2020 Texas Offseason Thread: Herman's Hail Mary

[Tex Pete 20,342]

1 hour ago, lazygringo said:

I definitely don't want to run around in that shit in the August sun. Good luck to these men.

If it meant playing versus not, it wouldn't bother me in the least. It won't really affect breathing, but will just take getting used to like any shield does.

And Bob Bowlsby is the shittiest Big 12 commissioner we've had, and that is really saying something.

 

[texifornia 56,911]

1 hour ago, The Earl of Texas said:

 

It turned out to be because we got our first 2022 commit.

[GringoSalado 1,651]

We should play OU best out of three.

Edited July 31, 2020 by GringoSalado
OU Sucks

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

Awesome!!!

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

Yeah this will work... 😂 

 

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by LTtxfan

[Slacks 6,819]

So... No school.

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

21 minutes ago, Snacks said:

So... No school.

 

Edited August 1, 2020 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 49,170]

9 hours ago, Tex Long said:

Is it true that Bowlsby has pictures of every AD in the XII involved in some disgusting activity with dead women or live men? 

Is there any other feasible explanation for his continued employment?

 

 

 

Edited August 1, 2020 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

Edited August 1, 2020 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2,652]

wonder how long until the first party?  Half an hour?

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

49 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

 

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

Damn, leaving it up to the Presidents... 

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

2022... 🤘

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[texifornia 56,911]

10 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

2022... 🤘

 

Recruiting in the recruiting threads, dude. Otherwise it all just blends together. 

[Pimphand 5,735]

Let me just say the Shermanator found the most creative way possible to make it into 2021

[KYHorn 17,029]

1 hour ago, texifornia said:

Recruiting in the recruiting threads, dude. Otherwise it all just blends together. 

"Recruiting" is just like a social construct, man.

[LTtxfan 49,170]

    Tarik Black    @LetmeRockk_

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

[satyanash 14,481]

(Max Olson) Texas’ biggest preseason question: Do the new coordinators have enough time?

Quote

What is it going to take for Texas to play up to what seems like exciting potential in 2020? Sure, this has become more of a loaded question now that 2020 is truly a season unlike any other. But Tom Herman gets it. And he thinks about it, pausing for five seconds during a June phone interview to collect his thoughts, before he settles on a fairly obvious conclusion. “The grasp of the systems,” Herman said. “Especially on defense. Offense, there’s a lot of carryover but there’s still some differences. Defense will be very new.”

The Longhorns have legitimate Big 12 title aspirations this fall. They have lots of experienced blue-chip talent. They have a fourth-year starter at quarterback. They have reason to be optimistic about what this squad is capable of accomplishing together if this season is playable. But the dramatic changes Herman made to his coaching staff is the great unknown for his team’s chances, and all these months of unprecedented turbulence, this offseason certainly doesn’t make that transition an easy one.

Two new coordinators. Six new hires. Coaches with new ideas, new schemes, new teaching styles. They have a ton of work to do and got zero spring practices to do any of it. This week, for the first time in the seven months since Texas’ staff shakeup began, defensive coordinator Chris Ash, offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich and the rest of these coaches get to run a practice together. It’s a long-awaited opportunity to get real reps and see just how much this team has learned.

How quickly can the new staff get Texas up to speed? It’s worth pointing out that what they’re trying to pull off here is very uncommon. In the past decade, no Power 5 head coach has hired two new coordinators and won a conference title in the same year. Actually, let’s clarify that. In the past 10 years, there have been four Power 5 teams that won conference titles with a new offensive coordinator and a new defensive coordinator. But in each of those cases, the circumstances were different.

First there was Auburn, who did it in 2013. But that was Gus Malzahn’s first coaching staff, so everyone was new. The Tigers are the ultimate outlier. Florida State did it in 2014, but Jimbo Fisher promoted co-OCs Lawrence Dawsey and Randy Dawson and DC Charles Kelly into coordinator roles. And those guys were coming off winning a national championship together.

Penn State pulled it off in 2016 when James Franklin hired OC Joe Moorhead. But new DC Brent Pry was an internal promotion, a coach who’s been with Franklin since 2011. And then there’s Alabama, whose staff seems to constantly change. The 2018 Crimson Tide did win the SEC with new coordinators, but that was with Mike Locksley and Tosh Lupoi getting promoted into those opportunities. It was the co-coordinators, Josh Gattis and Pete Golding, who were the new hires.

So Texas making outside hires and trying to get all of this change to click in one offseason? Nobody at the Power 5 level has totally figured out how to make it work and win a championship in the past decade. And, well, none of those four conference champs had to overcome a global pandemic along the way.

College football got shut down 10 days before Texas was scheduled to hit the practice field in March. Herman points out the Longhorns were able to accomplish more than you’d think in January and February thanks to the evolving rules for walkthroughs. And they ultimately got more Zoom meeting time this summer than they’d ever need. The X’s-and-O’s teaching is really not the issue here. These Longhorns are now exceedingly well-versed on their new playbooks. The unknowable thing here is how precisely these players will be able to execute in these next few weeks of practices — and how many games it’ll take for them to get rolling.

This won’t be quite as tough for Yurcich, who comes from a relatively similar situation in some ways. He went up to Ohio State in 2019 to serve as passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach, but the Buckeyes already had Ryan Day and Kevin Wilson running their offense. Justin Fields was new, but everything else about the Buckeyes’ offense was pretty well-established. The Texas job is different in the sense that he has much more authority as OC to call plays and run his offense. Still, Yurcich was hired more to upgrade this Longhorn attack than reinvent it. The Sam Ehlinger-led offense might be a lot better, but it won’t be dramatically different.

