This is a really interesting time in the history of this here Barking Carnival. This is the first new head coach we've had since we started this thing. I remember meeting Scipio at a sports bar in Palo Alto to kick around the idea of starting a weblog and watch young Colt McCoy and the Horns play Ohio State the year after Vince Young gave Mack Brown near-tenure.

Gang, it looks like this is going to be a very rough ride for a bit, maybe a couple of years.

I'm seeing a lot of people (many with new usernames) who like trolling. Whether they are Aggies, Mack loyalists, Sabanistas or whatever, I don't give a shit. GTFO. The leash will be shorter for a while. I saw some discussion about how we do or don't wield the banhammer. Ironically, I've banned like three people in the history of this website.

We like discussion. Like most people with a couple of wits to rub together, we like learning stuff. We like the chatter. We like debate. We like wit. You can tell us you think we're full of shit, if you do it with panache and/or some level of courtesy.
I can only speak for myself but I think the other guys around here (except for one Barker who shall remain nameless but not shameless) really like Charlie Strong.

I actually love Charlie Strong. I am proud to have him represent my university and our football team. Watching the recent ridiculous and despicable behavior by the putative adults in the home cities of some of our rivals has reinforced this for me. People say we're arrogant. And?

Equally importantly, I think he will succeed here, given time. I started hearing Lalo Schifrin the minute Taysom Hill scored his 14th 3rd quarter TD. Charlie's in a race against time (and will be measured in years and wins.) but I think he'll get it done. If after two games, you are sure he won't, maybe this isn't your place.

A couple of things:

This blog is right. A lot. Does that sound arrogant? I hope so. Go read the archives. The guys who write here know what's up and we're lucky to have them. Being that guy who wants to be a gadfly or tug on Scipio's cape... Not going to be OK for a while. When Mack was 'winning' but exhibiting the slothful behavior that has left us in the position, our writers called it and were called HATERZ. When we sucked as Mack tried his best to pull his ass out of the ditch, they complimented him for doing the right things, and were called sunshine pumpers.

You can trust the guys here to give an accurate assessment of what they see. If Charlie is doing something they think is wrong, they'll let call it like they see it. Soak it up, ask questions, disagree with civility. All good. Act like a clown and get clowned.

Recruiting. This is a hot button issue for me.

STOP TALKING ABOUT HOW WORRIED YOU ARE ABOUT RECRUITING AND OUR PAUCITY OF SWAG!

This is about to join politics in the verboten bin for me.

Be worried elsewhere. There are any number of paywalled redoubts where you can gather in support groups. This ain't the place.

Charlie Strong can flat out recruit. He's a natural communicator and has an immense amount to sell, irrespective of our record this year. We'll get 3s that he turns in to 4s and 4s that he turns into 5s instead of getting 3s that are wrongfully inflated into ersatz 5s, that never flash. The guy knows talent evaluation and knows what he wants and is amazing at communicating that to young guys.

Again, given time, he and we will be fine. We're the University of Texas. That's the flagship university of Texas and it's IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.

Which is IN TEXAS.

Let's ride.