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DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt

By DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt
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Minor Orangeblack
Minor Orangeblack

Blue Bell is announcing the release of a new flavor, Gordita Latina to be served exclusively at Texas Athletic facilities and DKR, it will feature hints of Canela, White Apples and Mexican vanilla. 

closetojumping
closetojumping

A few things: -If Harrell is the OC, and the rumors are legit but don’t take anything for granted until ink is dry, then Traylor could make a return. Herman would be admitting to a mistake in let

satyanash
satyanash

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satyanash

satyanash 15596

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(Chip Brown) Tom Herman's staff reboot: Overpriced or money well spent?

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AUSTIN, Texas — After going 25-15 in his first three years at Texas, Tom Herman replaced most of a staff he put together to coach at Houston with a staff that brings in much more Power Five coaching experience. And it didn’t come cheap. Even though the base salaries of new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich ($1.7 million) and new defensive coordinator Chris Ash ($800,000) combine to equal what previous defensive coordinator Todd Orlando ($1.7 million) and previous offensive coordinator Tim Beck ($800,000) were making, some significant guarantees were made.

Yurcich got three years guaranteed, while Ash, who is still owed $7.5 million in buyout money from Rutgers (with an offset),  got two years guaranteed. New tight ends coach and special teams coordinator Jay Boulware got three years guaranteed with a base salary of $700,000. New co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler got two years guaranteed with a base salary of $600,000.

When Herman brought in his initial staff in 2017, the coordinators got three-year, guaranteed deals while the other assistants got two-year deals. After those two-year deals were done, Herman put assistants on one-year deals - perhaps foreshadowing the staff turnover that just occurred. Because Texas’ 8-5 season in 2019 fell short of expectations, leading to the exodus of seven assistants, the perception was Herman was embattled and that UT would have to give out multi-year, guaranteed deals. The only way those guaranteed years become a factor is if Herman didn’t get his staff hires right.

At first glance, I think he did get it right. Yurcich has a better track record running a power spread offense (at Oklahoma State) than Beck did when he arrived at Texas three years ago. Ash has been a defensive coordinator at Ohio State, Wisconsin and Arkansas. Orlando arrived at Texas having coordinated defenses at UConn, Florida International, Utah State and Houston. And even though Orlando had a rock solid first year at Texas, holding opponents to 21.2 points per game, and getting a raise from $1.1 million to $1.7 million, his defenses fell off the past two seasons (25.9 points per game given up in 2018 and 27.5 ppg in 2019).

Herman had former Houston Westfield High School coach Corby Meekins coaching tight ends in 2017 and then inside receivers the past two seasons. Now, Herman has Boulware, who spent the past 10 years at Auburn, where he helped win a national title (2010), and Oklahoma, where he was part of four straight Big 12 titles. Because Orlando was the linebackers coach, Herman needed a replacement. He hired Hutzler, who coached for Jim Harbaugh at San Diego and Stanford and for Will Muschamp at Florida and South Carolina.

Herman has also hired former Kansas State offensive coordinator Andre Coleman as receivers coach, replacing Drew Mehringer; added former A&M assistant and former Indiana co-defensive coordinator Mark Hagen as defensive tackles coach; and former Rutgers cornerbacks coach Jay Valai, who played under Ash at Wisconsin and was hired by Ash at Rutgers. If Herman felt like his previous staff lacked big-time, Power Five coaching experience, he’s taken care of that with his staff reboot. Most all of the coaches hired are also known for their intensity and attention to detail. Say what you want about Herman, but his teams are tough, play physical and are usually in tight, fourth-quarter games - win or lose.

Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte said in an exclusive interview with Horns247 on The Flagship Podcast: “You have to have trust in your head coaches to make the right decisions. An AD’s job is to always try to do the very best job to hire the very best head coach available. That's my job. With Tom, when he made the decision (to make coaching changes), I said, 'What do you need? I'm with you. Let's make the decisions you need.' And then we just had conversations of what he was looking for.”

While one of the main factors in the search was to find coaches who would be the best personnel fit under Herman’s direction, Del Conte and Herman took a look at the strengths of the Texas program, the Longhorns’ roster personnel and the schematic desires of the head coach as they began to formulate the plan to hire Herman’s next wave of assistant coaches.