For Ash, it’s a completely different deal. The ex-Rutgers head coach was brought in for a full rebuild of a unit that ranked eighth in the Big 12 in scoring defense (30.6 points per game) during conference play. New system, new four-man front, new positional roles, new everything. Counting on- and off-field staffers, seven of Texas’ nine defensive coaches are new hires. The good news is the players are buying in.

“I like their style of teaching,” defensive end Joseph Ossai said. “I also think they’re very focused on what they want to do, and they’re just trying to get all of us to jump on board with them and be in the same mindset as them.”

These coaches have done all they can possibly do to teach this defense in Zoom conferences and meetings and walkthroughs. For Ash, though, it has to be challenging to try to successfully install the most fundamental element of his defense — a rugby-style tackling system — without being able to practice in pads and, you know, perform actual tackling. “That side of the ball certainly has been hit harder with the pandemic than the offensive side, for sure,” Herman said.

Ash preached a basic philosophy during his job interview: Be simple but not predictable. He believes wholeheartedly in getting 1,000 reps at one thing, not one rep of 1,000 things. When you keep it simple, players play fast. They can’t when they’re confused. Herman calls his new DC as good of a fundamental coach as he’s ever been around. His shoulder tackling system of hitting ball carriers, taking control and getting them down quickly can make this team much more effective at getting stops in space. He’s trying to build his guys into confident, effective knockback tacklers. But how many practices will that take?

They’ve made progress without pads this summer. Two weeks ago, Ash participated in the Texas High School Coaches Association’s virtual coaching school. He taught a one-hour clinic on his defensive philosophy and tackling methods. Most of the cut-ups he shared came from Rutgers and Ohio State games and practices. But he did throw in a few more recent clips from the Longhorns’ summer workouts.

In one, shirtless Texas defenders wearing shorts, cleats and GPS units worked on their wrap-and-roll technique with an agile bag. Later, he showed his new players repping their sideline tracking and tackling, a non-contact pursuit drill done at game speed. "I don’t believe you have to go 11-on-11 and full-speed 11-on-11 tackling drills all the time to become a good tackling defense,” Ash said as he shared the first Texas clip. “I actually think it’s more important to work on the fundamentals and get things in small, constricted safe situations to work on it.”

Ash called his first six months on the job “wild and crazy” but also a lot of fun. He says this unprecedented offseason made him better, that he learned things about making instruction easier and more accessible for players that he’ll use for the rest of his career. And he shared some advice about the kind of mentality it’s going to take to make the best of things this fall.

Although Ash was speaking to high school coaches, his message is no less apt for a Texas staff preparing to navigate big expectations and whatever comes next.

“Right now, we’re all faced with different challenges. We’re going into some unchartered times, some uncertainty as we move forward. But nobody cares,” Ash said. “In this profession, nobody gives a damn about the challenges we face as coaches. Get those issues and thoughts out of your mind and focus on developing your players. We talk about that all the time.

“Guys, you can waste a lot of time and energy thinking about what about this, what about that, are we gonna play, are we gonna be delayed, are they gonna cancel — none of it matters. It doesn’t matter. Just get your mind on developing your players. You’ve got a job to do. Let’s go do the job.”

 

[fellside 1,113]

So what will the one non conference game be?

[texifornia 56,911]

7 minutes ago, fellside said:

So what will the one non conference game be?

Farewell to the Fuck Charlie Strong Bowl

 

[Red Five 40,852]

I have no idea what the rest of UTEP's schedule will end up looking like but I assume we'll want to move that game up a week or two. 

[Hiphopopotamos 20,869]

Latest tweet I saw said UTEP would likely be Sept 19. 

 

* found tweet

Edited August 4, 2020 by Hiphopopotamos

[satyanash 14,481]

 

[BayouBill 835]

20 minutes ago, satyanash said:

 

Secretly I kind of wanted the home at home. Would have been a bit surreal.

[Dr Fear 1,268]

Secretly I kind of wanted the home at home. Would have been a bit surreal.

Globe Life Field is the Rangers old ballpark that was converted to football for the XFL team. I dont think the new park can handle football.

[thepop 4,409]

Somewhat off topic but wasn’t sure where to post. Donald Hawkins lost his dad to COVID yesterday. This is a link to help with funeral costs if anyone is interested in donating.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/donald-ray-hawkins-funeral?utm_medium=email&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_email%2B5806-thank-you-ask-share

[cam4mav 771]

3 hours ago, Dr Fear said:

3 hours ago, BayouBill said:

Secretly I kind of wanted the home at home. Would have been a bit surreal.

Globe Life Field is the Rangers old ballpark that was converted to football for the XFL team. I dont think the new park can handle football.

google tells me Globe Life PARK is the old one, converted for foozball

Globe Life FIELD is the new one.

[Dr Fear 1,268]

google tells me Globe Life PARK is the old one, converted for foozball
Globe Life FIELD is the new one.

That is correct!

[Dnaguy 11,943]

19 hours ago, satyanash said:

(Max Olson) Texas’ biggest preseason question: Do the new coordinators have enough time?

 

[futureman 22,453]

5 hours ago, cam4mav said:

google tells me Globe Life PARK is the old one, converted for foozball

Globe Life FIELD is the new one.

yes.  the new name for globe life field is “the gilf”

[LTtxfan 49,170]

 

 

[LTtxfan 49,170]