JPETERMAN

I had to double check the calendar to make sure it wasn't April Fool's day. This is too good to be true. We never luck into stuff like this. Now if we can poach Beard it will be amazing!

Maybe his tick tock views were down.

As much as I hate the perception (and reality) that our donors have too much input into the program, the blowback on hiring Stoops cannot be understated.

Higdon Sock ???

Sark has a pretty good sales pitch to sell to Brandon. Hey son, why don't you stick around here for a bit. We'll get you some coaching experience, but recruiting can get you paid too. Did you see that we just got a Special Teams coach a million per year because he's bad a$$ at recruiting. Stick with me and in a few years you'll be able to afford as many strippers and monkeys as your heart desires.

I have a little doubt. Let's not forget that he did try to hire Stoops. It's hard to make hires that are consistently home runs. Could Sark have someone in mind that will come and even prove to ultimately end up being better than Harris? Sure. But I'll take a bird in the hand with Harris, based on early results, over an unknown at this point.

Having a coach believe in momentum, and pushing for some of these early studs to commit is huge. Its nice seeing all these guys at these events talk about UT and try to recruit each other. Herman always was overconfident that he'd be able to go undefeated and then everyone would want to flip. But losing to TCU and a few other crappy teams annually made that a much harder sell. I really hope we can get some of the O-linemen to publicly commit next. Sounds like we definitely have some leaners.

Probably talking about last year's season that got pushed to this spring. Believe they were going to try to play a shortened season of about 5 games starting in March or so.

There is definitely a wrong way to deal with the high school coaches which somehow we've managed to do since Mack left. That's not to say that you have to suck them off to the extent Mack did however, just not actively piss them off. Charlie pretty much ignored them in general, and I recall some chatter when he signed about 4 kids from Florida in the Cecil Cherry class that they were getting some "dogs" with the kids from Florida, implying Texas high school kids were soft. Herman was just an A-Hole and all the high school coaches despised him so he wasn't going to get the benefit of the doubt. You don't have to bend over backwards, but you basically shouldn't actively try to piss them off or they will likely steer kids away from your program. Feels like there is a lot of room in between those extremes in which you can succeed. Same goes for the trainers for that matter, unless you want to talk about dropping bags in which case some of them are more likely to be influenced by that sort of thing.

Because they use their money and resources appropriately. They have more staff than just about anyone, particularly behind the scenes. Sounds like they have some of if not the best sports medicine people, nutrition people, you name it. Saban is an extremely detail oriented prick who leaves no stone unturned and demands and gets the most out of his staff. I would imagine that he has had a team of qualified people researching how to best take advantage of something like this for quite some time. Carrington maybe did a good job of getting ahead of this, but I very much doubt Herman or the coaches had any interest in really learning about it, much less selling it. I bet Saban knows more about it right now than most coaches will 5 years from now.

I don't think anyone truly knows how the NIL stuff is going to evolve. But I'm sure Alabama was at the forefront of it like everything else. If Sark was truly in training there under the wing of Saban, then I think that plays to our advantage as he should know how to sell it as well as anyone else in the country.

The picture was certainly in poor taste. But it seems pretty clear to me (And no I don't know 100% for sure because I have zero sources) that Carrington knew he was gone by the time he took those pictures. Sark knew BC was gone too, but it didn't leak until after NSD2 just in case any recruits would have been turned off by it. Every year guys leave the day or 2 days after signing day. You don't think they've been talking for weeks beforehand, doing interviews etc. This is no different. If anything, it's more excusable for Carrington because the staff was just blown up and in transition. I'm sure he started putting out feelers the hour after Herman was fired, as well he should have. I'm not getting bad vibes from Sark splitting duties. I was getting bad vibes from him seemingly not wanting BC to potentially explore an opportunity that was presented to him when it is probably standard practice in the industry (timing-wise). I mean hell, we've been talking about Petagna for as long as the USC/Carrington rumors have been going on so we don't exactly have a moral superiority here. But again, I'm apparently reading too much into it, so let's drop it.

Ok, Ok. Just kind of struck me as odd and perhaps a bit of a red flag. Clearly I'm reading too much into it. Hope I'm wrong.

Seems to me that Carrington wasn't exactly keeping Sark in the dark either. We've been hearing about it for quite a while and that Texas would have the opportunity to match. So either match, or don't. But don't get all bent out of shape because he's willing to listen to someone else who makes him a better offer. Who on NSD2 did we not get that BC would have been a vital player in getting? I'll hang up and listen.

This is so stupid. I really hope this isn't indicative of his "authenticity" and saying one thing and doing another. I would think that a national championship game is more important than national signing day, and not only did Sark have outright overtures before that game, he was actively working for us and splitting time leading up to it. Being ok with Carrington leaving because you think he was a mole, or you think he is fairly easily replaceable is one thing. But this just gives me a bad vibe if he's truly begrudging BC for accepting overtures from another school during a period when the current staff he is on had been fired and he was somewhat in limbo. It's not like BC has been making top assistant coaching money for years either. He has to consider all opportunities that jump his pay significantly. Holding people to a standard higher than your own is a quick way to lose the team a la Herman.