“We knew right now that we have the skill set of a great quarterback (in Sam Ehlinger),” Del Conte said. “We have to run an offense, and we know that the quarterback can be successful as a senior. We have a great offensive line coach, who knows the team and recruited guys. So Tom was really going to look for people that fit our personnel. There were a lot of people saying ‘you have go hire this guy, that guy.’ But they weren't personnel fits.”

On defense, Herman wanted to run more of a 4-3 scheme. “Tom had a plan. He said, ‘I want to run four-down linemen. This is what we want to run,’” Del Conte said. “We looked at Ash, who is a hell of a defensive coordinator. He won a national championship at Ohio State. Tom wanted to run a four-down front. We had the personnel to do that and said, ‘Okay, let's go build our staff around that.’ And then he went to the offensive side and found guys who would fit what we’re trying to do.”

Penn State and Notre Dame both pursued Yurcich, but Herman got his man. “There needs to be common beliefs, but I think when you bring somebody in, you definitely want a fresh set of eyes, new ideas and maybe different and better ways of doing things,” Herman said of Yurcich. “His quarterback development speaks for itself. From (Justin Fields), who was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, and I think we all remember what the guys at Oklahoma State were able to do in his tenure there. So, that was a big part of me seeking Mike out, with what he has been able to do in developing quarterbacks.”

Spring football starts March 24 and concludes with the Orange-White Spring Game on April 25. A $200 million renovation of the south end of DKR is well under way (due to be completed before the 2021 season). Under Del Conte’s fearless leadership, there is nearly $800 million in athletics facility upgrades in the works at Texas, including the $388 million Moody Center basketball arena as well as the newly announced $60 million basketball and rowing training facility (set to be completed in June 2022).

The only way all the guaranteed years being given out by Texas to new football assistants become a problem is if Herman did get the hires right. Herman clearly wanted a staff with more big-time, Power-Five coaching experience to command a veteran team with 16 returning starters. We'll know soon enough if Herman got what Texas paid for.

 

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Liquor and Poker

Liquor and Poker 3659

Posted
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On 2/18/2020 at 12:48 PM, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

it must be pretty sobering when you've been in a profession for 30 years and all of a sudden find yourself in an entry-level position.

With 7-8 years of making north of three million.  Be hard not to say “go fuck yourself” to Saban the first time he raises his voice. 

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49998

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Siap...

"Texas hires former Oklahoma State QB J.W. Walsh as analyst"

By  FUCK CHIP BROWN    (17 hours ago)

Texas has hired former Oklahoma State quarterback J.W. Walsh as an offensive analyst, a source has confirmed to Horns247.  Walsh, who played quarterback for the Cowboys from 2012-15, spent his final three seasons in Stillwater under then-offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. (Yurcich is now the offensive coordinator at Texas.)

Walsh, the son of two-time state championship Denton Guyer High School coach John Walsh, was a graduate assistant coach at TCU in 2016 and most recently served as the running backs coach at Abilene Christian.  Walsh finished his Oklahoma State career with 36 touchdowns passing and 10 interceptions. In his three years under Yurcich, when Walsh split time at quarterback with Mason Rudolph, Walsh threw for 23 touchdowns with seven interceptions.  A true dual-threat quarterback, Walsh also rushed 200 times for 1,036 yards (5.2 yards per carry) with 25 rushing touchdowns.

Walsh’s best year at Oklahoma State was his senior season under Yurcich when Walsh completed 57 of 85 passes (67.1 percent) for 787 yards with 13 touchdowns and one interception. Walsh also ran 77 times for 359 yards (4.7 yards per carry) with 13 touchdowns on the ground.

Walsh joins former Texas assistant and former Texas State head coach Everitt Withers as new offensive analysts hired by Tom Herman. Last year, former Kansas State offensive coordinator Andre Coleman, former North Carolina head coach Larry Fedora and Fedora's son, Dillon, served as offensive analysts at Texas.  After a staff shakeup by Herman on Dec. 1 that resulted in seven new assistant coaches being hired, Coleman was elevated to receivers coach for the Longhorns, replacing inside receivers coach Corby Meekins, who is now coaching tight ends for Dana Holgorsen at Houston, and Drew Mehringer, who is now co-offensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic under Willie Taggart. Fedora is now the offensive coordinator at Baylor under new coach Dave Aranda.

