mack longing for someone who won’t stand up to him and tell him what he needs to here. Randy Shannon probably wouldn’t have been a yes man. Someone in Teryl Austin’s place though (only 1 year as DC with mediocre results and no job) is much more likely to be the yes man Mack wants.

What a great future this sets up.

We’re Texas!

“Most troubling, his children are named Tyler, Trey and Torin, Alexa and Alivia. He is an ALLITERATION-NAMING PARENT.”

Apparently it’s even worse than that, his name is Tyler and his wife’s name is apparently April so they alliterated the boys’ names with his and the girls’ names with his wife. UGGGH. I guess only defensive players’ whose first names start with T will start this year (rules out Blake at least).

This hire does nothing for me, I assume nothing for recruits, and feels kinda like Brad Pitt swapping wives with Tom Arnold.

Meant “his name is Teryl” not Tyler.

nunna ya- his results were roughly the same as muschamp’s this year.

I’ve heard nothing to convince me to renew my season tickets.

Not to get to far down the conspiracy theory path, but perhaps we’re doing Urban a personnel favor ( no pun intended) in return for a personnel favor, such as not raiding our staff. More likely our head coach is taking a phone call from an utterly crafty guy at face value. Unbelievable.

Scipio,

It all goes back to the Process vs. Results thing. Meyer has always been about process. Even in a bad and conflicted year, watching Meyer can’t be a bad thing.

mattdubya -
 
He has one year of results to show for his entire career. Care to compare their larger resume?

Scipio,

I really didn’t watch FL this year at all. Can you speak about Austin in terms of his Xs and Os? What style and scheme does he favor etc?

Toadvine -
 
It doesn’t hurt. I just think it’s totally irrelevant. He’s not an Urban Meyer guy who came up with him while watching him for years. He watched a distracted and removed Urban Meyer shit the bed and he got the job as a desperation hire to begin with. We’re not talking about a formative experience.

In Mack we trust

Tis the winter of our underwhelment.

It will still be really difficult to judge this guy fully and fairly based on the 2011 season. Look at the defensive depth chart, especially at DL and CB. There is no depth and lots of green. This had the potential to be a much worse defense next year even with Muschamp at the helm of it. He is walking in to a very, very difficult situation.

t1climb1 -
 
Coming soon

I dreamed of Muschamp Version 2.0. That person may not exist, so I can live with a handsome, African American gentleman with quite a few years of NFL experience. Kids like to hear about that, right?

http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/passing/position/defense/year/2003

AZ Cardinals passing defense:

2009 – 23rd of 32
2008 – 22nd
2007 – 28th

Seattle passing defense:

2006 – 16th
2005 – 25th
2004 – 23rd
2003 – 27th

Not exactly impressive on first glance. Maybe the Cards and Seahawks GM’s didn’t give T. Austin enough quality players to work with. Or maybe they did.

That said, the OC hire is probably the make or break decision for Mack.

Well, Teryl played at Pitt, so at least now (finally!) we’ll have Mark May on our side!

I am so excited.

scip -

it’s obviously not there as a dc. the depth of his experience is being undersold a little bit i think. he’s got a good bit at the college and pro level.

i also think your theory of urban trying to help his buddy out and it being a panic hire is a bit much too. do you think urban wanted to go 7-5 this year? or was ok with 7-5? or was ok with hiring a guy he thought wasn’t good enough to be in charge of his entire defense? even for a year? even in a panic? even if he did or didn’t know he was gonna bounce out at the end of the season? i doubt it.

His last name is the same as the name of the school’s city. I don’t see how we can lose!

Does anyone have any clues about his temperament and style? I’m not expecting Coach Boom 2.0, but please, little baby Jesus, I hope this guy has some fire.

Like you said he has room to grow as a coordinator. Hopefully that pans out.

Definitely not a sexy hire on the surface. But we can do worse than a young African-American with NFL and SEC experience on the recruiting trail. Especially in the Dallas area. We’ll see.

Crowbar sez: Not that I don’t think Applewhite doesn’t deserve a shot (unless we can get Harsin).

I hope all this pussyfooting around with the O staff is just waiting for whatever Toilet Bowl BSU got sent to, and Harsin’s the guy, and we’re keeping Major but letting Harsin hire his own guys.

Harsin certainly does not seem to remotely possibly have any “baggage” keeping Mack from hiring him, so I’m hoping he is going to be coming. I’m still open to Malzahn, of course, and over on hornfans, HPSlugga made a very good case for the LT coach, Morris coming in from Tulsa as a CO-whatever. The one thing I’m really still worried about – you might think unreasonably, but I’m not sure “reasonable” can be applied to Mack anymore – is that after all is said and done, Mack takes GD out of retirement… yeah, it seems completely absurd, but I’m still worried about it. I sincerely hope that the absolute worst possible outcome is that we give it to Major. I think it would sit well with lots of people, and I really think he can make a go of it, if Mack will keep his nose out of the situation.

I’m still thinking that Will was under the impression that it was his team now, and Mack was relegated to figure-head, so when Mack vetoed Holgorsen and Will found out his mandate didn’t go as far as he wanted, he said “fuck it” and started prospecting.

