Texas Recruiting Notes 2023: Strippers, Monkeys, and 5-Stars

[IDIOTsavant 8502]

Just now, hook me said:

Not getting shat upon by fat Pat & actually winning in Ft. Worth (cue the "& it could have been worse cries") are already signs of progress.

I know some of y'all on here are geriatrics & are really wanting to win this season before you become senile & don't know your left hand from the color spaghetti or take the long dirt nap, but I'm just approaching middle-age so if we can keep this sort of baby step progress going I may very well see another conference championship while I still have the mental capacity to remember & enjoy it & tell my grandkids about the dark ages of Longhorn football while they're making fun of me for not understanding how to use my iPhone 40. The 2051 season is looking bright, just keep laying the bricks!

Just double tap your right ear.

[bad_teammate 13225]

Just now, SydneyCarton said:

I don't understand a world where there should be fucking trust in coaching until a coach has earned it.

Well, what does it mean for Internet yahoos to "trust" and why does it matter?

My pretty low standard is, "I will try to avoid actively tearing apart members of Longhorn athletics online in public view without some kind of tremendous provocation". I don't think it's likely that my words here will damage a recruit's (or recruit's influencing family/friends) view, but I also know that my negative analysis is even LESS likely to do anything constructive.

[Tex-19 2885]

53 minutes ago, Ricky Butler said:

Can we just never mention Saban again. No one is Saban. There are a lot of successful head coaches in college football. Can we look at their careers for data points?

It’s not just Saban that struggled year 1. Kirby went 7-5, Franklin 6-6, Fickell 4-8, Jimbo (aggy) 8-4. Even for good coaches, It’s more common to have bad first years than good ones. 

Obv that doesn’t mean Sark is good, just that it’s too soon to say.

[Michael Knight 12995]

1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

If Steve Sarkisian puts up career numbers on the football field akin to the way Coach K has in basketball, I will kiss your bare ass in public and give you 20 minutes to draw a crowd. That reference is laughably unrelatable. 

I remember Nick Saban's 2007 season at Alabama with clarity, because I have always enjoyed rooting against Nick Saban and Alabama, and now they were together. I was at Bennigan's off Riverside with SL Xpress and others when they lost to ULM and we all fucking cackled and high-fived. It was glorious. And yet we knew with absolute certainty that that shithead was going to turn Bama into a winner. Everyone did. His departure from Miami was bad news for college football as far as we were concerned. The dude had already won a title.

You're comparing Saban at the time to a guy in Sarkisian who has never won more than 9 games in a season (which he did once) and who was unceremoniously fired in the middle of a gameweek from his last big time HC role at USC because he was a crumbling drunk who was collapsing under the pressure of the role and was disappearing for days at a time and showing up to practices and games with hooch and hooch on his breath. You can go watch clips of him on the sidelines against UW just before he was fired where he is visibly drunk during the game. I mean, the two circumstances and people are nothing alike. I literally laughed out loud thinking about this comparison.

Comparing Saban's first year at Bama or his ULM looss to anything going on for another team with a new coach has become a de facto message board trope. It's typically invalid and it is laughably invalid here. 

I would take Urban Meyer over Arch Manning every day and twice on Sunday. But that isn't a choice, so I'll just keep hoping Texas lands Manning. That considered, remember that Arch Manning, if he's healthy and as amazing as he looks, has a ceiling of Payton Manning as Tennessee, not Vince Young at Texas. He's not going to be a transcendent dual threat QB that saves us no matter who the HC is, and he's not going to be that kind of leader, either. I'd take Payton Manning at Tennessee-level shit, but it's not going to spell titles unto itself. 

7 win Steve was drinking Steve, maybe sober Steve is 8 wins. Everyone's hot shit of the moment Luke Fickell went 6-7 with a team that won 12 games the year prior and 12 the year after and went 4-8 his first year at Cincinnati . Coaches can grow, coaches can learn and coaches can get better; will Sark at Texas the future is uncertain and the end is always near.

[SydneyCarton 48202]

6 minutes ago, Ricky Butler said:

Glad this thread is going to turn into blowhard theater.

I know you don't mean me, sir. 

2 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

Humans find patterns where patterns don't exist. It's how we put ourselves at the center of situations and/or attribute deeper meaning to things that don't actually have meaning. There's a big word for it that starts with an a.

Strong -> Herman -> Sark is not a pattern except in the larger sense of, "Football teams, for the most part, get 8 wins or fewer per year." as a very normal pattern and "New coaching hires tend not to build championship teams within 3-5 years, if at all."

It sounds a lot more interesting if we make it seem like an actual pattern and it's way more personally resonant if we can put ourselves into teams "The Realists vs. The Sunshine Pumpers" and fight a Holy War on behalf of our team.

It's a stupid argument, really, and one that belongs on an entirely different forum.