Herman has also added former North Carolina State defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable as an analyst. Huxtable coached linebackers at Wisconsin in 2011 when Texas defensive coordinator Chris Ash ran the Badgers’ defense.  A longtime defensive coordinator, Huxtable has run defenses at Western Kentucky (1989), Georgia Tech (1996-97), North Carolina (2002-03), Central Florida (2008-10), Pittsburgh (2012) and most recently N.C. State (2013-19).  Huxtable is a confidante of Ash whose name came up when Texas was making assistant coaching hires on defense.

The hiring of Withers as an offensive analyst holds some intrigue considering Withers has been a defensive coach the majority of his coaching career, including as secondary coach under Mack Brown at Texas from 1998-2000 before moving on to the Tennessee Titans (2001-06).  Withers was on Urban Meyer's staff at Ohio State as defensive backs coach in 2012 and 2013 when Herman served as offensive coordinator for the Buckeyes. A source said Herman hired Withers as an offensive analyst to serve as a defensive sounding board in the offensive meeting room as coaches put game plans together.

Withers took over as head coach at James Madison in 2014, going 9-4 that season and 9-3 in 2015, before becoming the head coach at Texas State in 2016. Withers was dismissed as the Bobcats’ head coach after the 2018 season with a 7-28 record.  Withers was hired as the defensive coordinator at Florida International in 2019 but left before coaching a game to become the defensive backs coach of the New York Giants. But after the 2019 season, Giants' head coach Pat Shurmur was fired, and his staff was let go.

https://247sports.com/college/texas/Article/Texas-Longhorns-football-JW-Walsh-hired-as-offensive-analyst-144824554/

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texifornia

texifornia 59013

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Former walkon and dude who has been around the program forever Garrett Graf is now the OL coach/run game coordinator at Midwestern State: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-graf-b77b501a0/

Replaced by this guy, for whom I'm very sorry for his loss this week, but he should probably get a less sticky space bar on his laptop: https://twitter.com/Coach_Limon

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Goodman

Goodman 3282

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Posted (edited)
On 3/19/2020 at 10:58 PM, texifornia said:

Former walkon and dude who has been around the program forever Garrett Graf is now the OL coach/run game coordinator at Midwestern State: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-graf-b77b501a0/

Replaced by this guy, for whom I'm very sorry for his loss this week, but he should probably get a less sticky space bar on his laptop: https://twitter.com/Coach_Limon

I would love to see Herman bring in a top shelf OL analyst. He's proven to not know shit about the OL. He first hired shitpants, then told us that the '17 OL was the more talented than tosu natty team, brings in Hand and we get completely owned vs ou & rapelor. Now we are trending down for all in state elite talent.

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texifornia

texifornia 59013

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2 minutes ago, Goodman said:

I would love to see Herman bring in a top shelf OL analyst. He's proven to not know shit about the OL. He first hired shitpants, then told us that the '17 OL was the more talented than tosu natty team, brings in Hand and we get completely owned vs ou & rapelor. Now we are trending down for all in state elite talent.

If you can't see that Herman + Hand have improved the OL, you're insane. Obviously a top-flight analyst would always be good, but come on.

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Goodman

Goodman 3282

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1 minute ago, texifornia said:

If you can't see that Herman + Hand have improved the OL, you're insane. Obviously a top-flight analyst would always be good, but come on.

"improved" is not what I'm going for. No excuse to look the way we did vs ou/baylor last year. Herman thought it a good idea to hire Darek Warehime. Yes, I am very concerned about the ol. Perhaps the data is not enough for a trend or perhaps Derek at Center will help(I believe it will) but it's the biggest concern going into our next season. 

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The Marsellus Wallace

The Marsellus Wallace 102

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Goodman said:

"improved" is not what I'm going for. No excuse to look the way we did vs ou/baylor last year. Herman thought it a good idea to hire Darek Warehime. Yes, I am very concerned about the ol. Perhaps the data is not enough for a trend or perhaps Derek at Center will help(I believe it will) but it's the biggest concern going into our next season. 