Man, oh man, this is just getting so fucking weird… Teryl? Who’da thunk it?

hmmm -

looking at those stats in a vacuum is useless.

how was their pass rush? injuries? etc/whatever et al

my basic thing is i don’t entirely hate it. i’m not completely thrilled but it’s moot at this point

eh.

buh-bye recruits…

However, unlike Will Muschamp, who I knew would be a game-changer the moment he was hired, the best I can offer is wait-and-see. I hope Austin is wildly successful and a year from now we’re all crowing about having the hottest coordinator in college football. Until then…

Trust Mack, it seems. Again.

This is the key for me. From the standpoint of hiring the right guy, it’s a heck of a lot safer to go out and grab a known game-changer like Muschamp than it is to properly evaluate and project a guy that is more of an unknown. That’s true for any program that has the resources to land the known game-changer. I fear it’s especially true for Texas right now.

I trust Mack Brown ergo let’s just wait and see. All the women that are tearing their hair out need to slow their roll. Or get a hysterectomy. Hookem.

If he was white, I’d be triple-meh. As it stands, I’ll be caustically optimistic.

“That’s racism, man! I love to racism, bro!”

This cat might turn out to be lightning in a bottle, but why are we hiring somebody with whom that’s even a question? Is this the best guy out there? Fucking mind-boggling.

Does his still play with the Blowfish or has the country career taken hold?

I find little to be optimistic about today except maybe a sweet combo of Shannon and Austin. My one comfort is that Mack knows this is his last chance to get this right. IMO he will be doing all in his power to get who he thinks is the best as our coordinators. Obviously this depends on his skill evaluation, but in a very volatile time for longhorns, I think this is something we can put our hope in.

As far as Harsin, Scip, what is your opinion on Ag in TX post over on the SoapBox?
I get the feeling like you believe in the systems ability to transition more than he does…is this correct? He relies heavily on this:

http://smartfootball.com/gameplanning/breaking-down-boise-how-the-broncos-use-leverage-numbers-and-grass-to-gash-the-opposition

“but why are we hiring somebody with whom that’s even a question?”

EXACTLY

mattdubya -
 
As I said, he’s a blank slate. We can project anything we want into him. But the fact that he was a panic hire at Florida is not a projection. How it went down is how I described it. You don’t hire a guy in February with a full array of options available to you.

It’s hard to get past the 1 yr of DC experience. Might be shit, might be casserole. I hope we hire a LB coach next. I’d rather have 2 coaches for the secondary, than 2 on the d-line.

Evberybody is all over Harsin. Doesn’t Peterson run that offense?

Do we know exactly how much of it is Harsin?

Lone Optimist/Los Horn -
 
This conversation isn’t about OCs.

I agree, this looks like a Mack comfort zone hire. A guy who seems like he’ll be open to whatever Mack tells him, and if things don’t work out, it’s not Mack’s fault (like a former OC?).

Damn, I hope we’re wrong, and Coach Austin turns out to be exactly what we need.

On the Eyes thread that got yanked, I posted a scene from The Caine Mutiny. An interesting book, good play, and terrific movie following a naval vessel – the Caine – with its commander, Captain Queeg, sinking into insanity as his staff tries to keep him from destroying them all. It seemed apropos to our own situation in some ways, and now appears to be even more so. Particularly if we find that Muschamp really did eat Mack’s strawberries.

“Similarly, don’t discount the notion that Urban Meyer feels more than a tad guilty for leaving staff in the lurch at Florida. He’s an Ohio Catholic named after a Pope – it’s written into his DNA. He hired Austin with assurances that he would there long term”

Meyer snubbed Notre Dame for Florida. I’m thinking his guilty conscience is greatly overrated.

roach -
 
Interpersonal relationships in which you go back on a promise and freely choosing to coach where you think you can win are different things, I think.

There certainly is no sense in trying to get the best DC available. After all, who are we?

Scipio Tex sez: Lone Optimist/Los Horn – This conversation isn’t about OCs.

Which of the other conversations is about OCs?

over/under on the # of defensive recruits this will cost us?

I really hope its “.5” vs. something like “3.5”

Tex Long -
 
All of the ones on OC hires over the last two weeks. And the ones yet to come.
 
Von Kaiser -
 
I’d be surprised to lose more than 1 and 0 is likely.

VK, I think that all depends on Akina.

I have a couple problems with Scipio Tex’s original post.

One, he says "Austin had exactly one year of defensive coordinator experience at Florida . . . , where he had a year that was roughly comparable to Muschamp’s 2010." That implies that Muschamp sucked and that its good we’re rid of him, and that we were hoping to get someone much better. The OP then goes on to note that UF’s staff was gutted and Meyer had to scramble to line up Austin as DC in February 2010 – which means Austin had had nowhere near "exactly one year," had no say in recruiting, and had a very short amount of time to get familiar with his personnel and try to shape the UF defense by September. Given that, the UF defense’ stats this year are not particularly troubling . . . .