 

This is such a worthless, stupid post, that I'm sad I unclicked ignore to read it. 

I don't think anyone here even remotely attempted to say that Strong to Herman to Sark is a pattern, except maybe one of the fucking TrUst tHE CoaChEs guys who inevitably show up. And that isn't me. But in general the idea that humans find patterns that don't exist, implying that therefore patterns overall don't exist, while you then close out with citing a pattern itself about the average number of games a football coach wins, well, that's some real hilarious bullshit. Golf fucking clap. 

Just so we're clear, you dont think Turtle Tom Herman had any specific patterns of coaching style and decision making that showed up consistently on Saturdays, over the span of 3 years? Was Mack Brown refusing to play freshman until after the OU game a pattern at any time before he came out and told the media straight up that he doesn't like playing Freshman until after the OU game because it's too big for them? Just stop. 

Feel free to head to another forum then, tourist. For some of us, this is home and there's a reason we talk about a ton of different facets of football here, other than just recruiting. 

 

[Ricky Butler 2732]

 

1 minute ago, Tex-19 said:

It’s not just Saban that struggled year 1. Kirby went 7-5, Franklin 6-6, Fickell 4-8, Jimbo (aggy) 8-4. Even for good coaches, It’s more common to have bad first years than good ones. 

Obv that doesn’t mean Sark is good, just that it’s too soon to say.

Exactly. My point was not looking at the GOAT for data unless that's the only way this hire is considered a success.

[Helobious 9467]

I think Sark could be a really good coach here. But reading the football board and all their “it’s not the coaches, it’s the players. We have no talent” defenses is a beating. I believe every scholarship player on the roster was part of a top 10, if not top 20 recruiting class. They’re not a bunch of JV B team scrubs. 

[realgreggym 837]

1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

If Steve Sarkisian puts up career numbers on the football field akin to the way Coach K has in basketball, I will kiss your bare ass in public and give you 20 minutes to draw a crowd. That reference is laughably unrelatable. 

I remember Nick Saban's 2007 season at Alabama with clarity, because I have always enjoyed rooting against Nick Saban and Alabama, and now they were together. I was at Bennigan's off Riverside with SL Xpress and others when they lost to ULM and we all fucking cackled and high-fived. It was glorious. And yet we knew with absolute certainty that that shithead was going to turn Bama into a winner. Everyone did. His departure from Miami was bad news for college football as far as we were concerned. The dude had already won a title.

You're comparing Saban at the time to a guy in Sarkisian who has never won more than 9 games in a season (which he did once) and who was unceremoniously fired in the middle of a gameweek from his last big time HC role at USC because he was a crumbling drunk who was collapsing under the pressure of the role and was disappearing for days at a time and showing up to practices and games with hooch and hooch on his breath. You can go watch clips of him on the sidelines against UW just before he was fired where he is visibly drunk during the game. I mean, the two circumstances and people are nothing alike. I literally laughed out loud thinking about this comparison.

Comparing Saban's first year at Bama or his ULM looss to anything going on for another team with a new coach has become a de facto message board trope. It's typically invalid and it is laughably invalid here. 

I would take Urban Meyer over Arch Manning every day and twice on Sunday. But that isn't a choice, so I'll just keep hoping Texas lands Manning. That considered, remember that Arch Manning, if he's healthy and as amazing as he looks, has a ceiling of Payton Manning as Tennessee, not Vince Young at Texas. He's not going to be a transcendent dual threat QB that saves us no matter who the HC is, and he's not going to be that kind of leader, either. I'd take Payton Manning at Tennessee-level shit, but it's not going to spell titles unto itself. 

There is no way that you're getting close to my ass. I have standards. The larger point is that let Sark get his players and then if the results don't get any better, then bitch until the cows come home. If I took the time which I won't, there are probably dozens of examples that I could have used. I chose K and saban because there well known and everyone here knows who they are.

[bad_teammate 13225]

4 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

But in general the idea that humans find patterns that don't exist, implying that therefore patterns overall don't exist, while you then close out with citing a pattern itself about the average number of games a football coach wins, well, that's some real hilarious bullshit.

Not a philosophy major, I see

Quote

Just so we're clear, you dont think Turtle Tom Herman had any specific patterns of coaching style and decision making that showed up consistently on Saturdays, over the span of 3 years?

Of course Herman had Herman's faults. 

What I said was "Strong -> Herman -> Sark is not a pattern". Sark may win an NC next year. He may lose 10 games. Prognosticating that shouldn't factor Herman or Mack or Strong in at all.

If you watch Sark screwing up and think, "Oh here we go again" you're not looking at it clearly.

[SydneyCarton 48202]

1 minute ago, bad_teammate said:

Not a philosophy major, I see

Of course Herman had Herman's faults. 