Can you say "linebackers?" I knew you could.

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Burt Macklin

Burt Macklin 19230

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Goodman said:

"improved" is not what I'm going for. No excuse to look the way we did vs ou/baylor last year. Herman thought it a good idea to hire Darek Warehime. Yes, I am very concerned about the ol. Perhaps the data is not enough for a trend or perhaps Derek at Center will help(I believe it will) but it's the biggest concern going into our next season. 

Not really. The OL and Hand weren’t the issue.  Our scheme/play calling was horrible and everyone knew what was coming. We let OU get away with stunting all game and hardly every ran quick hitting stuff up the A and B gaps, which were being vacated. We finally did it and ToJo busted a 50 yarder. This shit was obvious before the game been started and Herman and Beck couldn’t figure it out for almost the entire game. Same goes for teams that played the 3-8, like ISU and Baylor. They were ready for everything we ran and we didn’t do a thing to throw them off. No OL will have success in those conditions. 

If Yurcich can fix those issues, then the OL has the talent and coaching to excel. If he can’t, then it probably won’t matter as we’ll have all new coaches anyways.  Either way, hiring an OL analyst is definitely not going to be the solution to our problems. 

Edited by Burt Macklin
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LTtxfan

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Posted (edited)

Texas football assistant coaches set to get raises

By FUCK CHIP BROWN     21 hours ago

AUSTIN, Texas — Raises are expected to be approved this week by Texas regents for three members of Tom Herman's football staff - offensive line coach Herb Hand, associate head coach/running backs coach Stan Drayton and strength coach Yancy McKnight.

According to the May 6 agenda for the University of Texas' nine-member regents board, Hand will see his salary increased from $640,000 to $700,000 on a two-year, guaranteed contract that runs through the 2021 season.

Drayton will see his salary increased from $515,000 to $650,000 on a two-year, guaranteed contract extension that runs through the 2021 season, according to the regents agenda.

McKnight, who oversees strength and conditioning for football and is one of Herman's most trusted lieutenants, is set to receive a salary increase from $436,687 to $510,000 annually on a two-year, guaranteed contract extension through the 2021 season.

Drayton's raise — an increase of $135,000 per year — comes after Drayton was approached in the off-season by two NFL teams — the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams, sources told Horns247.com. The raises for Hand and McKnight represent an increase in their annual salaries of roughly $60,000 per year compared to last season.

As Horns247 reported in The Eyes of Texas last week, here are the remaining salaries and contract lengths for the rest of Herman's staff, which is made up of seven new assistant coaches in addition to Hand, Drayton and defensive ends coach Oscar Giles, who were retained from Herman's previous staff.

Tom Herman will earn $6 million for the 2020 football season, and his assistant coaching salaries - plus strength coach Yancy McKnight - will total $7.26 million.

Here’s a breakdown of Texas’ assistant coaching annual salaries (and remaining contract years):

  • Mike Yurcich, offensive coordinator, $1.7 million (three - through 2022 season)
  • Chris Ash, defensive coordinator, $800,000 (two - through 2021 season)
  • Jay Boulware, tight ends coach/special teams coordinator, $700,000 (three - through 2022 season)
  • Herb Hand, offensive line, $700,000 (two - through 2021 season)
  • Stan Drayton, running backs, $650,000 (two - through 2021 season)
  • Coleman Hutzler, linebackers, $600,000 (two - through 2021 season)
  • Mark Hagen, defensive tackles, $550,000 (two - through 2021 season)
  • Yancy McKnight, strength coach, $510,000 (two - through 2021 season)
  • Oscar Giles, defensive ends, $400,000 (two - through 2021 season)
  • Andre Coleman, receivers, $350,000 (year to year)
  • Jay Valai, cornerbacks, $300,000 (two - through 2021 season)

All the assistant coaches (including McKnight) have the following performance bonus incentives:

  • Reach Big 12 title game: $10,000
  • Bowl game plus seven wins: $10,000
  • Bowl game plus eight wins: $20,000
  • New Year’s Six bowl: $40,000
  • College Football Playoff semifinal: $50,000 
  • CFP final: $60,000
  • National champions (win CFP): $85,000

Tom Herman is set to earn $6 million in 2020; $6.25 million in 2021; $6.5 million in 2022; and $6.75 million in 2023.