Two, I call BS on the business about Meyer feeling guilty and pulling the wool over Mack’s eyes to get Austin a position he doesn’t deserve. Mack’s not stupid, and Austin presumably has a lot more references than just Meyer.

All that said, I too was hoping for a "big splash" and am feeling a bit underwhelmed by this hire. But I’ll give Mack the benefit of the doubt here and hope it’s a stroke of genius.

I can’t say I’m too surprised that Mack (apparently) passed over a guy who just finished a four-year stint as a head coach at a big time program (Miami); that could present some ego/management problems for Mack and his new staff – much as a Leach hire could – and who is more likely to jump ship after a year or two than a young up and comer.

If he was white, I’d be triple-meh. As it stands, I’ll be caustically optimistic.

That’s not racism, it’s just retarded.

…what I like to hear….thanks….

I pray your right about the recruits Scip

How much time does this hire buy for Mack? That may be the real issue…

If he hired big splashes, like Shannon and Harsin, we’d expect instant results, and a shitty 2011 might bring more than just dark clouds.

Does hiring an unknown like Austin provide Mack-slack?

“He watched a distracted and removed Urban Meyer shit the bed and he got the job as a desperation hire to begin with. We’re not talking about a formative experience.”

Sounds pretty formative to me …

Mack is apparently looking for new bestest buddies, nobody that will possibly challenge him in the near future.

We better be paying him like 1/50th of Will’s old salary.

Sounds pretty formative to me …
 
I think positively formative is the key idea.
 
Cancer is also formative. I don’t see it as a plus.

Scipio Tex said: All of the ones on OC hires over the last two weeks. And the ones yet to come.

I just thought it might be helpful if you had one in mind that you felt was more appropriate, and that if you did, a little link might be useful.

So, my apology, and fuck me, no doubt.

Similarly, don’t discount the notion that Urban Meyer feels more than a tad guilty for leaving staff in the lurch at Florida. He’s an Ohio Catholic named after a Pope – it’s written into his DNA. He hired Austin with assurances that he would there long term. It would feel good to fulfill his responsibility to a good man by placing him at another elite destination job at a comparable program. Perhaps his evaluation of Austin to Brown reflected that feeling

If this narrative catches on into the mass brain of the e-verse, I will applaud you for starting this.

Considering the attrition Florida suffered on the defensive side of the ball after the 2009 season, a total defense ranked #9 in the nation isn’t exactly something to complain about. I can’t help but imagine what that defense would have looked like had certain players decided to stick around for 2010.

He’s an Ohio Catholic named after a Pope

Could never recruit the suburbs, for some reason.

I also can’t help but imagine what this hire does to Blake Gideon’s playing time.

A gator friend of mine just emailed me the commentary below. I admit I know nothing about florida’s D last year, but it does look like the gator fans are taking the loss of their DC a bit better than we took the loss of Will.

“he sucks. seriously. we had great talent and a shitty D. no pass rush. crappy LB play. even our all-american safety was burned numerous times. They were disorganized and poorly coached.
 
sorry.”

In all seriousness, who would be the best DC hire we could make if we spend $1-1.5 M? Could we get Bud Foster?

His experience as a defensive backs coach at the college and NFL level is estimable, but as a defensive coordinator, we’ve hired a blank slate. This is a coach who will still be growing on the job, which doesn’t disqualify him, but certainly doesn’t recommend him.

Much is being made of the fact that Urban Meyer hired him, an endorsement by arguably the shrewdest guy in college football, but it ignores the timing and context of the event. Meyer’s staff was gutted by coaching hires to other programs, Urban had his brief I’m-Retired-No-I’m-Not flirtation, and Meyer’s new hire defensive coordinator at the time – George Edwards – left the Florida job after only month for a NFL gig in Buffalo.

Urban Meyer found himself scrambling for a defensive coordinator in February with uncertainties clouding his own willingness to continue long-term.

Wait & See approach but on surface this “underwhelming” choice is a reach.

The following link/excerpt is from UF when (Meyer) hired DC but if you read tween lines…do not think due dilegence done (it appears that Meyer took recommendation from staff assts/friend) kinda make me think Meyer was already checking out and we’re to believe he’s a good recruiter? yet no burp on write up

http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20100212/ARTICLES/100219826/1136?p=1&tc=pg

“Austin has a substantial connection with two members on the Florida staff — interim head coach Steve Addazio and quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler. Austin and Addazio worked on the same Syracuse staff in 1996-98, while Austin and Loeffler were on the same Michigan staff in 2002.

“I am pleased to have Teryl join our staff,” UF coach Urban Meyer said in the release. "Coach Addazio did a great job coordinating our efforts with Chuck Heater and Dan McCarney to hire Teryl. It was important that we had some familiarity with Teryl as both Coach Addazio and Coach Loeffler had worked with him before.

“He also comes highly recommended from my close friend Bill Davis, the defensive coordinator of the Cardinals. It was also important that we hire a coach who is a great teacher, a great mentor and has the ability to be a great recruiter. Coach Austin has all those qualities and beyond that he’s a good family man.”

