A Remembrance of Things Past, and a reminder that things don’t last

Great post, will comment more later, just wanted to be the first to mention that Rockne didn’t go out on top. He went out under a crashed airplane.

Agreed. Mack cannot win big again with the personnel he has recruited offensively combined with the Mack Davis offensive philosophy.

It will be interesting to see whether he (i) recognizes the need for change and tries to salvage his regime by blowing up his offensive staff (doubtful), (ii) tries to hang on as long as he can with his cronies milking the AD for $5 million per (more likely than most want to admit) or (iii) hands over the reins to WM sooner (after 2010 or 2011) than later.

Mack is not Bobby Bowden or Joe Paterno in that he is not Texas football. Mack thinks differently and there is a distinct possibility that the inevitable seperation b/w MB and Texas football will bring out the worst characteristics in both.

Hard to argue with you, so instead I will post this link.

AP: 5 of Nation’s Top 18 Offenses in Big 12

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/10/25/sports/ncaafootball/AP-FBC-Offensive-Big-12.html?_r=1&hp

Great write up. Mack is welcome to stay forever if he’s willing to fix the problem. If he’s not then his goodwill will keep him here for 5 more years trying to get back to 10 wins and the pressers will all sound like the one this morning.

Everything we love about him is exactly what will lead to his downfall here.

Mack has shown an ability to reinvent himself over the years - the type of players he recruits, scheme changes, playing younger players, replacing defensive coaches, etc. and has been on the cutting edge of some aspects of program development like explicitly developing leadership. Therefore I think he has the ability to adapt now and make UT football better. But to fix what is wrong right now means replacing Davis, MacWhorter, and Kennedy. As we’ve been discussing ad nauseum, that is something he will not do in all likelihood. Therefore I sadly have to agree. I will always love Mack no matter how or when he exits, but he might have finally met his kryptonite.

speaking of the presser…Mack really pissed me off this morning when he got up there and said “everyone wanted us to spread it out and we spread it out and it leads to turnovers.”

A.) Who gives a shit what we all want? You obviously don’t or GD would be retired.
B.) Who was calling for them to spread it out after running all over Corn?

I love Mack as a coach, but I feel he’s a little too hard on his players and coaches.

There were always cracks in the foundation of Mack’s program. The composition of this squad drives a hammer into all of them.

Allow this outsider to share a perspective:

Mack Brown seems more like Philip Fulmer. And it’s not the orange sheen.

Like Mack, Fulmer is not synonymous with “Vol ball,” and was never considered the equal of General Neyland. Fulmer got his national championship, and then locked into the losing end of a multi-year battle with Florida for supremacy of the SEC East. Good, but not good enough. It took a LONG time for the patina of BCS Crystal to fade, but when it did, Fulmer was gone.

I just hope this doesn’t mean you get your own Lane Kiffin, or Dennis Francione in the interim.

I believed - and said so - in the past two seasons, that Mack was almost done, and would exit on top, clutching the Xtal Ball if only that could be made to happen. Thanks to the stone hands of a freshman safety in 2008 (combined with the “style points” crusade of BS Bob), followed by the unlucky glass shoulder of the winningest quarterback ever (combined with the steadfast refusal to prepare - or use - a backup QB), the Xtal Ball eluded Mack’s grasp. I thought he might shuffle off into the sunset with that pair of “almosts”, but apparently he saw one more opportunity rearing its head… like you, I also fail to see that opportunity. Will a 6-6 or 5-7 season galvanize him? Somehow, I doubt it. We can only pray that it does, or at the very least that it will be followed by a near duplicate, which will be sufficient. The worst scenario in my viewfinder is a 10-2 or 11-1 2011 heralding our entrance into Bowden-Redux territory.

At least it’ll be interesting - assuming you find green projectile vomitus and dry heaves “interesting”…

Also worth noting that Royal’s next-to-last season (1975) was also an excellent one with a close loss to (eventual national cheater champ) OU and a 10-pt loss at #2 A&M team to close the season, plus a top 10 finish and bowl win over #10 Colorado. We were a legit MNC contender that year with Akins at QB and a healthy Earl in sophomore blossom.

In ‘76 we had no gamers at QB and then Earl went down, and the rest of the conference smelled blood. The offense had become a known quantity that turned the ball over a lot and couldn’t score. A change of nameplates, and we came right back in ’77. Much like the present, talent was not in short supply in ’76, but something was definitely missing, and things had gotten stale for Royal and his staff.

Sobering thoughts. My best hope that there’s some gas left in the MackWagon comes from the turnaround in staff, attitude and playing time that came around as recently as 2007. If Mack still has that same fire and is willing to take the right steps in the offseason, there is no reason we can’t enjoy 3-4 more years at or near the top with Mack at the helm. It absolutely cannot happen without him releasing GD and staying the hell out of the offensive meetings, which would be orders of magnitude tougher on him than shitcanning MacDuff and telling Akina to go get his shinebox.

With that said I’m now 100% committed to Muschamp as this program’s long-term future - if at the end of 2010, 2011, or 20XX Will says “I’m a head coach next year no matter what, and I’d like it to be at Texas” then Mack must be eased into the next phase of his UT career. He stood on top of the world, but his loyalty to an absolute moron and his refusal to stop meddling despite being 25 years removed from a high-level understanding of college offense will most likely keep him from going out on entirely his own terms. And that’s not injustice, but a form of justice that was understood as far back as Aescylus, Sophocles and Euripides.

I was on hand for Darrell Royal’s last game, and attended his lengthy postgame news conference at the Villa Capri. His retirement was a total bolt out of the blue . . . no hint of it until a few days before the Arkansas game (that season’s finale, switched from mid-October to early December).

Mack ain’t there yet. IMO. He’s recruited better than Darrell did at the end, is much closer to playing for the national title (Darrell’s last good run was 1970; he coached six more seasons), and MB is not fighting the demon OU of the Barry Switzer years.

Now . . . whether Mack will make staff changes I have no idea. It occurrs to me that there may be an age disconnect on the staff. Greg Davis is close to 60. So is Mike Tolleson. Mac McWhorter is a year or two younger. It was an ungodly old staff until the replacement of Larry Mac Duff and Ken Rucker after the 2007 season. I don’t know that moving some of the veterans aside for (potentially) new ideas and fresh vigor solves the current morass.

One thing we all know — college football is a COACHES game. Coaches get the players, develop them, set strategy and build character and leadership. Or fail to, in which case they’re replaced. It’ll be interesting to see if Mack keeps his staff together or ventures into the brave new world of change. It’s up to him.

I agree, great post. I was scanning a source to confirm that coaching tenures of 10 years or more are not the norm. Royal lasted much longer than any other Texas coach, and Brown is only the fourth to last at least 10 years.

A Paterno, a Bryant, a Bowden… these are rare. FSU wins on the field under Bowden the last five years are 8, 7, 7, 9, 7. They had a reason to let him go, assuming they had another Bowden ready. And it’s not unreasonable for FSU to get to 10 wins this year.