Herman’s performance bonus incentives:

  • Big 12 championship: $100,000
  • Reach bowl game: $25,000
  • Win bowl game: $50,000
  • Reach New Year’s Six bowl: $50,000
  • Win New Year’s Six bowl: $50,000
  • Reach CFP semifinal: $100,000
  • Reach CFP final: $125,000
  • Win CFP final (national champions): $250,000
  • Finish 2-5 in AP poll: $180,000
  • Finish 6-10 in AP poll: $120,000
  • National coach of the year: $100,000
  • Big 12 coach of the year: $50,000
  • Total potential bonus money Herman can earn: $1.2 million

https://247sports.com/college/texas/Article/Texas-Longhorns-football-assistant-coaches-raises-Herb-Hand-Stan-Drayton-Yancy-McKnight-Mark-Hagen-146782926/

 

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Guest Lobo

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Posted
Just now, texifornia said:

*8-5

Still feels silly.

Incorrect.  Clearly states:  "Bowl game plus seven wins: $10,000"

PLUS, seven wins.  Obviously you win 7 games, you're basically guaranteed a bowl game in our league.  The bowl game qualification obviously has already happened if the assistant gets us to 7 wins.  And obviously we could lose that bowl game, it doesn't say "bowl game victory"...it says make the bowl in addition to having won 7 games...so 7-6 is absolutely possible. 

$10k isn't a huge deal to an assistant knocking down mid-six figures, but it's still technically a bonus and it sends the signal that 7-6 is something, that at Texas Football, necessitates the administration and leadership has to sit down at the end of the year and celebrate by doling out bonus checks.  It's a little thing but cultures of winning don't do shit like this.  Texas Football should be a place where if there's a AD/President/Regents meeting after a 7-6 season, it's because people are about to get shitcanned not about to get a nice stocking stuffer for the holidays.

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texifornia

texifornia 59013

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37 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Incorrect.  Clearly states:  "Bowl game plus seven wins: $10,000"

PLUS, seven wins.  Obviously you win 7 games, you're basically guaranteed a bowl game in our league.  The bowl game qualification obviously has already happened if the assistant gets us to 7 wins.  And obviously we could lose that bowl game, it doesn't say "bowl game victory"...it says make the bowl in addition to having won 7 games...so 7-6 is absolutely possible. 

$10k isn't a huge deal to an assistant knocking down mid-six figures, but it's still technically a bonus and it sends the signal that 7-6 is something, that at Texas Football, necessitates the administration and leadership has to sit down at the end of the year and celebrate by doling out bonus checks.  It's a little thing but cultures of winning don't do shit like this.  Texas Football should be a place where if there's a AD/President/Regents meeting after a 7-6 season, it's because people are about to get shitcanned not about to get a nice stocking stuffer for the holidays.

Ah, I thought you were talking about our record, not the minimum bar they needed to clear for the bonuses. Got it.

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Posted (edited)
15 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Ah, I thought you were talking about our record, not the minimum bar they needed to clear for the bonuses. Got it.

Yeah, 8-5 would have earned everybody $20k extra.  Nothing to sneeze at but nothing to sit around and hand out in an exited fashion.  

Championship culture to me says we meet to discuss making changes at 7-6, we only meet to discuss bonuses at 9-3/10-2+, at 8-5 I think everybody just goes home to celebrate the holidays and then come back and get to fucking work.  

Edited by Lobo
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Tex Long

Tex Long 4662

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Posted
2 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I would hope that if CDC had to write bonus checks for a 7-6 season he would something in the memo line like "you suck at your job and should be ashamed to accept this"

Not a bad idea, other than the fact that he'd have to use Ant-Arial 1/72 pitch font to fit the line.

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Tex Long

Tex Long 4662

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15 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

Ok, maybe on the back put "By endorsing this instrument I fully acknowledge that I suck at my job and am truly ashamed at accepting this bonus in light of my subpar performance."

Great, now you're up to CricketCourier 1/12 pitch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It would be funnier if they didn't make the lines - or what appear to be lines - like where you sign the check, out of exactly that sort of lettering. Magnify the shit out of your check and read that shit.