What I said was "Strong -> Herman -> Sark is not a pattern". Sark may win an NC next year. He may lose 10 games. Prognosticating that shouldn't factor Herman or Mack or Strong in at all.

If you watch Sark screwing up and think, "Oh here we go again" you're not looking at it clearly.

No, I majored in something more likely to help me actually make money and be successful. Philosophy isn't an known to me as a hobby, as I did take 6 semester hours. 

How about if I watched the same shit at Washington, then at USC, and then versus Arkansas, TCU, OU, and OSU? Can I say "Here we go again" with proper clarity, in your estimation, sir? When is it "safe" to spot a pattern?

[Duane Moore 5250]

So far, the trend I am seeing that concerns me on offense is the inability to come up with a counter move to be productive in the second half after the opponent inevitably adjusts to what Sark cooked up as the game plan in the first half (which has been very good). I didn’t watch his teams at UW and USC enough to know if that was a problem for him back then as well. It certainly wasn’t at Alabama, so maybe if he can accumulate enough talent it will be enough to overcome that failing. We really don’t have a lot of weapons right now, but I don’t think he’s maximizing what he does have. 

[SydneyCarton 48202]

5 minutes ago, realgreggym said:

There is no way that you're getting close to my ass. I have standards. The larger point is that let Sark get his players and then if the results don't get any better, then bitch until the cows come home. If I took the time which I won't, there are probably dozens of examples that I could have used. I chose K and saban because there well known and everyone here knows who they are.

"Listen, there are probably dozens of examples that I can't conveniently produce, because I'm not going to take the time to produce them, but they're there. I say this as I tale the time to type out a mostly meaningless post that says very little except 'stay away from my butthole." 

What happens when shitty collapses and losses prevent Sark from "getting his players." The idea of "Let him get his guys in" is so fucking antiquated at this point it's an absurd fucking trope. In today's college football, which isn't regional any longer, to win conference championships at the highest levels and compete for national titles, EVERYONE'S players are the same 100 guys in the fucking country and sprinkle in about 5 top notch evaluations every recruiting class. This isn't a world where the right scheme and development can turn a bunch of guys no one else wanted into champions. Those days are mostly past. It's a top talent game. And those guys only head to spots with a positive trajectory to sell. Period. 

[closetojumping 62883]

32 minutes ago, Sgt. Slaughter said:

Part of my issue with the pessimism is it feels like you guys are writing off the potential for future success because you’ve been hurt by the past. Your trust issues are showing.

Sydney already referenced it, but I don't owe anyone trust on this staff at Texas. It's not an issue. It's a simple fact. Show me you know what in the fuck you are doing and that your team is going to adapt and improve throughout the year, then win some hardware and recruit lights out, and you know what? I might start to trust you a little bit. Otherwise you're just another highly paid mediocrity that doesn't merit any benefit of the doubt but for clowns like bad_teammate who think it's a tablestake component for being a fan.

31 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Sark's been out of the saddle for a while.  There is the possibility and opportunity for growth as a head coach versus what he's shown so far this year and what he showed when he was a drunk.  Notwithstanding any comparisons, I think some patience is called for to see if he can figure some things out.  He's got several good traits to build on and a pretty good supporting cast.  He would have to be a complete moron to not learn from some of the basic shit that is holding him back, because he is clearly more open minded and introspective than some of the other mo-fos who have coached here.

The guy took half of the 2015 season off to deal with his alcoholism. He was then an analyst observing the greatest college football machine ever built and has since been an OC in the NFL and back at the machine. He's not exactly coming in cold or without having been exposed to some enlightening shit. 

Anyone preaching patience should caveat that term with what it means in terms of this program and season for them. I can be "patient" if I am seeing a better season put together than the one Tom Herman had last year. The guy went 7-3 and lost the 3 games by a combined 13 points. Folks here can equivocate, but there's plenty of talent that returned for this season against a mediocre schedule. Folks have declared that the Big 12 and Arkansas are tougher than we figured. I guess? So that means we need to be "patient" to the point of something below 9-4/10-3 is okay? Good for you guys if you can get there. 

As I stated previously, this team looks like a team headed for 6-7/5-7/7-6 on the year. If that happens and you guys are still equivocating on Sarkisian's behalf, I'm going to have a lot fun lampooning you all offseason. Right up until September 10th, 2022, and then we can talk more about "patience" that afternoon.

20 minutes ago, Ricky Butler said:

Glad this thread is going to turn into blowhard theater.

"going to turn into" - right. You post and read here often, you know that that is exactly what you're getting on a thread like this, sir.