Austin just completed his seventh season coaching in the NFL. Before his three-year stint with the Cardinals, Austin was the secondary coach for the Seattle Seahawks for four seasons. He coached in two Super Bowls. He also has 12 years of collegiate coaching experience, at Penn State, Wake Forest, Syracuse and Michigan.

“I’m excited to join the Gator coaching staff,” Austin, 44, said. "I’ve watched from afar what this program is about — winning championships with dynamic players and doing things the right way.

“Now, I’m honored to be a part of the program and a part of the Gator Nation. I look forward to getting to work with an outstanding group of players and a great coaching staff.”

While he was a college assistant coach, Austin earned the reputation of being an excellent recruiter. As a secondary coach in the NFL, he was known for developing players.

In 2008, Arizona rookie and first-round pick Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie led the Cardinals with four interceptions in the regular season. He had two more picks in the playoffs.

The year before, Austin’s secondary helped the Cardinals lead the NFL in interception returns for touchdowns (six).

During his tenure in Seattle, Austin developed a strong secondary made up of young draft picks that included Marcus Trufant, Ken Hamlin, Michael Boulware and Kelly Jennings.

So this guy is a blank slate and by all accounts hasn’t spent any time growing in a system.

Unless there is some defensive identity/philosophy that Mack has been hiding for the last 10 years, I’d say this is pretty risky.

It seems like we really have no idea what we’re getting next year.

Blank slate and a general lack of authority is exactly what the doctor (pepper) ordered for ol’ Mack.

Sorry…i should have cleaned that up to make it an easier read!… Uecker “just a bit outside”

This pisses me off.

Somebody please put Malcolm Brown in a closet for the next 17 days until 2010 is over. I know he recommitted earlier today (or yesterday) but you never know.

Good lord, what did we do to deserve this shitty year?

Did perhaps Akina sway Mack towards Austin vs another candidate?

In the interest of trust but verify, some more stats, FWIW.

Total team defense vs (passing defense):

AZ:

2009 – 20 (23)
2008 – 19 (22)
2007 – 17 (28)

Sea:

2006 – 19 (16)
2005 – 17 (25)
2004 – 26 (23)
2003 – 19 (27)

So in 5 of 7 years the unit he coached underformed compared to the total team defense. Though with both teams he showed improvement from the 1st to 2nd year, and in the 4th year with Seattle. Still his best year his secondary only reached the middle of the league.
 
What did the defense and secondary rank the year after he left?

AZ 2010 – 30 (25)

Sea 2007 – 15 (19)
 
Interceptions:

(2010 AZ after he left – 24)

2009 – 27
2008 – 21
2007 – 29

(2007 Sea after he left – 21)

2006 – 17
2005 – 28
2004 – 23
2003 – 28

Receiving defense:

(2010 AZ after he left – 24)

2009 – 27
2008 – 21
2007 – 29

(2007 Sea after he left – 21)

2006 – 17
2005 – 28
2004 – 23
2003 – 28

I’m gonna have stop reading this website and recruitocosm. you’re all making me very depressed. I don’t need this in my life. call me when Mack’s out.

"But why are we hiring somebody with whom that’s even a question?"

This statement with worth repeating again.

You can’t afford to gamble on a ‘blank slate’ with ‘room to grow’ when you’re a 5-7 football program with a kazillion dollars worth of tv revenue, stadium expansion loans, alumni donations, and merchandise sales at stake…not to mention an eternity until national signing day.

I’ve read before that the AD has clearance to spend up to $1MM on an OC hire…if that’s the case, how did they manage to end up with a guy on Defense who will probably make less than half of Muschamp’s previous $900k?

In the absence of financial constraints, everyone universally agreed that anything less than a total slam-dunk hire at both coordinator positions was wholly unacceptable. With Austin now hired and Malzahn/Holgorsen off the board, I don’t see how this turns out to be anything better than a C+ staffing performance from Mack, when anything less than an A effort seemed potentially disastrous.

stuckinmn – You could honestly say the same thing about our D this year. But yet, no one is hating on Muschamp. I’m skeptical on Austin, but it seems like FLA suffered the same let down as we did this year. Our D didn’t put up spectacular numbers, mainly due to an anemic O.

I can’t say I’m too surprised that Mack (apparently) passed over a guy who just finished a four-year stint as a head coach at a big time program (Miami); that could present some ego/management problems for Mack and his new staff

The absolute last thing anyone who knows anything about Randy Shannon would say is that he would be an ego problem.

@stuckinmn—

Sounds like Gator fans hated both coordinators. At least we liked one. So we had that going for us. Which was nice.

Mack found someone who fit all his criteria. Bravo.

1. Was available (not one of 70 DCs coaching bowl games)

3. Non-threatening.

BTW, I have no idea how I managed to type the phrase “with worth repeating again”.

Well, now that the DC mystery has been solved. Does any body know how that translate to the DL/LB hires and Akina. Any rumours out there worth discussing? There was a post in another thread about the new coords having a say on the subsequent hires.

Will Giles take over DL?
Who will coach LB?
What will Akina’s role be?

“I think positively formative is the key idea.”