But can Mack be like Paterno? Joe won 5, 5, 9, 3, 4 from 2000-2004. PSU has won 11, 9, 9, 11, 11 the last five. There had to have been a change. I just don’t know what it was. I don’t think this season is going to be a disaster, but I don’t think Joe controls his destiny (I know, I know, you don’t really control your destiny) any longer.

Remember Larry Coker? 60-15 over six years, but stair-stepped his way from 12-0 to 12-1 to, at the end, 7-6. Randy Shannon dipped below .500 the first year, but has been steadily building since then. I don’t know if he’s a MNC-type of coach, but they certainly seem to have made the right move.

The odds certainly seem to be against the future being as bright as the past has been. The time to for transition is coming, whether Mack likes it or not. These last few weeks have shown what the future could be like if something doesn’t change.

Holtz actually burnt out thrice, having coached South Carolina last.

I hope this is handled delicately. Mack deserves the utmost respect and I would hate to see acrimony on his side, the athletic dept., or the fans.

Give the job to Will, steal Malzahn, and hopefully things stay on track.

As a general rule, most of them do not know when to quit…and they almost never go out on top.

I was thinking about this last night and came to this exact conclusion. Not even DKR or Bear Bryant knew when to quit.

And I also think I agree with some of the other points here - that the whole “Muschamp in waiting” thing was predicated on winning it all one more time, and then Mack would ride off into the sunset. I truly thought before the Alabama game that Mack was going to announce his retirement after we won that game. But we didn’t and Mack stuck around.

I’d hate for it to get ugly, but I also hope that DeLoss and the big money (or even higher up than that) put the program ahead of the personality and realize that making a change now would allow us to draw on our past success without having to endure the slow circle around the drain, but I’m afraid that’s not going to happen.

Maybe it’s more accurate to say that DKR didn’t go out on top… but I think the point is basically the same: successful coaches very rarely ever leave on top.

If the offense was treated like the defense Malzahn would already be headed west. Shit just pay Chip Kelly what he makes at Oregon to be OC.

I always thought Mack was aiming to win it in ‘09 then would stay through this year so he wasn’t leaving Will with the pressure of breaking in a new QB under huge expectations and then stepping aside if he didn’t see a MNC opportunity in ’11.

“I believe the Mack Brown era is finished, at least to the level that we have come to expect. "

It has that feel. Sadly, it does.

Savage Henry said:

October 25th, 2010 at 11:44 am

I always thought Mack was aiming to win it in ’09 then would stay through this year so he wasn’t leaving Will with the pressure of breaking in a new QB under huge expectations and then stepping aside if he didn’t see a MNC opportunity in ’11.

I will say this: I don’t think I have ever once heard a rumor of Muschamp being unhappy or wanting out. He vehemently denied the Auburn rumors two years ago and supposedly never even talked to them.

Could is possibly be that he and Mack have a private timetable already in place with Belmont’s tacit approval?

I know I am talking out of my ass, but anything is kind of comforting this morning….

His retirement was a total bolt out of the blue . . . no hint of it until a few days before the Arkansas game (that season’s finale, switched from mid-October to early December).

I will respectfully disagree about this edsp — the rumors began to swirl after the 6-6 OU tie and gained momentum every week after.

Nice write up jones , I will only comment that I believe Mack has more “goodwil” stockpiled than any of the previous Texas coaches had at the end.

Johnnymac -
 
Muschamp very nearly took the Tennessee job. So if there’s a timeline, it was established recently.
 
I don’t think there is one.

I don’t think there’s a timeline and I’m not sure Mack or Will believe that he will be the next HC. It was a way to get some stability at that position and a way to pay him more than a regular coordinator. Unless Mack leaves after this year I seriously doubt Will will ever be HC at Texas.

Coaching probably always was a younger man’s game. If anything, with the 24/7 nature of the news cycle and message boards, it’s even more so. A lot more leaks to plug.

Well, this is depressing.

But the fact remains that Mack Brown has never been a great coach…he is average. What he IS great at is recruiting, PR, organization, etc. IMO, the biggest difference between MB and DKR (aside from coaching greatness, which DKR had) is this: Royal was highly respected and his teams were feared; Mack Brown, not so much in either category.

And Mack Brown makes changes, if at all, that are long overdue and, apparently, at gunpoint only.

I’ve concluded that Mack Brown is not and never will be a championship-caliber coach — there is a “IT” factor that some have but most don’t and that can sometimes be “caught” but almost never “taught”. VY had “it” and others caught it from him, but the influence has clearly waned.

But despite that…

When I consider the character, integrity, sportsmanship, manners, and concern for the players that Mack Brown exhibits — combined with the demonstrated ability to develop very good but rarely great teams — in contrast with the arrogant, unethical slimeballs that lead many of the other “elite” programs (and I’m looking in the direction of Stoops, Saban, et al.) I’m in no hurry to see Mack Brown leave 1 second before he’s ready.

If I had a son in the game at that level of play I’d rather see him under Mack Brown in a 9-3 or 8-4 season than under Stoops or Saban with a Crystal Trophy.

Texas has a program I’m proud to follow — a few losses won’t change that.

The system for determining faux national titles is such a joke that no coach should be judged by it. However conference championships, which are decided on the field 90%+ of the time, are a good barometer. Is 2 in 13 good enough for true greatness at the richest school in the richest recruiting state, the flagship school of the most successful state in the country that supposedly runs their own conference? To be fair, some of what should be a huge advantage is offset by the cheating of Blow-U and others, but still.

Just 2 in 13 (ok 3 in 13, we were screwed over in 2008) versus 6 (or 5) in 11 for the conference rival (which may soon be 7 in 12?) I expect that by the end of next season Mack, then at 2 in 14, is told to replace GDGD. Mack’s choice on whether he quits or not, but it won’t be UT forcing him out. And that scenario could even conceivably happen by the end of this year if there is a near total collapse to 5 or 6 losses. Giving Mack the chance to right the ship by replacing the OC is the appropriate thanks, respect, and 2nd chance he’s earned. How he reacts is up to him.

Great post - pointing out a lot of parallels that weren’t quite so obvious until you highlighted them.

I also think this is the beginning of the end for Mack Brown. I just don’t think he enjoys what he’s doing anymore. Sure, there are parts of the job that he likes, but the bad stuff is starting to tip the scales.

I truly believe that Mack was the right coach at the right time. Our program was a shambles - apathetic fan base, not a lot of money, aging facilities, a divided team, and we were radioactive to recruits. Mack led the charge to turn all of that around, doing yeoman’s work as a developer for the program.

Now, 13 years later, we have tremendous fan support, outstanding facilities, a tremendous amount of money, and we routinely bring in top talent. The need for a developer has passed, and I believe we need something different to continue leading the program and helping it to reach the next level of achievement. Texas needs an optimizer.

(And yes, unless you’re aware of a closet full of championship trophys that I missed, I contend that there is more that can be achieved by this program - things that I don’t believe can be achieved with the current coaching staff.)