[CHIEF 5095]

18 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I don't understand a world where there should be fucking trust in coaching until a coach has earned it. And that includes at every new stop. So far this guy isn't even learning from several very, very obvious mistakes at a coaching level from week to week, game to game. And he's displaying many of the same traits he was accused of at other stops, regardless of drinking. This isn't a fucking girlfriend or spouse, it's a paid employee of the University with a checkered past. It's good sense to be skeptical, and honestly, and if he wants trust he can fucking earn it. Removing motion and outside zone and jet sweeps once again offensively when running up the middle wasn't working and failing to adjust isn't a trust issue, at this point. It's a demonstrable pattern pointing straight away to "Don't fucking trust." And don't get me started on the defense. 

If he can figure shit out. Sure, I mean, lets be realistic, this motherfucker isn't going anywhere for awhile barring a public breach or his morality clause. So he's going to get the some time to show improvement, whether we like it or not. But you say he'd have to be a moron, and we've established he's not learning week to week on any of this shit yet. Just because he's less of a public prick doesn't mean he's got some amazing open mind. It just means he knows how to talk to the media. Because none of us is seeing the game by game adjustments we'd expect, and we're certainly not seeing the in game on-the-fly shit we hoped to and even expected to see from the offensive wizard. So what exactly are you basing this optimism on? The next poster got it right, we're all in the same boat, since he's going to get the some time. But don't piss down my back and tell me its raining.

Fuck. 

Gundy moved the DEs outside eliminating outside zone and jet sweep options. This funneled every run back to the middle. Our OL is so shitty, they can't even run block in the A and B gaps when the DEs are outside. It basically shut down the run game. We have no answer for that. There was a reason we abandoned those plays, the shit no longer worked. They dared Casey to beat them with his arm with a defender in his face. 

CHIEF

 

[Michael Knight 12995]

4 minutes ago, Duane Moore said:

So far, the trend I am seeing that concerns me on offense is the inability to come up with a counter move to be productive in the second half after the opponent inevitably adjusts to what Sark cooked up as the game plan in the first half (which has been very good). I didn’t watch his teams at UW and USC enough to know if that was a problem for him back then as well. It certainly wasn’t at Alabama, so maybe if he can accumulate enough talent it will be enough to overcome that failing. We really don’t have a lot of weapons right now, but I don’t think he’s maximizing what he does have. 

Our opponents aren't adjusting so much as our players aren't consistent in their execution/play. Whatever it is, penalties, players getting blown off the line or the QB making the wrong reads. 

[bad_teammate 13225]

1 minute ago, SydneyCarton said:

No, I majored in something more likely to help me actually make money and be successful.

It was a joke, dude, Jesus, you don't have to respond shouting about your Dodge Stratus

Quote

How about if I watched the same shit at Washington, then at USC, and then versus Arkansas, TCU, OU, and OSU? Can I say "Here we go again" with proper clarity, in your estimation, sir? When is it "safe" to spot a pattern?

If the only pattern you're noticing is that "since someone has to lose a zero-sum game, most teams don't win 7+ games" coupled with "the expectations I have for my team involve a level of winning reserved for ~3% of teams per year" then that's fine but as you point out, noticing those patterns is banal and don't lend to an idea that one is an expert for noticing.

Even MORE banal is the idea you guys have of yourselves that you are the lone prophets noticing that we lost these games. Look how ctj has to invent a whole fictional world in which there is a gang shouting "WE LOVE SARK HE'S AMAZING!" at him when no one is actually doing that at all.

3 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Folks here can equivocate, but there's plenty of talent that returned for this season against a mediocre schedule.

It's not a mediocre schedule. 7th toughest in the nation.

It's not about you needing to trust, it's just about telling the truth and make sense.

[SydneyCarton 48202]

1 minute ago, CHIEF said:

Gundy moved the DEs outside eliminating outside zone and jet sweep options. This funneled every run back to the middle. Our OL is so shitty, they can't even run block in the A and B gaps when the DEs are outside. It basically shut down the run game. We have no answer for that. There was a reason we abandoned those plays, the shit no longer worked. They dared Casey to beat them with his arm with a defender in his face. 

CHIEF

 

I didn't consistently see this, but ok, lets assume that was true some of the time. Of course, we didn't abandoned pounding it inside over and over and over after it no longer worked. We didn't see us try to implement a short TE game with those wide out DE's, or even a quick WR screen game that we've had some success with this season. Or, and I know folks are going to be hesitant about this, but designed Thompson runs up whichever game is open after a play fake. Lets not pretend there's only two answers and counters to things on offense and then we're just done. And for the record, I'll take Bijan on a wide DE move times than I'll take him up the middle if you're forcing me to choose 1 of 2 plays that haven't had much success lately. 

[closetojumping 62883]

21 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

It’s not just Saban that struggled year 1. Kirby went 7-5, Franklin 6-6, Fickell 4-8, Jimbo (aggy) 8-4. Even for good coaches, It’s more common to have bad first years than good ones. 

Obv that doesn’t mean Sark is good, just that it’s too soon to say.

