This is who Steve Sarkisian is.

[burdine 522]

I think grabbing guys from G5 schools that have verifiable on the field production, like Neyor, is going to be the mainstay.

Plus, guys caught up in coaching staff changes.

[lilMAC25 3802]

4 minutes ago, Doc Daneeka said:

This is going to be a really fun thread for some people to quote in three or four years. I’m on the “this is the Simms/Redding foundation 2.0” bandwagon at this point. I’m hoping I will enjoy the quotes being thrown around. 

Theres definitely room for improvement but there’s also clearly a well-defined plan with concrete positive steps being taken. 

[burdine 522]

1 minute ago, idigTexas said:

I share your optimism, but prepare yourself for posts that will rightfully highlight the role that NIL is playing in recruiting success.  Comparing Sark's classes with those of previous coaches isn't a completely fair comparison, even if you assume that simply being Texas has always had inherent advantages.   

Hey fair enough.  

Texas may become a NIL Deathstar at some point but I don't think it's the deciding factor yet.

This class had star power and balance.

The national cherry picking (Manning, Baxter, Lefau, Akana) had a lot more to do with this staff (PK, Choate, Milwee, Choice) than NIL in my opinion.

[Skipper 6170]

This is the best roster building/management we've seen since the early Mack days.    For all the bitching this board does about Sark during the season I hope the doubters can at least recognize he's definitely putting a foundation in place that will give him the opportunity to be successful.  

[immamac 42882]

2 hours ago, burdine said:

Hey fair enough.  

Texas may become a NIL Deathstar at some point but I don't think it's the deciding factor yet.

This class had star power and balance.

The national cherry picking (Manning, Baxter, Lefau, Akana) had a lot more to do with this staff (PK, Choate, Milwee, Choice) than NIL in my opinion.

That's fucking hilarious. 

[Doc Daneeka 6769]

1 minute ago, immamac said:

That's fucking hilarious. 

How would you weigh NIL vs. development and performance of the D with regard to Lefau and Akana?

Do you think NIL outweighed NFL prep for Manning?

I don’t know about Baxter, but Bijan usage couldn’t hurt. 

I’m not saying NIL is irrelevant, obviously.

[immamac 42882]

1 minute ago, Doc Daneeka said:

How would you weigh NIL vs. development and performance of the D with regard to Lefau and Akana?

Do you think NIL outweighed NFL prep for Manning?

I don’t know about Baxter, but Bijan usage couldn’t hurt. 

I’m not saying NIL is irrelevant, obviously.

I think it has a lot more to do with everything than you think. 
i don’t think Manning’s college coach is gonna be the thing that makes him pro and neither should you. 

[burdine 522]

Hard to think we out-NIL'd Georgia and Bama for Manning.

Hard to think we out-NIL-'d Miami and Florida for Baxter.

And thinking PK and Choate's west coast roots went a long way with Hawaii kids.

But if I'm wrong, I'll be happy to learn about it.

 

[burdine 522]

And I don't know if NIL would have been the thing if the defense had cratered again two years in a row.

Does NIL matter?  Yes, it does.

Is it the only reason this staff achieved a great, balanced class?  I'm going with no.

[BigOrange1 6448]

2 hours ago, Valmy77 said:

 

That experience with that Bama tight end kind of soured me a little bit on the portal. There is probably a reason these guys didn't make it at their previous school. But hopefully things go bettet with these two transfers we got yesterday.

what about the experience with quinn ewers or ryan watts?

[Doc Daneeka 6769]

15 minutes ago, immamac said:

I think it has a lot more to do with everything than you think. 
i don’t think Manning’s college coach is gonna be the thing that makes him pro and neither should you. 

You think Manning is here for the NIL? It doesn’t take three years of recruiting to sell NIL does it?

I asked you how you’d weight NIL vs. on-field development. Can this staff shit the bed and leave a stocked NIL cupboard for the next guys? 

The D development counts for something, doesn’t it? How would you apportion it?

[BigOrange1 6448]

3 hours ago, burdine said:

While 6 - 3 in Big 12 play was our 2nd best result in 9 years, it did feel like the staff left one or two more wins on the table drawing legit criticism.

Now reflecting on this recruiting class, I think this is easily our best class in a decade.  I know folks say anybody can recruit at Texas and there is some truth in that.  Yet, for balance across the board between defense and offense and lines of scrimmage and skill players, this class just plain looks great.

We did well in Texas and cherry picked very high end talent nationally.