I’m pretty well convinced that Mack is no longer the right man for this job. At the same time, I’m also not convinced that Will Muschamp is the right man to take over. It will be interesting to see if we get a chance to find out, or if we end up going in another direction.

Great blog. Yes, very few coaches leave on a high note, probably the same percentage as athletes that leave on top voluntarily. Also, there is a very good chance that three years after Mack leaves, we will be wishing he stayed (the replacements of great coaches have a record no better than coaches in general, i.e. most get fired). There are no guarantees in this business.
That said, I can’t see it working out for Mack if he doesn’t retire soon. The current state of offensive thinking has passed Texas by. So fire Greg Davis, right? Wrong. As bad as Davis’ scheme is, it’s the one Mack wants and believes in. History shows coaches trying to hang on by hiring a new OC with a shiny new scheme rarely prosper. Examples are Akers (hired a passing guru before his last season) and Nutt (Malzahn experience). Better for the head coach to move on if he can’t win with the offense he knows and believes in.
Akers actually makes a great example. He coached Texas to a shot at the MNC in 1983. In 1984, Texas was highly ranked, but exposed at home by a mediocre UH team. They collapsed after that, exposing themselves as over-rated and unmotivated.
Akers had always been panned for his archaic offenses. Under pressure in 1986, he fired his OC and hired a hot shot new one. Texas went 5 – 6 (lots of injuries), and he was canned.
That 1984 team was not as talented as people thought. This team is not as talented as people think. It will take years to build a MNC contender again.

Does anyone know if Applewhite could be our “savior” for game planning?

If yes, make he co-offensive coordinator; have GD focus on QB development and offer observations from the booth while Major stays on the field with the troops.

If Mack makes that kind of change (or even more drastic on offense) for next season, he may get one more trophy.

Otherwise,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKxyoud_c-E

Levander: Got any examples of the “optimizer” in mind? I assume you’re talking about a Saban? I’m not sure of any others who don’t have jobs. The OP notes that Meyer seems headed for a burnout — he would be one.

I think most coaches who take over for great coaches aren’t succesfull becuase the great coach stayed too long and let the program slip into mediocrity. If Mack steps down after this year or next I think we prosper. If he stays five years and we win 7 or 8 a year we will be basically be starting over.

Scip -

I had forgotten about Tennessee, but I thought that episode was more Tennessee doing all the talking.

Savage -

I agree with you 100%. If we swap out now, perhaps we can keep the ship upright, especially with recruiting. If we let Mack hang on another 2-3 years and are rewarded with 7 and 8 wins, we start having a much harder time.

Bob - I don’t necessarily have anyone specific in mind, which is why I wrote that I’m not convinced that Muschamp is the guy.

My point is that I believe that Mack’s skill set & talents are better suited to a rebuliding situation (i.e. fundraising, selling the brand, etc.) as opposed to nuts & bolts football operations. I don’t think that’s any big secret, given that Mack is known as being hands-off on day to day issues, chosing to delegate much of the major areas in whole (OC & DC, strength & conditioning, player mentoring/supervision, etc.).

Taylor- that 84 team had plenty of talent (Gray, Chilton, Allert, Degrate, Duhon, etc.) and actually beat some pretty good teams like Auburn, SMU, Arkansas and Penn St plus the infamous tie to OU. But then the bottom dropped out after the UH game and they just quit caring. I’ve always wondered what happened to that team as it was the first time I had ever seen a Texas team quit.

The similarities between that team and this one are actually kind of scary.

How do you guys think a guy like Gary Patterson would do in Austin if Muschamp bolts and Mack steps down in a year or so? He has been recruiting in Texas for as long as Mack.

Great stuff.

The optimist in me would like to point to the recruiting rankings and renewed vigor on the defensive side of the ball. Part of the “decline” this year was due to awesomely inept junior and senior year classes. Ideally, our freshman class, which was dubbed “the best Mack has ever gotten”, combined with the 2011 freshman class, should be a key part of the turnaround. Muschamp, assuming he sticks around, will by then have the entire defensive side stocked with “his guys.” Davis, assuming Mack never fires him, should have a new batch of transcendent talent to override his ineptness. Oh, and we’ll actually have depth + talent on the o-line. That’ll be nice.

You can’t win ‘em every year. Last year there was much vitriol over how Stoops stopped winning big games and was crashing and burning into an 8-5 season. This year, while not a powerhouse, he’s got a likely Big 12 south champion with still an outside shot at the MNC. And everyone’s saying his next batch (Finch, Jefferson, Stills, etc.) of kids will bring them back to prominence, thanks to a newfound focus outside the state of Texas. Same with Tressel; he’s been able to “let Pryor be himself.” Let’s not forget TP can and will likely come back for his senior season.

And yeah, Auburn looks great now, thanks largely to a lucky Blinn diamond in the rough. How’s Tennessee doing after letting Phil Fulmer go?

Mack is a Top 5 coach and had the program close to two more titles in the past two years. There’s no one I’d rather have leading this program than him. That being said, with a 7-6 season a possibility, if not a hopeful conclusion, where does he go from here?

Simply put, he’s got an incredible challenge because on the offensive side of the ball, his coordinators are not getting it done both strategically and developmentally. As said above, and what’s obvious to even casual observers, Davis, McWhorter & Kennedy are not getting it done. 2 of the 3 have to leave to get this offense to satisfactory levels.

And, what if he re-structures his offensive-staff, what about the defense? I think it’ll be hard to retain Muschamp. You might eek out another year, but a complete coaching overhaul in one year might be too much to keep the machine going.

So, what if Mack steps down? Does Muschamp have the ability to choose his staff. Mack’s already said he’ll fire coaches on the spot if they lobby for future positions with Muschamp.

It’s amazing how things have changed in just a matter of months. Mack seems older and approaching 60. I don’t want to see him go, but I’d like a staff full of competent coaches. The only way that happens if you allow Muschamp to start from scratch. And, that can only happen after this season (without Muschamp bolting and/or recruiting going offtrack)

Just saw the Gary Patterson info - he will never ever be head coach in Austin. Paris Hilton has the same chance of being head coach at UT as Gary Patterson. Especially, with his Martin Sheen/Dead Zone character reveal during the SMU game when he chewed out the team doctor for benching a concussed player.

jc25 -
 
OU lost their starting QB in the opener and 3 OL starters. They were starting a TE at center by midseason.
 
Is that what happened to us?

Lets not let the vagina rubbing get out of hand. There’s a razors edge between mediocre and contender in college football. With our talent, Mack as HC, Muschamp as DC, and even just a barely credible OC with some buy-in from the players, we will be in the hunt every year. This year has made it painfully obvious that the problem is OC, not Mack.

Its obviously Mack’s problem if he won’t make an OC change, but thats a very specific problem, much different than some vague notion that Mack’s best days are behind him or that he’s a builder rather than an optimizer. Two NC berths in 5 years (three if you add 2008 shoulda wouldas), more wins than any other coach the last decade, a bunch of NFL players, and about 117-118 FBS schools that would trade for Mack in a heartbeat, all say that this year is an outlier. He just needs to slaughter some hogs on the offensive side of the ball. This offseason should be interesting.