Fair enough. To that point -

He produced Muschamp-esque results in the middle of what was probably the only shitstorm in college football bigger than ours. Small sample? To be sure. Encouraging? At least to a degree. Positively formative? I think so … the worst of life’s experiences often produce its most valuable lessons.

“Cancer is also formative. I don’t see it as a plus.”

If it doesn’t kill / permanently disable you, it can be.

Scipio:

Mostly I was trying to be funny, but as you said, he’s an Ohio Catholic named for a pope. Trust me, Urban got some serious pressure to accept the Notre Dame job.

I’m guessing the phone call went something like this:

Urban: Hey mom I’ve got these two great job offers lined up. I’m thinking of taking the Florida job though, it will be better for my career.

Urban’s Mom: Urban Meyer III if I have to go to confession on Saturday and explain to Bishop Murry what possible failure in my own life could have led you astray. Why my own son went to Florida over serving the church. . . the penance I can’t even imagine. What on earth will they say on Thursday at the bingo game.

Now that’s some serious guilt.

If one of his first moves is to bench Gideon…. Then I’m alright with him

Mad Clapper brings up a good point. I wonder if a large portion of the interviews was devoted to Dr. Pepper-making and ice-putting-in skills.

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang, but with a whimper
—“The Hollow Men,” by T.S. Eliot (1925)

I’ll be more optimistic tomorrow— paraphrase Miss Scarlet

If one of his first moves is to teach Gideon to play…. Then I’m alright with him

There I fixed it for ya.

The plane has crashed into the mountain.

Thoughts on this hire:

- X and O/scheming capability: Incomplete, for the reasons mentioned. Just not enough data to go on, and I think the experience of the 2010 Florida D could be spun a number of ways.

- Teaching/coach ‘em up capability: Incomplete, although you’ve got to assume some solid knowledge from his NFL experience. I’m not going to hold some shaky NFL results against him – Greg Robinson’s last NFL defense before he came to Texas sucked out loud, and he did a pretty damn good job here. Disappointing that his skill set overlaps with Akina’s, but hey – maybe he can actually teach zone coverage.

- Recruiting capability (starting with our current players and 2011 recruits): I’m reasonably optimistic here, but it will be interesting how he and the rest of the staff are able to spin things if indeed Shannon’s name had been floated to mollify recruits. This one should start to prove out in the current weeks if we’re able to keep Edmonds, Russell, etc. in the fold.

- Big Splash Buzz-O-Meter: Can’t give this one more than a 3 out of 10. Not really a name on anyone’s radar, not anyone that carries a lot of cachet. Results beat buzz every time, but buzz matters – a hell of a lot more kids listing Oregon in their top 5 than even one or two years ago. Given some potential personnel limitations on D in 2011 (which could get substantially worse depending on how the immediate recruiting effort goes) some buzz could help insulate us against a further brand slip if we don’t come out of the gate knocking heads.

I’m scoring it as three big question marks and a failing grade out of four at this point – is that the OPTIMAL hire that Texas, with a blank check and nationwide interest in this position, could have made? I can’t imagine that it is.

What I’m really interested to learn is if we’re getting turned down on both sides of the ball by multiple candidates. If we’re privy to the dissatisfaction that Applewhite and Muschamp felt this season, how much of that has worked its way through the coaching grapevine? Are candidates not getting answers they like on questions of recruiting/scheming/playcalling autonomy or timelines? Is Mack projecting an “in it to win it” demeanor that makes candidates feel good about a 3-4 year stint in Austin, or are they concerned that they might be signing up for a descent into Bowden-land?

If you’re telling me that our glacial pace (compared to Florida’s, or what Bama’s will be if Smart jumps ship) is that we’re getting all our ducks in a row for massive, perfect, big spash hires, this one hasn’t convinced me at ALL that that’s what’s going on.

This feels like a rebound swap. Florida steals the love-of-our-life, and in return, we get the Gators’ unremarkable sloppy seconds. Texas is now the prematurely-balding, slightly-overweight, no-longer-appealing ex-husband of the college football world.

How humbling.

nobis60 -
 
If you know anything about Mack, he wouldn’t interview a candidate that MIGHT turn him down.
 
We pretty much had our pick of guys. Mack has been flooded with resumes and interest. From places he didn’t even anticipate.

stuckinmn said:
December 14th, 2010 at 3:07 pm

A gator friend of mine just emailed me the commentary below. I admit I know nothing about florida’s D last year, but it does look like the gator fans are taking the loss of their DC a bit better than we took the loss of Will.

"he sucks. seriously. we had great talent and a shitty D. no pass rush. crappy LB play. even our all-american safety was burned numerous times. They were disorganized and poorly coached. Sorry."

An few idiot Texas fans have probably sent their Florida buddies the same email about Muschamp.

maninblack –
 
Exactly. The average Texas or Florida fan’s take is generally going to be horrendous.

Really, if we’re talking big splash buzz o meter, who is out there,

1.) Dick Lebeau- uh ok aggies he’s on his way.

2.) Kirby Smart — Now if we dropped 2 mil a year to get this guy and make him HCIW to replace Muschamp it fits the bill. That said, given personal relationship with WM

3.) Tim DeRuyter — This has all kinds of win written all over it. Not to mention, it would confirm the arrival of the new cold blooded Mack Brown.