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49998

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Posted (edited)

Just listened to Urban Meyer interviewed on "The Herd" today and at the end Collin brought up how much better tOSU is doing this year in their recruiting for 2021.    (Kinda funny to see that tOSU is doing just fine without Urban 😁)

Not rocket science, but Urban mentioned that if your assistants aren't one of the better recruiters for their position groups, then you've got a problem -- Always easier to be a more successful coach if you have better players...

 

Still find it very interesting that Andre Coleman is the only assistant currently on a 1yr contract... Maybe we see Texas add Ra'Shaad Samples as the WR or TE coach in a year??

 

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jw4381

jw4381 3249

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Posted
On 4/27/2020 at 2:47 PM, LTtxfan said:

 

It's my contention that this will be the hugest payoff of the new coaching staff. And the whole staff will prove to be huge. I see a 3 year run of greatness bitches. And then maybe more.

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mr. sunshine

mr. sunshine 2859

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Posted
6 minutes ago, jw4381 said:

It's my contention that this will be the hugest payoff of the new coaching staff. And the whole staff will prove to be huge. I see a 3 year run of greatness bitches. And then maybe more.

This is beyond anything mere alcohol can produce. I’m guessing inhalants 

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49998

Posted
Posted
On 5/6/2020 at 12:59 PM, LTtxfan said:

Just listened to Urban Meyer interviewed on "The Herd" today and at the end Collin brought up how much better tOSU is doing this year in their recruiting for 2021.    (Kinda funny to see that tOSU is doing just fine without Urban 😁) Not rocket science, but Urban mentioned that if your assistants aren't one of the better recruiters for their position groups, then you've got a problem -- Always easier to be a more successful coach if you have better players...  Still find it very interesting that Andre Coleman is the only assistant currently on a 1yr contract... Maybe we see Texas add Ra'Shaad Samples as the WR or TE coach in a year??

 

 

Btw... Hutzler is definitely an upgrade for recruiting

 

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49998

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Thx for this @satyanash 

Eric Nahlin: Herman didn’t sacrifice recruiting for development

Quote

In the Newbery Medal winning short story, Recruiting for Dummies, I mentioned the myth of the rainmaker recruiter. These supposed rainmakers are in much shorter supply than Dummies realize. Most recruiters are beholden to circumstances that are largely out of their control, namely program perception. This excludes head coaches, of course. A position coach killing it on the trail for Ohio State isn’t going to be the same recruiter at other schools, even if he was selling a good and somewhat similar product like Michigan. Or even Notre Dame.

If program perception matters for even the most reputable recruiters (a funny term to apply here given the reputation of some), then imagine the difficulty to gain ground on the trail if you’re not only new to the region but also joining a Texas program that woefully missed its targeted win total just one season go. It was said in real time, and it’s gaining more steam now, that Tom Herman outfitted his staff with developers rather than recruiters. I think that’s a blanket statement that might apply in some places but certainly not others. I’ll show you my math.

Coordinators

The most important job when it comes to coordinators recruiting is to articulate an attractive philosophy, design a proven scheme, and to explain how a prospect fits within it. These guys don’t have to be ace recruiters, but if they aren’t they do need to be ace coordinators. I have been encouraged by what I’ve heard about Mike Yurcich. When he first arrived at UT, I think he was a little too focused on adding a 2021 quarterback to the class rather than focusing on the real need of adding Southlake Carroll’s Quinn Ewers to the 2022 class.

There seems to have been a quick correction and Texas is right in the thick of it for Ewers, in large part thanks to Yurcich. Unfortunately Texas hasn’t yet been able to capitalize on Yurcich’s preference for getting vertical. Every wide receiver recruit likes to hear that term, but so far Yurcich’s preference to take shots deep hasn’t resonated. Not being able to host prospects for spring ball sure didn’t help. Overall I like what I’m hearing about Yurcich. There’s a lot to like for every skill player.

Chris Ash’s best selling point is philosophy and scheme yielding enticing fits. Defensive linemen want to play in a four-man front, linebackers want to play behind four defensive linemen so they can see-ball-hit-ball, corners like to press on an island, and safeties like to range and ball-hawk. Upon arrival, Ash hit the airport with vigor and was initially putting Texas within striking distance of national recruits. Maybe he can regain that, or maybe that’s for another cycle.