Texastough -
 
Davis and Brown are married. Period. There will be no divorce.
 
We’ll throw a sacrificial lamb on the altar, but it won’t be the head ram.

Can we throw 2 lambs?

Scip, thats what I said above; the point I was trying to make in that last post was the difference between a specific problem and some vague idea that Mack has lost it. When I said “this offseason should be interesing” I meant that if we are all right that he won’t can Davis, then the speculation gets really interesting. What happens to Muschamp, recruits, purported scheme changes, other assistants etc.

Two NC berths in 5 years (three if you add 2008 shoulda wouldas), more wins than any other coach the last decade, a bunch of NFL players, and about 117-118 FBS schools that would trade for Mack in a heartbeat, all say that this year is an outlier.

Bobby Bowden up to 2000: Four NC berths in five years, more wins than any other coach, etc….

8-4 in 2001. One 10-win season the rest of his career.

Not saying it’s a bad way to judge, but there are coaches who lose it and never get it back.

Everybody has a price. I’m curious what Davis’s might be.

Independent of Mac’s loyalty, that is.

“Everybody has a price. I’m curious what Davis’s might be.”

Fudgicles.

TexasTough -
 
Actually, Mack did lose it.
 
He allowed several of his assistants (mostly on the offensive side of the ball) to quit on the job after the MNC. It is written all over our recruiting, our talent evaluation, the lazy camp selection process, and the numerous off the field incidents that plagued us during that time period.
 
The last two years we lived off of program momentum, Muschamp’s fortunate hire, and a stunningly successful McCoy class. Once they departed, what we were on offense was laid bare.
 
Mack Brown is responsible for it. He refused to see or understand what made our offense go, he refused to hold his staff accountable, he bought the lies that several of them fed him in their “evaluations” that didn’t require them to hit the road and living rooms, and his pet project selections (Whaley) have proven to be a disaster.
 
He is in good company. DKR also took his eye off of the recruiting ball after his 1st National Title. It took him three years to rally back.

Great write up and competely agree. If an old coach is to hang on, his only and best bet is to coninually bring in hot shot , cutting edge coordinators. Mack the clapper is not the motivational coahc he once was; he cant be. At some point in time you lose that. The motivation alone in teh program is lacking with so many grey beards.

Not to mention that we have no refreshed the thinking aroudn the offensive side of the ball in 8 years other than Major.

I see Mack sacrificing Kennedy and/or Macworter only. I also see lots of 8-10 win seasons over the next 5 if he is here for all of them. With our schedule I think we get back on track to the tune of 9 win seasons, but we can not win a chmapionship without changing GD at least. And i think the whole offensive staff may need replacing.

Scipio: A bit of a disagreement on one of your points. Darrell didn’t take his eye off the recruiting ball after his first national championship (1963). He lost most of his staff, the men who had been his top recruiters. Texas’ success led to head coaching jobs for Charlie Shira, Jim Pittman and several others (or promotions to coordinator jobs for a couple of position coaches).

It’s true the recruiting fell off . . . not that Darrell let it slide. Additionally, he was the AD (common in those year), which ate into his time.

Mack Brown is responsible for it. He refused to see or understand what made our offense go, he refused to hold his staff accountable, he bought the lies that several of them fed him in their "evaluations" that didn’t require them to hit the road and living rooms, and his pet project selections (Whaley) have proven to be a disaster.

This is why I’m skeptical that merely removing some assistants, even GD, will be enough. Mack allowed all of this to go on, and that has to call into question his ability to lead going forward.

edsp -
 
Whatever. The point remains. The buck stops with Royal.

PI’s from 9 conference rivals would have us on probation within 3 years.

Scip, it’s obviously not apples to apples; I’m just pointing out there’s dissension in every fan base. IF (obviously) Mack’s able to rally over the next couple years given the solid 2011, 2010, and possibly ’09 classes, then the 2010 year will be seen as an aberration. Hell, we can still win our remaining games and go 9-3; OU can lose two more and do the same (insert chuckle here).

I just think pointing to this year as our eventual downfall may be a little premature, and/or that the sky is falling mentality is not limited to just Texas fans. And maybe, just maybe, hoping for a glimmer of optimism.

jc25, it’s impossible to overstate how bad our situation is. Currently, both Sagarin and Sorenson have us as tossups or underdogs to every team left on the schedule except Florida Atlantic. Think we can turn it around by “focusing” and “trying harder”? That still leaves the question of where the points come from.

Savage Henry said:

October 25th, 2010 at 12:33 pm

I think most coaches who take over for great coaches aren’t successful because the great coach stayed too long and let the program slip into mediocrity. If Mack steps down after this year or next I think we prosper. If he stays five years and we win 7 or 8 a year we will be basically be starting over.

Totally agree, despite the sports media’s mantra of “it’s tough following a legend.”

If Mack steps down after this year or next I think we prosper. If he stays five years and we win 7 or 8 a year we will be basically be starting over.

FWIW, it has been 60 years since a Texas coach took over after a better-than-.500 season by the predecessor.

Not sure this is the end of the Mack Brown era, could be another kink in talent that really brings down his teams and exposes the incompentency of his coaching staff.

While this season is definitely worse, Mack is right in that it is similar to 2007. Without Jamaal Charles probably go 6-6 that year when Colt threw 22 TDs and 18 INTs. We weren’t good on offense or defense that season, but had some difference makers that allowed us to squeak out many close games to lower tier teams. This season we don’t have that luxury, but still could recover in 2011 like we did in 2008 and 2009 with better talent coming in.

Have to get better upfront on the OL however and if we REALLY DO get rid of our OC (which is highly doubtful) we could rebound in the National picture.

Willow-
 
God bless you. I’ve sounded that trumpet for three years.
 
J Charles will receive much more respect in reflection years from now than he does currently or at the time we had him. Smarter fans are just now starting to realize the horse shit that he singlehandedly masked. While the idiots still dwell on one key fumble against OU.
 
He kept us from cratering in 2007. The same year the coaches contemplated benching him. We lose against Nebraska, UCF, OSU without him. His OL was the same exact one we thought was awful in 2009, just much younger and less talented.
 
Our offensive staff wouldn’t know what a RB talent looks like if Earl Campbell in his prime kicked them in their dicks.

I still want to see what happens this season with us running the spread and DJ getting 15 to 20 carries a game on sweeps and draws….but that is just asking Davis too much.

I mean hell how bad could the kid do with all that speed?

I am forever cursed by the Fred Akers era because it was always marked by a series of what-ifs. It is frustrating and makes me angry to this day.

I don’t have the same feeling with Mack. Most of the time, the offense or, occasionally, the defense (remember the Gene Chizek era?) simply crapped the bed. The offense, and occasionally, the defense have been out played and (usually) out coached.

In that sense, I feel like we are seeing a replay of the last three years of the Akers era.