4.) Carl Pelini — Not gonna happen.

5.)????

I don’t want to get too excited, but I have seen practice pictures where Mr. Austin looks EXACTLY like Stringer Bell. I consider that an excellent omen.

According to Huck’s adjusted stats (last updated 10/30 sadly):
       Floriday || UT
YPC: 20 || 7
YPpass:33 || 4
YPP: 28th || 1
PPG: 26th || 17
TOs/g: 13 || 75
RZ %/play: 57 || 30

Just based on last year, it is a step down. But it isn’t falling off a cliff. Maybe we go from ~8th defense to ~20th. If this is what has to happen for us to go from the ~85th offense to the 20th, so be it.

Austin’s first UF press conference. I am concerned about the statement he makes about recruiting, something about will explain to his wife. (Someone please embed if desired. I am old enough to be Scip’s Dad, can barely turn a computer on)

Rumors popping up that Norm Chow is a leading candidate for the OC spot.

I’m not kidding.

Jesus Shuttlesworth said: Edit

December 14th, 2010 at 3:45 pm

It’s not a done deal yet. Austin is a finalist.

A lot of conflicting reports……

“from places he didn’t anticipate” — now that is thought provoking…..

DeRuyter, Chavis, bud foster, Heacock…. I’ll dream for a bit and trust Mr. Shuttlesworth

We pretty much had our pick of guys. Mack has been flooded with resumes and interest. From places he didn’t even anticipate.

Tell us more about this, please.

Good lord. Not quite the Mangino cannonball splash we were looking for. Maybe Mack’s pissed and just plans on burning the program to the ground.

Your boy, Heysus……May be something. May be nothing….

1. We asked the best source we have if he Austin has been offered the DC position. He said, “No!” 6 minutes ago via TweetDeck

Seems a bit of a reach for you guys, compared to previous hires. On another semi related note it seems Will has offered Brandon Alexander. Bollux!

FYI, a cigar tells me we dodged a bullet with Holgorsen

Yeah, this seems like business as usual. Even when Muschamp was hired, Mack’s commentary on why stressed the relationships. More than describing X and O aptitude or a fitting personnel/system match, we heard about how Muschamp had connections with the Texas staff. He had worked with Tolleson before, he knew Giles or someone else, had coached across from Major in the SEC. Then Mack described some of the 2nd degree of seperation associations between his staff and Boom, which weaved through various channels. Of course he praised his general aptitude and well regarded D’s and coaching acumen. However, Mack seemed to rattle off defensive accolades like a list, and appeared intent when describing how they “knew” Muschamp.

None of this is damning of Teryl Austin himself. Rather, it seems our hiring “process” is driven by factors that don’t align. And when they don’t, I think the political factors take primacy in the decision. It doesn’t seem like a recipe for success. One more process critique.

The fucking maddening thing is that this equates to more waiting. Blank slate indeed. We at least have a coach now, which is better than an empty slot leading up to NSD, but on all the aspects of practical value, there are a lot of question marks. I hope the guy is ready, because he is inheriting a hell of an environment where he’ll need some big brass balls to answer them.

How do I post a pic of Leslie Nielson saying, “I just want to tell you good luck, we’re all counting on you” ???

Shuttlesworth saying best source says Austin has not been offered the DC job.

This hire, if it happens, if no more of a risk than Florida is making to hire Muschamp as HC.

I expect it will take three seasons after all these coaching announcements for the Horns to complete for a B12 title, just like it took Mike Sherman three seasons at a&m to be competitive again. Whenever you make this many new hires, you have to expect that 1-2 will be poor choices, and that Mack that correct those mistakes another only one season.

But I what I expect in the next three seasons, based just on coaching turnover/new hires:

2011: 6 wins
2012: 8 wins
2013: 10 wins

The reason question is will Mack still be around if the team only wins 6 games next year?

Holgorsen was never under consideration after we vetted him, ransom stoddard.

Word on the wire now seems to be that Austin has not been given a formal offer yet.

Given that he is was only an NCAA DC for nine months, could it be that UT is considering him as a position coach — perhaps with an Assistant DC title to make it sound better? And we’re still looking to hire a big-splash DC?! (I’m asking, but don’t assume anyone can answer given the information slowdown imposed by Blemont.)

Keeping an open mind.

People who think Mack is going to hire someone just to piss everyone off and show who is boss are starting to lose their thin grip on reality.

When the plane crashes into the mountain the pilot dies first.

If our DC is at least league average and we get a top decile OC vs. our lower quartile Greg Davis, its a win at the end here.

Yes, Greg Davis was that bad. Dont forget it.

Scip, I know. The vetting revealed the bullet.

Wake me up when Mack retires to the old folks home.

Can’t wait for the boos and the banners when it blows up.

"from places he didn’t anticipate." Tony Dungy, IMO.

Kyle Shanahan?

it’s all about control. the next twelve or fifteen years will be all about getting things tamped down again and in apple pie order. then we can look into the issue of hciw all over again, only maybe this time we’ll mean it.