Bob Stoops, Pete Carroll, Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, and Jimbo Fisher all won titles in the last 22-ish years within 4 years of taking the reins. Several well inside of that. That's all fine, but what does any of it have to do with Seven Win Steve?

There are quite literally hundreds of coaches over the last 22-ish who were hired in a new role, sucked absolute balls in year one, and then, lo and behold, they also kept right on sucking. If we're simply going to draw conclusions via the simple counting method, the 8 ball we're shaking with that is going to keep coming up "Outlook Not So Good".

20 minutes ago, Michael Knight said:

7 win Steve was drinking Steve, maybe sober Steve is 8 wins. Everyone's hot shit of the moment Luke Fickell went 6-7 with a team that won 12 games the year prior and 12 the year after and went 4-8 his first year at Cincinnati . Coaches can grow, coaches can learn and coaches can get better; will Sark at Texas the future is uncertain and the end is always near.

To be clear, I wouldn't want Luke Fickell anywhere near the UT program. I watched his season at OSU and rather enjoyed his ineptitude. He's 7-11 against ranked opponents in his career, including beating 3 G5 ranked opponents last year who shouldn't have probably been ranked without the pandemic. He won 2 bowls against teams that finished 6-7. He choked the bowl game last against Georgia. I mean, straight-up choked. He's got a terrific QB this year. He's playing in a weak conference. I won't be the least bit surprised if he goes to a P5 program after this season and shits the bed all over again. 

In any event, we don't any different choice as fans than to cross our fingers and hope our unproven coach gets his shit together ratchets rapidly up the learning curve.

[CHIEF 5095]

2 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I didn't consistently see this, but ok, lets assume that was true some of the time. Of course, we didn't abandoned pounding it inside over and over and over after it no longer worked. We didn't see us try to implement a short TE game with those wide out DE's, or even a quick WR screen game that we've had some success with this season. Or, and I know folks are going to be hesitant about this, but designed Thompson runs up whichever game is open after a play fake. Lets not pretend there's only two answers and counters to things on offense and then we're just done. And for the record, I'll take Bijan on a wide DE move times than I'll take him up the middle if you're forcing me to choose 1 of 2 plays that haven't had much success lately. 

This OL is letting a defender through, untouched, at least once or twice a series. Be it a lineman, or linebacker. I would wheel route with the RBs until they stopped it. That's about the only play the offense has time to get off when the defense pins their ears back.  Sark needs to go back and watch his own seminar.

CHIEF

 

[stork642 4500]

1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

If Steve Sarkisian puts up career numbers on the football field akin to the way Coach K has in basketball, I will kiss your bare ass in public and give you 20 minutes to draw a crowd. That reference is laughably unrelatable. 

I remember Nick Saban's 2007 season at Alabama with clarity, because I have always enjoyed rooting against Nick Saban and Alabama, and now they were together. I was at Bennigan's off Riverside with SL Xpress and others when they lost to ULM and we all fucking cackled and high-fived. It was glorious. And yet we knew with absolute certainty that that shithead was going to turn Bama into a winner. Everyone did. His departure from Miami was bad news for college football as far as we were concerned. The dude had already won a title.

You're comparing Saban at the time to a guy in Sarkisian who has never won more than 9 games in a season (which he did once) and who was unceremoniously fired in the middle of a gameweek from his last big time HC role at USC because he was a crumbling drunk who was collapsing under the pressure of the role and was disappearing for days at a time and showing up to practices and games with hooch and hooch on his breath. You can go watch clips of him on the sidelines against UW just before he was fired where he is visibly drunk during the game. I mean, the two circumstances and people are nothing alike. I literally laughed out loud thinking about this comparison.

Comparing Saban's first year at Bama or his ULM looss to anything going on for another team with a new coach has become a de facto message board trope. It's typically invalid and it is laughably invalid here. 

I would take Urban Meyer over Arch Manning every day and twice on Sunday. But that isn't a choice, so I'll just keep hoping Texas lands Manning. That considered, remember that Arch Manning, if he's healthy and as amazing as he looks, has a ceiling of Payton Manning as Tennessee, not Vince Young at Texas. He's not going to be a transcendent dual threat QB that saves us no matter who the HC is, and he's not going to be that kind of leader, either. I'd take Payton Manning at Tennessee-level shit, but it's not going to spell titles unto itself. 

I agree.  The good news is Greg Davis won’t be calling the plays for Arch.  Thank god.  

[SydneyCarton 48202]

1 minute ago, CHIEF said:

This OL is letting a defender through, untouched, at least once or twice a series. Be it a lineman, or linebacker. I would wheel route with the RBs until they stopped it. That's about the only play the offense has time to get off when the defense pins their ears back.  Sark needs to go back and watch his own seminar.

CHIEF

 

The wheel route we've used sparingly. There's nothing I disagree with at all in your post. 