If Texas does not qualify for a bowl game or for the Pinstripe Bowl, then a move needs to be made. A $70 million athletics budget cannot depend on a sliding program.

The Akers era ended with a lack of talent and everyone else on our schedule having more of it. That is not the case currently.

Absolutely true.
 
But this post isn’t about the end of a regime, it’s about the beginning of the end.

Hmmm… I would just like to note that I drew that Ohio State comparison (not that I have a monopoly on it or anything, but it was just a couple days ago)…

http://barkingcarnival.fantake.com/2010/10/23/analogy-the-last-refuge-of-the-desperate-for-distraction/

(My comment on this post was on 10/24 at 5:05 AM)

And not that I am some kind of an expert either. I got to see Cooper’s implosion up close and personal a few times—1999 and 2000 were ugly, ugly seasons in Columbus. Now all the Longhorns need is a Tyson Walter clone to make racist remarks and get punched in the face by a Lecharles Bentley close, and the analogy is complete.

I have to say I agree with this post and many of the comments: I think Mack’s regime has peaked and we’re sliding down now. I’d expect some sort of mini-rebound next year, maybe to an unsatisfying 9-3 or something like that, but then it could get miserable if Mack and Greg are still around.

It should be noted that our non-conference scheduling has picked up significantly with the contraction of the Big 12-2. In the next several years we have a return trip to UCLA, a return trip to Arkansas, home and homes with Notre Dame, USC, Maryland, and Ole Miss. This is no time to let the program slide; we don’t want to get our asses kicked in high-profile games on a regular basis. The program also scheduled relatively tough non-conference games through the early and mid 90s (Colorado, Syracuse, Miss State, Louisville, Notre Dame), and we lost almost every damn one of them. If we repeat that pattern we will make ourselves nationally irrelevant and once again be cast as the soft, all-hat-no-cattle team that can’t win a big game.

Good news is that we have some highly rated young offensive lineman and more on the way. The bad news is that a friend of mine saw Malcolm Brown run last Friday night against Judson and said he was very good but not great.

With our predictable playcalling we need GREAT in the backfield.

We tied Syracuse in one of those! And I was pumped!

Scipio and Willow agree on Jamaal Charles. Funny how he was blistered by 50 percent of the fans saying " we need a big time RB". And we under utilized J Finley.

The mistakes of Brown have been huge. But the family approach and him being a class, likeable guy has served the program well. The net of it is that overall he has done well.
The 5 greatest successes:
1. Recruiting talent the likes that have never been seen in the history of Texas football
2. Getting the fans wearing orange, loud, etc….( whatever happened to that )
3. Letting Vince finally be Vince
4. Gettin a MNC
5. Owning Aggies

The 5 greatest blunders:
1. Applewhite/ simms
2. Loyalty to GD
3. Getting away from Run attack his early teams had
4 Finesse coaching- early teams labeled soft.
5. Tie Early lack of respect to OU game/ blaming RB’s from Ivan Williams to Cody Johnson
5.

TaylorTRoom -

Nobody commented on your post about changing OCs, but it struck me since I hate Davis and would love to see him go. My immediate thought was not on your list of failures. Since I live in the heart of the Southeastern Conference Conference, my first thought was Tech’s own Tommy Tuberville.

That guy had a world of success at Auburn, but never broke through to the top. He had Ronnie Brown, Cadillac Williams, Brandon Jacobs and Jason Campbell all on the same team. He found Rudi Johnson on a JC team somewhere (Kansas?) and turned him into a rolling ball of butcher knives.

Yet, at the end of it all, the fans demanded he change offensive coordinators. He went with the hot shot spread guy out of Troy, and disaster closely followed. He canned the OC mid season and he got the axe at the end of the year. He is obviously in over his head in the offensive minded Big 12, especially following Leach. I don’t see him there in 5 years.

My hatred for Greg Davis burns hotter than the heat of 5 suns, but I wonder if replacing him will be the answer based on case studies. Can anyone name a successful change in OCs? I know that the Gators wish that Mullen had never left.

Bob in Houston (or whoever asked for a list of optimizers) -

Let me submit Mullen as a name of an optimizer that I would gladly take as our new head coach. If the OP is right and Meyer has lost it (which I don’t disagree with as a part time Gator fan) then the first guy on the Gators’ list would be Mullen.

Didn’t everyone agree that Mack signed what seems like his best class, save for maybe 2002, this past February? Wasn’t everyone stoked that we had the state’s #2 QB, #2 RB, and #1 OT and Arizona’s #1 OT for 2011 sewed up before the season started?

Yeah, so we just sent 10 kids to the NFL in the past couple of years and we have a little talent gap here with youth and a few key misses and injuries. Yes our Offensive staff are a little dense. But Jeezus.

Not sure why people keep thinking Applewhite/Simms was Mack’s biggest blunder unless you are talking about not putting Major in an interception and fumble sooner vs Colorado.

Major lost his job because of injury. Are you people’s memories that short? He wasn’t 100% to start the 2001 season because of his knee and Mack chose not to change starting QBs in the middle of the season because Simms was throwing for over 220 yards a game and completing 60% of his passes.

Mack can’t take over for Corso soon enough for me, although his assumptive future media platform is why UT should handle this situation with care. He and Spurrier are the last of the breed, the Head Ball Coach, although Spurrier could actually diagram an offense. I would include Paterno, but it’s pretty obvious he is just a talisman at this point. I’m convinced Mack never had a firm grasp of the operational level of college football, which is why he gives his coordinators such leeway and tells reporters to ask them about specific plays and personnel packages.

All that aside, I think the Cleve Bryant thing is taking a toll. These coaches are probably being deposed right now, right? Or at least prepped for being deposed? The football is bad, but this Cleve thing is what could blow up his program and his legacy in the near future.

Finally, potential optimizers are Harbaugh and Troy Calhoun.

Those two guys almost certainly would want the offense to use a fullback and be able to run the ball…

It’s too bad there isn’t an “emeritus” status for OCs, like with professors. GD could spend all week scribbling new branches of his horizontal passing tree on a dry erase board while impressionable young GAs take pantomime notes and nod like old men at the Wailing Wall. On Saturdays, he could be kicked (even further) upstairs on game days with fake headphone and mis-prescribed lenses in his glasses, accompanied by an RTF major as his spotter who narrates the action for a demo tape for the new Longhorn Network. And during every halftime, the Belmont elevators would mysteriously malfunction.

If done properly, Davis would never know the difference, and maybe we could finally have an OC who wouldn’t be eliglbe for AARP membership until after the second Palin administration.

Scipio Tex said:
October 25th, 2010 at 4:38 pm.

Our offensive staff wouldn’t know what a RB talent looks like if Earl Campbell in his prime kicked them in their dicks.

I know you’re probably not lumping Major in there but I’ll stick up for him anyway. He’s tried to bring some sanity to the RB and offensive recruiting in general but doesn’t have the voice he’ll have with Muschamp in charge.

Our offensive staff wouldn’t know what a RB talent looks like if Earl Campbell in his prime kicked them in their dicks.