I find it funny the lack of respect that Patterson gets as a defensive mind across college football. He’s about 10 years ahead of all these NFL coaching minds with regards to defending spread offenses:

- Base nickel defense with no situational personnel preventing the spread guys from exploiting substitutions.

- Equally adept at defending any type of offense, whether it be a power running, passing spread or option spread since alignment is mostly constant.

- Simple coverages between man and zone that can be installed in 2 days. Only requires about 2 or 3 smart players and then surround them with afoletes.

The turnover rate of players is so fast at the college level that you’re basically re-installing a new defensive system every other year. With these complicated schemes, you’re consistently a victim of inexperience and lack of athleticism because the young guy hasn’t picked it up. Patterson seems to have overcome this with simplicity and speed. He plugs and they can play, yet no other coaches in college football seem to give his system any street cred. I think he’s in the same phase as Leach was back at the turn of the century, where most coaches feel he’s still running a gimmick defense since his pedigree is not rich.

This actually has nothing to do with your DC hire really, just an observation I’ve been noticing.

Aww shit there’s 2 Jon’s on here now, now I have to have an original handle.

Although this is may be an underwhelming hire, I’m taking the wait and see approach. I don’t think anyone should necessarily conclude that Teryl Austin wasn’t “good enough” for Muschaump and that the Horns are getting the Gators dingleberries. I am not familiar with Teryl Austin’s defensive approach, but isn’t it plausible that he does not utilize the same philosophy regarding pressure, coverages, blitzes, etc. as Muschaump….and thus Will wants to install someone (like Kirby Smart) from his defensive dojo?

I mean Florida sucked almost as bad as the Horns did this year…(no they didn’t, no one did but they did suck)….and they finished #9 in total defense with a lot of attrition to the NFL from the season before (and a 1st year DC).

Check out Florida’s defensive stats…
http://web1.ncaa.org/football/exec/rankingSummary?year=2010&org=235

And Texas’…
http://web1.ncaa.org/football/exec/rankingSummary?org=703&year=2010&week=15

I’m not saying Florida was dominant, but the last time I checked the SEC is a helluva lot tougher than the current Big 12. I’m not elated either, but before we all chase our bourbon down with cyanide let’s see what this guy is all about. At least he’s young and ambitious and doesn’t seem completely incompetent like Gary Darnell. And I loved his work on “The Wire”

“I find it funny the lack of respect that Patterson gets as a defensive mind across college football. He’s about 10 years ahead of all these NFL coaching minds with regards to defending spread offenses:”

-Plays 1 to 2 games a year against quality opponents. The rest of his games are against severely outclassed conference opponents.

I guess I will take up drinking again for just one night, to get over and done with this. I hope I’m done with that one night by Spring practice.

dedfischer :

To expand, if your athletes are across the board better than the other teams athletes you can sit in your base defense all day and not adjust. When you face a team that can match your athletes or beat them you better change up your scheme to compensate i.e. be multiple.

NFL defenses don’t have nearly the variety of offenses to worry about, but, the offenses also have a lot more time to prepare. If you don’t think a pro offensive coordinator/QB would shred a base defense if that’s all they had to face your nuts. see Manning Peyton, Brady, Tom.

he hurt us, the Gators, this year. I hope you guys hire a good OC!

roach, that’s exactly the kind of ignorance I think they use in writing off his success. Would you take his 263 yards and 10 points against RGIII and 231 yards and 7 points against Air Force? I know Bob Stoops would. He’s the easily the best and most consistent around these parts in my amateur observations. I’m really curious about how he stacks up against Wisky in the Rose.

Dedfischer,

One game season.

 I like Air Force, a lot, but lets not confuse playing Air Force once in a decade with playing them every year.

Please.

I agree that the Wisconsin game will be interesting. It won’t change my criticism that TCU plays a one game season every year though.

So, you’re convinced his defense is a gimmick? I used to think the same thing until he kept losing guys to the NFL and then not skipping a beat the next year. I think the key to his system is the simplicity and how quick it can be taught to a college player, not an NFL player who might get fired if he fucks up more than a couple of weeks in a row. He protects his corners and safeties, creates an aggressive pass rush and run defense, and forces turnovers. I don’t think it’s a fluke. I think it would kick ass at a place like Texas. He’s shut down Mike Leach and Kevin Wilson offenses once in a decade.

The Chicken Littles and Mack Brown haters (send him to an old folks home, seriously? he’s 59) really need to take a fistful of Valium. True, Mack kept Greg Davis around too long and this season was a disaster, but in the six prior years he took us to multiple BCS bowls including two NC games, went 2008 with one loss, went undefeated until Colt went down in 2009, and made UT one of the most dominant teams and brand names in the land. (Oh, and for the Muschamp cult, he hired WM, which the MB haters seem to think was one of the few things MB got right.) Mack deserves a little more credit than he’s getting in some quarters. Anyone hoping that he retires soon (especially now that Muschamp is gone, but even before that IMHO) needs to have their head checked.