We only saw, what, 1 or 2 instances of both Robinsons at RB in the backfield against OSU? I'm sorry, there are ways to incorporate that to success in addition to a running QB, wheel route with a QB option or a flare out of the backfield as well if you don't trust thompson to get it to the WR at the far hash. 

[closetohumping 17476]

43 minutes ago, Helobious said:

I think Sark could be a really good coach here. But reading the football board and all their “it’s not the coaches, it’s the players. We have no talent” defenses is a beating. I believe every scholarship player on the roster was part of a top 10, if not top 20 recruiting class. They’re not a bunch of JV B team scrubs. 

Bijan, overshown, worthy and maybe one of our corners starts for ou.  Who else?  I think over half of our guys would start for arkansas and osu though

Edited October 20, 2021 by closetohumping

[RGBIII 22840]

[UTEE97 3524]

3 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Bijan, overshown, worthy and maybe one of our corners starts for ou.  Who else?  I think over half of our guys would start for arkansas and osu though

I don't understand this argument. Perhaps they wouldn't start for OU is because they haven't been developed. They played well enough to dominate OU in the first half but suddenly they are not good enough to start for them because they choked in the second half?

[hook me 2103]

52 minutes ago, IDIOTsavant said:

Just double tap your right ear.

[Scholz 11965]

32 minutes ago, irishtexan said:

A motherhole. Or maybe an assfucker.

 

[Ricky Butler 2732]

45 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

No, I majored in something more likely to help me actually make money and be successful. 

The paths of glory lead but to the grave. Surly.

[Tex-19 2885]

2 minutes ago, UTEE97 said:

I don't understand this argument. Perhaps they wouldn't start for OU is because they haven't been developed. They played well enough to dominate OU in the first half but suddenly they are not good enough to start for them because they choked in the second half?

Player development is still on Herman at this point. Takes longer than 7 games to do that. 
 

OU definitely has more NFL picks starting for them right now. No question there. We outcoached them in the first half. That obv flipped in the second. 

[UTEE97 3524]

1 minute ago, Tex-19 said:

Player development is still on Herman at this point. Takes longer than 7 games to do that. 
 

OU definitely has more NFL picks starting for them right now. No question there. We outcoached them in the first half. That obv flipped in the second. 

If we could make just one more stop or score one more time in either of the two games we lost, do we still say "we just don't have the talent?" I mean it felt like it was a coaching issue to me. Sark failed to rally/inspire his troops to make a final stand when it counted. Everything else is mental gymnastics imo.

[closetohumping 17476]

5 minutes ago, UTEE97 said:

I don't understand this argument. Perhaps they wouldn't start for OU is because they haven't been developed. They played well enough to dominate OU in the first half but suddenly they are not good enough to start for them because they choked in the second half?

Who's roster would you rather have?  Go position by position.  Again, Sark has never won more than 7 in his life so I'm not saying he's the next Saban or any shit like that, but who's roster?  This isn't year 4 of Herman or Charlie Strong fucking up the coin toss.   I'll take our running back group. I like ou pretty much everywhere else and easily on the OL.  Development?  Sure, but I'm willing to give Sark more than 9 months to say he's a failure.   From the stands it looked like we were dicked over by the refs in the ou game. 

[Octavian 1025]

1 hour ago, IDIOTsavant said:

I will say that the one thing about Sark that gives me some optimism is a capacity to acknowledge a fault and fix it. Can he fix his coaching blind spots? TBD, but I don't really question him in the same ways I did Strong (job was too big) and Herman (thinks he's the smartest guy in every room).

Del Conte does a trip up to NYC twice a year to meet with alumni who live here. Occasionally, the head football coach comes too. I remember when I watched Herman, he refused to acknowledge criticism/seemed upset/got annoyed if someone called him out on something. Oftentimes, his first go-to response was to chalk it up to the questioner not understanding football enough. Sark actually seemed like he thought about whether the criticism was valid/gave nuanced answers that showed he wasn’t brushing aside potential issues. I think Sark has it in him to be introspective/self scout/fix mistakes. I don’t know whether he will be successful as that likely requires success/luck in other areas like recruiting, but I do not think he is the arrogant/stubborn person that Herman was.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Octavian

[RGBIII 22840]

Hey, no one sunshine pumps more than I do but I don’t know how anyone could watch the last two games and feel any semblance of confidence in Sark and at this point PK looks like a whole ass fraud. It would be one thing to come out in the first quarter and have that OU blown loss hangover carry over but what we witnessed was a complete failure of game planning and frankly being outcoached on both sides of the ball. Combine that with the worst OL performance I’ve seen since Suh…ya this season ain’t gonna be so hot folks. I’ll stay more optimistic than CTJ on barely being bowl eligible but we are closer to that than the big 12 championship game

[realgreggym 837]

59 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

"Listen, there are probably dozens of examples that I can't conveniently produce, because I'm not going to take the time to produce them, but they're there. I say this as I tale the time to type out a mostly meaningless post that says very little except 'stay away from my butthole." 