To be fair, they wouldn’t know anything. This would come as a consequence of losing consciousness and never regaining it.

I met Earl Campbell when I was in the fourth grade at Robert E. Lee Elementary here in Austin. His leg was thicker than my entire body. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was thicker than the building walls of the school.

I believe that even today, enfeebled though he is, Earl Campbell could put his crutches down and kick Greg Davis’s head clean off his shoulders if Davis were to kneel in front of him (as propriety would demand he do).

I am prepared to watch that happen and upload the video to YouTube if someone else is prepared to arrange it.

As a general rule, most of them do not know when to quit…and they almost never go out on top.

[You asked for some disagreement…]

Newsflash: No one knows when to quite until it rears its ugly head that it’s time to quit. ANY executive, in any biz, worth paying more than $200,000 (and certainly $5MM) is going to believe that they can ‘turn it around,’ get back to the big game, find the next level…. The fact that U. Meyer can shrug off heart problems to get back on the sidelines demonstrates the qualities for which you hire a guy like that in the first place. Hell. I would make the case that any self-centered puss who left right ‘on top’ wasn’t worth a plug nickel!! Let’s not forget that Osborne left when it did because the Big XII (with the new, tougher qualifier requirements) had just neutered his ability to recruit. He saw the writing on the wall and it was in burnt orange.

When it’s time for Mack to leave it will be time to leave. He’ll know it, we’ll know it. Not because he found some magical ‘on top’ moment but because it will be time. Respectfully, anyone willing to pontificate that the right time is at (e.g.) a press conference immediately after a National Championship game (which, with a healthy Colt, Texas would have won) is smoking something. How ludicrous for ANYONE who hasn’t spent a day or a moment around Mack, the team, in staff meetings, recruits…. to imply that the game has ‘passed him by.’ Last I checked Texas was still recruiting Top 5 talent with Mack was still the ‘talk of the town’ on every TV and radio sports program.

Anyway…. If Mack were to leave following this season (God knows Sally’s probably had her fill) it may be more a function of a ‘date-certain’ ultimatum from Muschamp because a team like Georgia has made him an offer he finds hard to refuse.

P.S. I have NEVER been in or seen a turn-around situation where fixing systemic problems and making needed changes for a run to the next level didn’t require a significant and often deep change in the management structure. Mack, fixing what troubles this team will require the same in my opinion.

man in black -
 
When Major’s opinion isn’t respected or taken into account, his good judgement doesn’t really matter, does it?

Scipio hit the nail on the head about our offensive staff taking a vacation after the NC, but I’m not sure that tells the entire story. As I recall the 2006 class, which was dialed in before the NC, was not that great and the 2007 class, which should have been the big bonanza following the NC, has not performed. Several failed evaluations. Those are the redshirt seniors,seniors and redshirt juniors. Not a single “difference maker” in the bunch on offense, not one, from two recruiting classes. As a group, the upper class WRs are mediocre or worse, Chiles, the prize of his class being a QB bust and a marginal WR. One must admit that we have some good defenders from that group plus we lost Earl Thomas early.

The freshman and sophomore skill players show more potential, but haven’t had much opportunity to display it.

I’m not sure the 1984 Akers team is a good analogy to this team. That team lost 22 players who went to the NFL from the previous season. The 2010 team has more talent on board for next season, but it ithe underclassmen, plus a good looking class incoming (assuming MB can hold on to them) which will follow. Akers hated to recruit and in his later years did a terrible job at it while competing with the cheating Texas schools and OU.

Akers inherited a ton of top talent from DKR. DKR really ratcheted up his recruiting efforts in 1973 and it started to pay off, particularly with the influx of African American athletes. He walked away from a great team in the making.

The 1977 team was loaded with sophomore and junior talent and provided the basis for some easy recruiting in 1978 and 1979, the foundation for the talent rich 1983 team, probably the single most talented Texas team of the past 40 years, 2005 aside. By 1982 Akers’ recruiting was tanking and the team followed two years later

A serious problem for MB is that his recruiting will suffer from this season’s offensive failures. Kids see Oregon, Auburn, Baylor, Missouri, Okie State and others running wild on offense while Texas offers up an out of date and out of shape, Sad Sack 60 year old OC and QB coach whose offense absent Vince or Colt is a laughing stock. If MB cannot see this, we have a huge problem. MB has a terrible time recruiting RBs as is. This will get worse and has adverse long term consequences.

The only way to alter the decline is wholesale change on offense and this means a new OC and new OL and WR coaches. Problem is, I don’t think MB will pull the trigger because he simply is not a hardass and weighs personal friendship more than devotion to UT.

Keeping Mad Dog on the staff is one hugh blunder of the highest order. I can not imagine any other School having a Head Trainer that is in worse physical shape. He looks more like a over sized body guard.

He kept us from cratering in 2007. The same year the coaches contemplated benching him. We lose against Nebraska, UCF, OSU without him. His OL was the same exact one we thought was awful in 2009, just much younger and less talented.

===

so right Scip - JCharles is the 3rd best RB in Texas history behind Earl and Ricky. And he did save the 2007 season from being a 5 or 6 loss year. 6.3ypc for his UT career - better than Ricky.

btw, this doom and gloom is completely exaggerated. We all agree that Mack lives and dies by having exceptional talent and that the 2006/07 classes sucked, we agree the 2009 and 2010 classes are talented but dumb - will get smarter. The future is bright for 2011 and even moreso for 2012, just need a healthy competition at QB and a new OL coach. Boom will leave so get a quality DC again and Akina needs to coach better so we don’t have so many blown coverages.

Archive this thread please and see where we are in 24 months. PLEASE.

Not 1 person was saying JC is the 3rd best Rb back when he played. All I heard is bench him because he fumbles a lot, granted we had a worse line back then…..Wait Till Cody J plays for the Steelers and trucks everyone. Will we say he was the 4th best RB? I actually think Cody will do well in the Pro’ s. Tough to say who is 3rd…. Priest, JC, Ced, Jam Jones, Worster,
Willow- Applewhite/ Simms was a debacle. The knee thing was Belmont spin. Simms would never be pulled, no matter how crappy he played. Just wasn’t gonna happen. I was at CU in Dallas, and I am pretty sure that Simms pulled himself out of that game with a mystery injury. Don’t be surprised if GG throws 5 picks in a game that he fakes an injury- they are just kids.
The point is that you had a 3 star QB playing better than a 5 star QB and that made the coaching staff look bad- like they couldn’t coach talent. The thing would have repeated itself again with Gilbert/ Colt. I will defintely give them props for going with Colt over Snead for sure.

Of course even Snead flourished somewhat in Ole Miss’s system. Too much is asked of QB’s in GD’s system. I am pretty sure GG would be pretty good at Bama and Wisco.

Mack was a good hire for 1998. He’s done wonderful things for UT, and we’re forever grateful. The Bowden CEO model worked during this era.

That being said, he’s won 2 conference championships in 27 years as a HC, one with a junior Vince Young and one with a senior Colt McCoy—two of the best college QBs ever.