At least Patterson’s teams typically do not lose to lesser teams, something that cannot be said about Mack Brown. Face it, TCU would beat Texas by 30 points right now. Their recruiting is on the upswing. TCU is a better program presently while Mack Brown has allowed Texas to decline due to his incompetence and refusal to demand excellence. Give Patterson his due.

If it’s Austin, he will have this going for him: He’s young and hungry.
If he’s really good, this will be a good stepping stone.
If he’s merely good enough, he’ll be here a while and that will bring stability.
If he sucks, well…

I’m guessing he will be solid, not spectacular.
A really good OC hire will make Austin’s results a lot better.

Remember, the whole package, offense and defense, is being rebuilt.
We won’t really have a handle on things until everything is in place.

ded
i never said gimmick. in fact it is the opposite, all i said is that its not as important to be multiple if you outclass your opponent at every position

“If you’re telling me that our glacial pace (compared to Florida’s, or what Bama’s will be if Smart jumps ship) is that we’re getting all our ducks in a row for massive, perfect, big spash hires, this one hasn’t convinced me at ALL that that’s what’s going on.”

This is starting to feel like our famous, double secret, kick ass game plan specifically designed for OU…that never exist. I hope I’m wrong.

roach, I’m addressing your concerns as we speak per Sailor’s request and I think you’re short-selling his schematics, which are designed to create those defensive mismatches and protect his weaknesses. I think.

Would you guys quit discussing actual football! Shit! This is now a rumors and hearsay site until all of this settles down!

I heard Jimmy Johnson was going to coach the defense and Gary Kubiak was going to really stick it to the Ags and coach the offense here in Austin.

Re: Patterson
Simplicity in installation is a defining feature for the Pellini defense as well. It’s really useful for them since they can then spend time on nailing down route-combos and installing extra blitzes and packages for specific teams. Like the tackles on the edge scheme that Pellini had installed in August for the purpose of destroying Missouri.

Personally I’m intrigued by the Austin hire and I think Mack’s looking for guys with experience in NFL coverages and pressure packages in order to combat the pass-offenses of the Big 12, which is reassuring.

If we are getting a guy that can install those things at this level, then I’m not too worried. In reality, the loss of Muschamp necessarily meant that we were likely facing a small decline in defense and that getting an OC that could take us back to offensive power was essential.

Nickel Rover,

Your take makes sense to me, and I agree. I’m also anticipating improved play from improved position coaching and energy. There shouldn’t be any complacency on this staff, in fact, it may very well be like driving out of a high school parking lot when the last bell of the day rings, aggressive and laced with testosterone.

Maybe this whole coaching thing is basically a crapshoot. As evidenced by teams coached by Ron Prince kicking the shit out of us.

roach,

I’ve expanded on our discussion here:

http://tortillaretort.fantake.com/2010/12/14/gary-patterson-innovator-or-sideshow/

WTF, I am very disappointed. We have the means to hire the best and we get some nobody!!!! We already have an awesome DB coach. Florida sucked this year! Mack is turning senile. Randy Shannon was a better choice hands down recruiting wise and a proven DC. This sucks ass! He’ll probably make Major the OC too. I like Major but he is also a nobody when it comes to experience as an OC.

This hire gives me the same feeling as when Mackovic was given a blank check to hire the best DC money can buy, but promoted Gary Darnell to DC.

I see many of y’all are keeping an open mind, blah blah. However, given the tremendous financial resources the UT AD has available, wouldn’t you expect the best DC available to be offered the job? I sure did. But if this is the best a guy making $5 million/year can do, it speaks volumes about Mack.

I don’t know Scipio, if Austin was a desperation hire would Meyer be planning on keeping him around for very long anyway?

Hmmm- those are some really dubious metrics you’re using to gauge Austin.

lowery: “The plane has crashed into the mountain.”

“Charley…”

Cody -
 
Austin was a desperation hire, so we don’t have to conjecture.
 
I have no idea what metrics you’re talking about.

Yeah, I agree. My point is that Urban Meyer may not feel too guilty about walking out on him, as his career as Florida’s DC was going to be short lived. Well, presuming that being bad at your job gets you removed from it.

The other part of my post was intended for the commenter “Hmmm”. Haha, I should have realized how confusing that would be.

Kyle Whittingham
Dan Mullen
Charlie Strong
Mike Sanford
Dan McCarney

When Mack found out Will Muschamp would be hiring the country’s #1 DC in Kirby Smart, he was all too happy to take his seconds. Teryl Austin had Urban Meyer’s seal of approval and when you’re on the throne, looking to have the ring kissed by all who kneel before it, snatching up one of Urban’s guys looks pretty darn good.

BC logic is that his one year as defensive coordinator is nothing but a blank slate – but Will is the perfect Gator coach without any experience as HC? Isn´t there one iota of a chance that this guy possesses the attributes to do a damn good job like I think Will will do at Florida?

Howdy clever points.. now why did not i think of those? Off subject slightly, is this page pattern merely from an unusual installation or else do you employ a customized template. I exploit a webpage i’m searching for to enhance and properly the visuals is likely one of many key things to complete on my list.

You could certainly see your enthusiasm in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.