What happens when shitty collapses and losses prevent Sark from "getting his players." The idea of "Let him get his guys in" is so fucking antiquated at this point it's an absurd fucking trope. In today's college football, which isn't regional any longer, to win conference championships at the highest levels and compete for national titles, EVERYONE'S players are the same 100 guys in the fucking country and sprinkle in about 5 top notch evaluations every recruiting class. This isn't a world where the right scheme and development can turn a bunch of guys no one else wanted into champions. Those days are mostly past. It's a top talent game. And those guys only head to spots with a positive trajectory to sell. Period. 

We will see who is right. 

[LTtxfan 49372]

10 minutes ago, RGBIII said:

Hey, no one sunshine pumps more than I do but I don’t know how anyone could watch the last two games and feel any semblance of confidence in Sark and at this point PK looks like a whole ass fraud. It would be one thing to come out in the first quarter and have that OU blown loss hangover carry over but what we witnessed was a complete failure of game planning and frankly being outcoached on both sides of the ball. Combine that with the worst OL performance I’ve seen since Suh…ya this season ain’t gonna be so hot folks. I’ll stay more optimistic than CTJ on barely being bowl eligible but we are closer to that than the big 12 championship game

 

Coaches have to do better -- but this roster is not good...

• Player leadership is terrible
• OL play horrible
• No pass rushers worth a damn
• No DL guys that draw doubleteams
• Defense rarely creates negative plays
• LBs can't get off blocks
• Safeties out of position missing tackles
• Only one WR that defenses have to stop
• Terrible TEs that can't block
• Mediocre QB play vs Arky, Tcu, okie lite

[UTEE97 3524]

16 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Who's roster would you rather have?  Go position by position.  Again, Sark has never won more than 7 in his life so I'm not saying he's the next Saban or any shit like that, but who's roster?  This isn't year 4 of Herman or Charlie Strong fucking up the coin toss.   I'll take our running back group. I like ou pretty much everywhere else and easily on the OL.  Development?  Sure, but I'm willing to give Sark more than 9 months to say he's a failure.   From the stands it looked like we were dicked over by the refs in the ou game. 

We have lots of holes in our roster for sure but the games weren't lost because of talent. We let the game slip away even though we had couple of quarters in each game to make some adjustments, to change things up, call a trick play, or huddle the team. We did none of that. Sark coaches like an OC, not like a HC. Perhaps it will come to him over time but we said similar things about our past few experiments until nobody had any excuses left.

[SydneyCarton 48202]

4 minutes ago, realgreggym said:

We will see who is right. 

I mean, to be right don’t you have to take a position? What’s your position here, exactly? 
 

mine is “I’m not seeing comforting shut this far and I’m rapidly in Hope for the Best, prepare for the worst” mode. 

[closetohumping 17476]

2 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

 

Coaches have to do better -- but this roster is not good...

• Player leadership is terrible
• OL play horrible
• No pass rushers worth a damn
• No DL guys that draw doubleteams
• Defense rarely creates negative plays
• LBs can't get off blocks
• Safeties out of position missing tackles
• Only one WR that defenses have to stop
• Terrible TEs that can't block
• Mediocre QB play vs Arky, Tcu, okie lite

[Atticus 3994]

29 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Who's roster would you rather have?  Go position by position.  Again, Sark has never won more than 7 in his life so I'm not saying he's the next Saban or any shit like that, but who's roster?  This isn't year 4 of Herman or Charlie Strong fucking up the coin toss.   I'll take our running back group. I like ou pretty much everywhere else and easily on the OL.  Development?  Sure, but I'm willing to give Sark more than 9 months to say he's a failure.   From the stands it looked like we were dicked over by the refs in the ou game. 

He went 9-4 in his only full season at USC. But yea, he's got his work cut out for him here. 

And the thought that he could've called a trick play when they weren't executing the same stuff they executed earlier in the game is not a good one. I'm not sure how much Sark engages with Casey between series, but I don't see Casey adjusting to what the defense is showing him much at all.

[closetohumping 17476]

4 minutes ago, Atticus said:

He went 9-4 in his only full season at USC. But yea, he's got his work cut out for him here. 

And the thought that he could've called a trick play when they weren't executing the same stuff they executed earlier in the game is not a good one. I'm not sure how much Sark engages with Casey between series, but I don't see Casey adjusting to what the defense is showing him much at all.

Fair enough.  My 7 win comment wasn't entirely fair as he took over a shit show in UW.  IDK how he's handling the qb situation.  Obviously Card is his guy, and we can kind of see why.  Casey can be pretty reckless and his pick 6 lost us the osu game.