As a defensive back coach he has a chance to make a haul equal to last year’s if he can add Kennedale’s JD Coffey and Austin LBJ‘s Andrew Mukuba. I’m still getting a handle on some other things about Ash but he should recruit well enough. Both coordinators have attractive philosophies to sell, and that should be enough to capitalize if the position coaches hold up their end.

Position Coaches

I think Ton Herman hired two future stars in cornerbacks coach Jay Valai and linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler. I’m not talking about rainmakers, but the much more attainable status of volume recruiter. It’s still a little too early to tell, but I also like what I’ve heard from program sources regarding each coach’s likability. Typically when I hear a coach is likable, that coach is at least a serviceable recruiter.

Some unlikeable coaches are good recruiters too, but they have the ability to be whatever person they need to be given the situation. You can evaluate coaches like prospects and Valai and Hutzler have qualities you’re looking for: they’re young, energetic, and relatable to people from differing backgrounds. In this line of work, they’re going to come across recruits from every background imaginable.

Oh yeah, per multiple accounts we’ve chronicled, they know what they’re talking about, too. Valai has Texas poised to land the state’s best corner prospect in Dallas Kimball’s Ishmael Ibraheem. Hutzler has a chance to sign perhaps the two best linebacker prospects in the state in Morice Blackwell, a current commit from Arlington Martin, and Terrence Cooks from Shadow Creek.

These young coaches with short resumes might struggle to overcome bad processes, like waiting to offer Denton Guyer’s Deuce Harmon or South Oak Cliff’s Jaydon Williams, but things don’t have to line up perfectly for them to land very good prospects. Each coach has displayed recovery speed. If these two can get underperforming units playing at a high level this upcoming season, their profile will increase and recruiting will become easier. The talent is in place at both cornerback and linebacker for them to do so. I want more data but these are two exciting hires with big recruiting upside.

Tight end coaches are like running back coaches in that you’re looking for someone who recruits well outside the position he is assigned to. Jay Boulware seems to offer some of that, as he was the impetus for a few national prospects who sat high atop OU’s big board receiving UT offers upon his arrival. I haven’t heard much about him as a recruiter otherwise. Perhaps that’s because Texas has had two tight ends committed for much of his short time as a Texas coach. I have heard very good things about him as a special teams coach, however. That surely won’t sell on the recruiting trail — son, I see you as one helluva contain guy on kickoff. Just don’t forget to bring the tee back to the sidelines — but it could very well help the bottom line that does sell on the recruiting trail.

We’ll find out more on Boulware in the coming months as Texas looks to add another tight end to join Everman’s Juan Davis in the class. There are a lot of tight end prospects in-state to evaluate, but it might be best to look nationally. Tight ends can be found under rocks. Let’s see what they come up with.

Andre Coleman was certainly hired on the strength of his ability to develop rather than recruit. It’s been well-documented that departed seniors Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay served as influential references for him. Perhaps no other coach was hurt more by not being able to host recruits during spring practice. Texas needs the word to get out that Coleman is developing his young talent. Absent visits for practices, the young, inexperienced group of receivers is going to have to make the pitch on his behalf on Saturdays. Coleman must turn his current players into recruiting assets when recruits are visiting campus.

Texas doesn’t recruit many traditional defensive tackles so all eyes will be on Mark Hagen as he helps recruit prized interior prospect Shemar Turner from DeSoto. As the cycle wears on, that recruitment will see its profile rise with recruitniks. If Hagen lands Turner, he’ll be considered a witch! If he misses on Turner, then Herman brought in developers rather than recruiters! I don’t yet know what to make of Hagen, but I think he can help Texas win that recruitment. UT should definitely field very active interior players this season and that won’t hurt.

Just as the staff has been robbed of precious time to evaluate prospects, we’ve been robbed of a lot of insights regarding the new hires. But I think it’s too early to say Herman sacrificed recruiting for developing. Maybe that proves to be the case but between the philosophies of Yurcich and Ash, and the energy of Valai and Hutzler, I think we’ll see recruiting upside that hasn’t yet reared its head.

 

Edited by LTtxfan
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