Wait. A lot of us aren't really that interested in LJ Johnson? Just because allegedly he starts trending away from us, let's not act like we don't want the kid. It's not ideal that he's taking his time deciding and that has supposedly rubbed both coaching staffs the wrong way. And he apparently has subpar Sr tape (I haven't watched it so can't comment). But I think you'd have a hard time finding people that would not be happy if he committed to us. Both staffs are pushing hard and that tells you all you need to know. Especially considering some of the other backup plans being explored. Seems the staff wants another RB in 2021, and Johnson is far and away the best option left. Hell, even if he doesn't turn into a great player, winning this head to head with A&M gives us a little momentum and kicks off the 2022 class. And Bijan and he are close, so once he gets to campus, I'd hope that he picks up on Bijan's work ethic. I think this would be huge if we can get him in the fold.

With just a dash of maliciousness

I think they are paying him mainly with pimento cheese sandwiches and subpar carolina style bbq.

Yeah, I'll stick around. I mean I'm due to get some premium inside scoop again soon that I can share. My last nugget was when I was walking back to the dorm one night and saw "Welcome Montrell Flowers" on the stadium scoreboard when he was in town for a secret unannounced visit. Posted that on hornfans or whatever the message board was back then faster than you could dial Suzanne Halliburton's hotline.

I don't spend much time, if any, on the football boards typically because I can smoke my own damn brisket without having to look at pictures of everyone elses. The coaching search was another story though as that clearly has huge implications for our future. I usually just lurk in recruiting and read info from people in the know, like you. So I appreciate all of your insights throughout the years. But this question doesn't have a clear answer one way or another. There are pros and cons to each outcome that can be debated. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean it's a "hawt" take or that their opinion is wrong. It's a preference. And mine would be to get LJ. I never said I don't give a fuck about the 2021 season. Of course it matters. If we get to or even win the big 12 title game, that is obviously a significant storyline that we can sell. How much does bringing Gray into the fold instead of LJ increase the odds of that happening? I'd guess very, very little. Bijan should get the vast majority of playing time since Sark has proven that he can give a rb more than 12 carries in a game. If our backup RB is getting more than 6-8 touches next year in a close game, then something has likely gone wrong. ROJO and LJ would be more than capable of performing that duty. Having LJ for 4 years, the last 3 of which we hopefully will have a shot at being a legitimate playoff contender is worth more than having 2 years of Gray when the first year we are clearly going to be learning new systems and not in the hunt for the playoffs. But apparently that is an unreasonable take so I'll fuck off and go back to lurking for a while I guess.

Fair. I didn't word that properly. But you don't typically go to the recruiting board if you are only focused on the results of the following year. It's more about the long term success of the program. I don't anticipate being in the title game next year after having a new coach. But in 2-3 years, I hope that might be a possibility. You don't keep Herman because in recruiting we were dead in the water for 2022. Sark gives us momentum. So next year RESULTS don't matter as much as perceived momentum I guess is my point in regards to recruiting. Herman had some pretty good classes with the "promise" of being better, but having lost to Maryland etc.... In the grand scheme of things, there isn't a ton of difference if next year we finish 8-3 instead of 7-4. Its' a process. Given our new coaching staff and a QB without any meaningful experience, I can't anticipate being in the final 4. And that is what all of our sights should be set on. The rest is just window dressing and whether or not your staff can sell progress and development of players, which hopefully Sark can sell at this point next year regardless of which player he gets because as mentioned, Bijan should get 80% of the carries no mater what. And long term, I'd rather have LJ.

Next year is not what I'm excited/worried about. Maybe we are good. Maybe we won't be. It's not like we are going to be in the playoffs. So who cares. Next year gets a pass with new coaches and a new QB. Talk to me about 3 years from now. Therefore I'd be more excited about LJ. Because we better enjoy Bijan while he is here, cuz he isn't staying long. But while he is, Sark is going to feed him. And ROJO is fine to spell him for the time being until LJ gets up to speed. Now if Gray can bring his LB friend along with him, then give me the Tennesee guys and I'll take my chances of landing Blue next year and not be too worried about LJ.

Stoops defensive schemes have more holes than South Austin's mom.

Pretty sure those are pancake crumbs

I literally said as much in my original post, which you quoted me on. I agree that he quit, I just said that I understood why he did so. I guess the point I thought you were trying to make (other than trying to belittle me) is that him quitting was unreasonable. And I then offered several reasons why I disagree with that conclusion. None of which you have actually bothered to address or refute. So maybe i did miss your point. Guess it doesn't matter. Clearly you are not going to agree with me. Which is fine. The topic has nothing to do with 2021 recruiting anyway. So let's agree to disagree, and move on.