 And the college game has changed a lot since 1998. The offenses/defenses are more complex. The coaches are more aggressive in recruiting, more personally involved in coaching either offense or defense, and more of them have NFL experience. HCs like Saban, Urban Meyer, and young-coordinator-turned HCs are always pushing the envelope. We keep getting hot shot DCs, but continue to run a glorified high school offense thru our OC, who remains at his post because of our HC’s bias thru a personal relationship.

How many schools have tried to hire away our DCs? Now how many have tried to hire away our OC? Our CEO is blind to this, and the buck stops with the CEO, despite his current efforts to say the buck stops with the OC and DC. That would be convenient for an HC if it were true—then the HC would never be responsible for anything other than hiring/firing coordinators.

Mack — and Deloss — need to think about what they want Mack’s legacy at UT to be. Had Royal stuck around another 3-4 years, he wouldn’t have had the same relationship with UT and its fans the last 25 years that he’s enjoyed.

Mack — and Deloss — need to think about what they want Mack’s legacy at UT to be. Had Royal stuck around another 3-4 years, he wouldn’t have had the same relationship with UT and its fans the last 25 years that he’s enjoyed.

Not sure about this statement……if Royal stuck around another 3 to 4 seasons, the Horns may have another couple of national tites. The ‘77, ’78 and ’79 teams were some of the best in school history that weren’t well prepared in key games. Royal had to deal with alot of injury problems his last several years.

Willow- Applewhite/ Simms was a debacle. The knee thing was Belmont spin. Simms would never be pulled, no matter how crappy he played. Just wasn’t gonna happen. I was at CU in Dallas, and I am pretty sure that Simms pulled himself out of that game with a mystery injury. Don’t be surprised if GG throws 5 picks in a game that he fakes an injury- they are just kids.
The point is that you had a 3 star QB playing better than a 5 star QB and that made the coaching staff look bad- like they couldn’t coach talent. The thing would have repeated itself again with Gilbert/ Colt. I will defintely give them props for going with Colt over Snead for sure.

**Statements like this amaze me. I remember seeing Applewhite in mop-up duty early in the season with his knee brace on looking extremely timid with his legs and not playing well at all. If he was 100% and playing well, the coaching staff would have had him in there in the 14-3 Oklahoma loss after Simms 2nd INT. I mean are you people delusional enough not to remember that 2000, perhaps was the most disappointing of the 3 seasons Major started, with losses to unranked Stanford (at home) and a 14-63 loss to OU. Texas was once again shut out of national and conference Championship play.

Almost three full seasons Major started. Most of his losses were to ranked teams. So why is there not the same criticism of Major? He could not win a "BIG" game either.

Scipio wrote: "But this post isn’t about the end of a regime, it’s about the beginning of the end."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Huummmmm…??? Respectfully, that’s not the way it was written…

[emphasis added]

"…in Mack Brown’s case, the evidence mounts that the game HAS simply passed him by."

"I also believe we are AT THE END of this Texas string…"

"I believe the Mack Brown era IS FINISHED…"

"This IS the end."

I guess all it took for Aaron Green to make a decision was the Iowa State game.

I’m thankful for how Mack restored the program. I am not thankful for how long he’s been willing to put on the field an offense far less than he could’ve been. That’s not putting the team first.

Neither is publicly blaming players and every coach on the staff except himself. The last few weeks have been astonishing. Not just in how UT’s team has peformed, but also in getting a glimpse into a previously-hidden — and disturbing — side of Mack’s psyche. The Lincoln game is nothing to brag about.

The second Muschamp becomes head coach is the second UT hires one of the top 5 OCs in the country, and infuses SEC-level passion into BOTH sides of the ball for UT.

Mack is a great recruiter. He is not passionate or intense on the field. So why should his players be? Good recruiting used to get you a lot more than it does today. We’re getting spanked by teams with far inferior recruits, and eeking by others. We should be able to beat teams like Iowa St and UCLA at home even if we make mistakes and play dispassionately, with the players’ edge we have over those teams. But we’re getting spanked.

I think something much deeper must be going on within that locker room than what we yet know.

“Archive this thread please and see where we are in 24 months. PLEASE.”

Absolutely.

I hope that I am wrong, quite frankly. I am a huge Texas fan; I am a writer of only modest reputation.

That said you can read pretty much everything I have written about college football over the last six years here: http://www.jonestopten.com

I can dig up the last 16 if you want, but I am too lazy for that.

Point is, I don’t exactly have a bomb-throwing reputation. I write one of the only PG columns at BC.

I think Mack is on the wrong side of history. That’s all. If he turns it back around, I will cheer loudly. I don;t think he will.

Guess I am in the minority here. I think Davis is an absolute moron and his idiocy is a huge cancer on the program. Same for Mad Dog who is just a fucking fatass caveman and probably wedded to a 70’s era conditioning program, unlike say, Todd Wright.

I think you can make a case that the 2009-2011 recruiting classes are the three best in Texas history. There is some serious raw material coming.

I dont think Mack has “lost it” at all. He just has to nut up and force some very tough management decisions. Mack is a pleaser and it is tough for people like that to discipline/fire employees and/or friends. Shit, its tough for anybody that isnt a fucking asshole.

Muschamp doesnt have the capital to force that kind of regime change. If he wants to go to UGA, well, bye. We will replace him with NFL level experience at 1mm/year with a shot at the big prize later.

As for the game passing him by, c’mon. Alabama won last year with a team Woody Hayes would have loved. This year the wide open offenses look ascendant. The absolute beauty of the college game is there are many different ways to succeed.

People act like 58 is fucking ancient. Get real, you need to probably be mid 40’s before you can even handle a job like Texas.

Everyone here is making good points and I can be persuaded that Mack is done but I am not there yet. We crater next year with no changes then we can talk.

For Pete’s sake - let’s not forget the contribution Bruce Chambers has made on offense…. [crickets chirping]…… said contribution is not enough for anyone to remember he is on the staff. Let’s please keep him in our thoughts as we think of cleaning house.

jonestopten,

I think you wrote a great article with some very good perspective. Keep contributing.

Unfortunately I agree with your premise. I think the slide has begun. It’s going to be sad to see given all the positives Mack has brought.

I’ll draw some comparisons to the last few years of Coach Landry with the Cowboys. Unbelievable person. Great leader. Won with such consistency and contributed so much to the program and community that people didn’t want to admit what their eyes were telling them.

Nice post, Adam.

Good post.

Not sure it is the beginning of the end. Recruiting is probably the best canary in the mine and the recruiting in the last few years has been great. This year might provide the shock needed to force Mack to get rid of the deadwood from his offensive staff, in which case this year could be reinvigorating for Mack. If Mack does not clean house after this season, then it is the beginning of the end.

Mack does not have to sack GD but he has to reduce his responsibility and bring in an offensive coach who is a master of the running game to be the co OC. There is a vacuum in run game coaching on the horns coaching staff that absolutely has to be filled.