[Ricky Butler 2732]

28 minutes ago, RGBIII said:

PK looks like a whole ass fraud.

This is the one thing I can't square. I respect Chris Petersen's bullshit meter and eye for coaching talent. PK's track record is great, and I don't think the Big 12 offenses are that special anymore. It doesn't add up.

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-football/how-pete-kwiatkowski-uws-evil-genius-coordinator-has-built-the-huskies-into-the-nations-no-1-defense/

[TexasEx 1667]

4 minutes ago, Ricky Butler said:

This is the one thing I can't square. I respect Chris Petersen's bullshit meter and eye for coaching talent. PK's track record is great, and I don't think the Big 12 offenses are that special anymore. It doesn't add up.

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-football/how-pete-kwiatkowski-uws-evil-genius-coordinator-has-built-the-huskies-into-the-nations-no-1-defense/

Sure it does. 

[Sir Ulrich 5191]

13 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Fair enough.  My 7 win comment wasn't entirely fair as he took over a shit show in UW.  IDK how he's handling the qb situation.  Obviously Card is his guy, and we can kind of see why.  Casey can be pretty reckless and his pick 6 lost us the osu game.

He also prioritized an OOS project over Weigman (UT was his dream school) and Evers (would have helped with Stewart and the rest of DFW). Thankfully the Manning's seems to trust him but man has he whiffed on the QB front so far imo.

[Ricky Butler 2732]

7 minutes ago, Sir Ulrich said:

He also prioritized an OOS project over Weigman (UT was his dream school) and Evers (would have helped with Stewart and the rest of DFW). Thankfully the Manning's seems to trust him but man has he whiffed on the QB front so far imo.

"So far."

Also, I think the Weigman thing has been covered. Ewers hadn't decided to enroll early when A&M took Weigman's commitment. Also, we appear to be chasing the Devin Brown kids who looks pretty good.

[squeegeedegg 723]

Agreed on Weigman, although the Ewers mess convoluted all of that for long enough that Weigman got taken off the table.  Plenty of posters on here as well keep bringing up the MLB draft bullshit, but of course, that will prove to be hot air.  I do like Murphy, I think he's a better take than the last several Herman takes, but the lack of dominance in HS has to be accounted for.  If Devin Brown flips, and the Manning sweepstakes continue to trend well, then I would say he has surpassed 4 years of Herman in the QB front in less than a year 

[Laga4 1270]

47 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Source?  

Other than Verizon. 

[Gil Bang 26048]

2 hours ago, Duane Moore said:

I haven’t watched a ton of Arch Manning, but from what I’ve seen, he’s a pretty good runner. He’s not VY, but he’s definitely not a statue like Peyton was. 

He'll be on ESPN Friday Night. 

[Sgt. Slaughter 2841]

1 hour ago, RGBIII said:

Hey, no one sunshine pumps more than I do but I don’t know how anyone could watch the last two games and feel any semblance of confidence in Sark and at this point PK looks like a whole ass fraud. It would be one thing to come out in the first quarter and have that OU blown loss hangover carry over but what we witnessed was a complete failure of game planning and frankly being outcoached on both sides of the ball. Combine that with the worst OL performance I’ve seen since Suh…ya this season ain’t gonna be so hot folks. I’ll stay more optimistic than CTJ on barely being bowl eligible but we are closer to that than the big 12 championship game

I still have a difficult time not looking at the OL situation as the link that is causing the rest of the team to fail. The second half the past two weeks have been riddled with false starts, holding calls and inconsistent protection/blocking. This has led to short drives and skewed time of possession. The thing that gives me hope is we have played so damn well in the first half of games on defense that fatigue has to be one of the major factors (not looking deeply into halftime adjustments) and hoping that if we can find a way to sustain drives and get the defense off the field in the second half, the performance will improve. 
 

There’s a strong chance that I am a hopeless romantic with a propensity toward blind naivety, but I have to cope somehow.

[closetohumping 17476]

14 minutes ago, Laga4 said:

Source?  

Other than Verizon. 

One of the 9.95ers, either TFB or IT.  I'll dig more if you want.

[The Beast 585]

This is great! We have written off Sark already and he hasn’t gotten past his first year. Wank.

[Hornbeliever 715]

I remain moderate, which I know we as Americans are not allowed to be.  We showed we can play great and we've shown we can lay a fart.  Very very few coaches can make enough of an impact so quickly to change behavior.  

Our program has had a losers mentality since 2010 IMO.  'scared to death, throw up in the tunnel type shit.  To expect Sark to change mindsets in 8 months is a stretch.  To expect a real change in 2 years, probably reasonable.  To change in 4 years, absolutely.

So I am not guzzling kool-aid after Arkansas (OU and OSU bothered me less) but I also think its unfair people already writing off the entire next 4 years.  2 cents done.