The grossly obese fitness coach, the academic counselor, the TE coach, the running back coach, and the OL coach should all go. Presumably Cleve is gone. Mack is wrong, his staff is not a family, you don’t fire people from your family because they lost a foot on their fastbal (but coaches get fired all the time). If you are a staff member on the best program in college football, then you have to be elite. If a staff member is not elite, then Mack needs to replace him, that is Mack’s job. It is DeLoss’s job to make sure Mack does his job, including the firing part that Mack does not enjoy. If DeLoss can’t get Mack to clean house, then fire DeLoss if DeLoss does not get rid of the deadwood himself.

If Mack does not clean house in the off season, then you have to start thinking about Mack’s replacement. One promising candidate is Chris Peterson of Boise State. The new head coach should be a very successful head coach. Muschamp is an awesome DC but has no HC experience.

Comments about Darrell Royal all well received. He left on his own volition, to be sure, but his fabled Wishbone was all but finished by 1976. Imagine poor Earl Campbell languishing as a Wishbone fullback for another year instead of as an I-back that took him to immortality! Maybe Mack is clinging to something equally outdated.

Good comments, R.M.D.

As I always counsel, “The things and ways that got your there are not the things and ways that will keep you there.”

Kafka -
 
The RB coach is the only position coach who has performed. His guys don’t bust assignments, they’re reliable with the ball, and he’s not responsible for schemes or their baseline talent level.
 
The guys he has pushed for have proven better than the guy Mack selected in Whaley.
 
And he’s the only guy on the offensive staff with a pulse in recruiting.
 
Kennedy should feeling the most heat, if anyone.

Former UT baseball coach Cliff Gustafson was the winningiest college coach ever. Coach Gus would not remove his son Deron as the unofficial team recruiter, and the program began to slip. It took years to get it back to where it should be.

Greg Davis is Mack Brown’s Deron Gustafson, and it pains me to see Mack lump Muschamp and the defense in with the offense.

Yes, the defense could be playing better. But they’re also ranked #6 in the nation (out of 120 teams) in YPG allowed. Only Boise, TCU, Ohio St, West Va, and Utah are ranked higher. And let’s not forget that: vs UCLA, our offense gave them 6 pts thru three quarters, and five turnovers; vs OU, our offense gave them 10 pts thru three quarters, and two turnovers; and vs Iowa St, our offense gave them 6 pts thru three quarters, and four turnovers. Oh, and UCLA’s defense is ranked #85, OU’s #80, and Iowa St’s #116—in other words our offense has performed poorly against dismal defenses. It’s not hard to see why our young defense gets discouraged out there.

In response to losing to cruddy teams at home, Mack’s repeated refrain of “I don’t know what the problem is,” and publicly blaming every coach on the staff but himself, and publicly blaming our top five batch of recruits, and begging fans to come to the game because he says our players need them like a childhood blanket—is unbecoming. It’s unleaderlike. And frankly, it’s bizarre.

Deloss is currently negotiating the Longhorn TV contract, and this mess couldn’t come at a worse time, and is probably already hurting UT in negotiations over $. Ticket prices are plummeting on ebay. Don’t be surprised if there are 15,000-20,000 Baylor fans in the stands Saturday, after raiding ebay.

The current running back coach is in the wrong job. He is an ex QB with no experience as a running back whose main expertise/enthusiasm is the passing game. Certainly nobody claims that he is an elite running back coach. Room has to be made on the staff for a coach with expertise in and passion for the running game. The horns need to hire an elite running back coach from a program that runs well (Oregon, for example) because there is not a single coach on the horns staff who is expert in the running game. A position coach who has not played that position is at a big disadvantage wrt knowing all the little things that go into playing that position and will probably never be an elite coach of that position.

Mack is guilty of cronyism and he needs to upgrade his offensive staff where possible. Running game coaching is a particular weakness on this staff that urgently needs to be fixed.

I agree with Scipio…of course, that Kennedy is no. 1 to go after this season. What we’ve done with Goodwin and Williams this year is criminal. Next up would be McWhorter I suppose but he’s really got this group in pretty good shape now in both recruiting (not sure how he did that actually) and their play this season.
However the putridity that is our tackle depth, which threatens to ruin next year as well as Gilbert’s college career, lies at his feet. We may have the pieces to be okay there again but he is accountable for the problems now.
Runningback has been fantastic this season in short-yardage running, sweeps, zone cutbacks, pass protection and route running.

Ultimately, with all the talent we have on offense even at its current state of development we should be considerably better than this. That goes on Greg/Mack.

Kafka -
 
If you think Oregon runs well because of their RB coach, I’m not sure what to say, man.
 
I guess Bucky Godbolt (Ricky) and Bruce Chambers (Ricky again!) were elite coaches at Texas.
 
And I guess former QB Cale Gundy should be out of a job at OU, too. Even though he coached Adrian Peterson into being genetically superior.
 
RB is the least coached position on the football field. And that’s a fact. It’s where you put a guy who offers value in other areas. Either player relations, alumni, or is a rainmaker in recruiting. Preferably 2 out 3.
 
RB coaches primarily coach protection and ball security. We’ve been good at both. You’re totally coming out of left field.

RB is the least coached position on the football field. And that’s a fact. It’s where you put a guy who offers value in other areas. Either player relations, alumni, or is a rainmaker in recruiting.

I’ve been saying this for years. (Maybe I originally got the idea from you). Great running backs are born, not made, as you can’t teach vision, explosiveness, or power. Upgrading from a marginal teacher of the position to an elite teacher is barely going to show up on the field. Hence, the best use of the position is to stash an elite recruiter there.

I’m not completely convinced Applewhite is the best guy for the job, but the problem doesn’t stem from the fact that he was a QB. It’s just hard for me to evaluate an individual assistant’s recruiting ability given the way Texas recruits.

I’ve often wondered how things might have been had DKR been able to recruit and coach inner city kids and stayed as long as The Bear and Hayden Frye (to name a couple)?

Why did he go quitter on us when he was still young enough to coach for another decade at least? Why couldn’t he beat blowu at the end of his career? Why did the big dogs turn on him?

Why did he go quitter on us when he was still young enough to coach for another decade at least? Why couldn’t he beat blowu at the end of his career? Why did the big dogs turn on him?

Oh please, if you were around then you know exactly what happened. And we have been over it enough times here as it is.

RB is the least coached position on the football field. And that’s a fact. It’s where you put a guy who offers value in other areas. Either player relations, alumni, or is a rainmaker in recruiting.

Should I read anything into Mack being a WR coach in the option era?

it will be extremely telling to see who we actually sign in February. I’m not convinced the class we’ve got verbaled is the class we sign. Of course, we’ll know about the staff before then.

Where does your analysis factor in DKR’s three consecutive mediocre seasons prior to two MNCs? Isn’t your analysis which focuses on the last seasons of coaching tenures destined to prove your thesis? you haven’t even looked for coaches who succeeded after having average or subpar seasons. yours is a very week argument. Flawed logic leads to crummy conclusions, like this.

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