The defensive turnaround on the field led to tremendous success in recruiting.

Numerous defensive players DEVELOPED and played well beyond expectations.

We are also probably about to have our best NFL draft day in over a decade as well.

As the staff deserves criticism for some of those in game decisions, they deserve real praise for this recruiting effort.

My hope is that it reflects real changes in culture and development behind the scenes that I think have been at the root of our inconsistent results.

I agree that wins were left on the field this year, but Sark has done a tremendous job of laying a foundation for a very good program moving forward.  the 2022 and 2023 recruiting classes are the crown jewels, but he has also put together a very solid coaching staff that develops players and has (mostly) stayed together throughout his tenure.  next season, most of the players on the team will have been coached by the same coordinator and position coach throughout their entire time in the program.  that is a major improvement over the past decade.  

He has to win on the field, we all know that.  But Sark has done a bangup job getting us to the point where that should be able to start happening next season.

[burdine 522]

5 minutes ago, Doc Daneeka said:

You think Manning is here for the NIL? It doesn’t take three years of recruiting to sell NIL does it?

I asked you how you’d weight NIL vs. on-field development. Can this staff shit the bed and leave a stocked NIL cupboard for the next guys? 

The D development counts for something, doesn’t it? How would you apportion it?

I don't think Tom Herman and Co. get to sniff Manning or the Hawaii kids no matter how good our NIL game becomes.

NIL is important.  Staffs also have to develop and use relationships (Choice in the Southeast, PK and Choate on the West Coast) and show on the field development and growth.

The staff did enough of that IMO to be a large part of the reason for this class's outcome.

[Doc Daneeka 6769]

8 minutes ago, burdine said:

I don't think Tom Herman and Co. get to sniff Manning or the Hawaii kids no matter how good our NIL game becomes.

NIL is important.  Staffs also have to develop and use relationships (Choice in the Southeast, PK and Choate on the West Coast) and show on the field development and growth.

The staff did enough of that IMO to be a large part of the reason for this class's outcome.

Absolutely it’s important. I question whether it is “fucking hilarious” that the staff isn’t at least as responsible, though. “Fucking hilarious” implies it’s not even close. Like 2/3 or more NIL. Maybe it is. I doubt it, but I don’t know. Which is why I asked. 

Edited December 22, 2022 by Doc Daneeka

[burdine 522]

I get that there is a lot of heartburn over some questionable gameday play calling and this staff.

A fair amount of that is deserved.

I also think this staff is doing a very good job of maximizing what UT brings (NIL and everything else) to the table off the field and they deserve credit for that when things go as well as this class did.

I have concerns that being both a play caller and head coach might not be the 100% right way to go with Sark.  Especially, if they get rid of the coaching staff limits which makes the benefit less.  It seemed like we got squeezed on coaching bandwidth a few times this year late in games.

I also have very few concerns with the broader program.  Those parts of the program seem to be in good hands with this staff.  I loved seeing the player development this year as that has been one of our biggest nightmares. 

Eventually, it has to translate to consistent winning and conference championships so we will see down the road how it goes.

 

 

 

[927 E. 41st 1124]

3 hours ago, burdine said:

Hey fair enough.  

Texas may become a NIL Deathstar at some point but I don't think it's the deciding factor yet.

This class had star power and balance.

The national cherry picking (Manning, Baxter, Lefau, Akana) had a lot more to do with this staff (PK, Choate, Milwee, Choice) than NIL in my opinion.

I'm of the opinion that the Patterson-Strong-Plonsky troika could have found a way to COMPLETELY screw up NIL for Texas had it been around at the time. Even thinking about it makes me feel like I've got covid. 

[Thatguy 8764]

1 hour ago, burdine said:

Hard to think we out-NIL'd Georgia and Bama for Manning.

Hard to think we out-NIL-'d Miami and Florida for Baxter.

And thinking PK and Choate's west coast roots went a long way with Hawaii kids.

But if I'm wrong, I'll be happy to learn about it.

 

  Maybe Akana is coming here because his sister plays on the vball team. Not sure if that's a factor. 

[Armybrat 40860]

On 12/12/2022 at 6:34 PM, tbone_ said:

Didn’t we already send Fred Akers to Purdue?

Yeah, and a couple years after he was let go from there, a Boilermaker fan pissing in the restroom urinal next to me at the Alamo Bowl noted my Texas gear and started bitching about Fred.

I just told him, “Didn’t you people have a clue that we fired him before you hired the guy?” Lol

(RIP Coach Akers)

[HtownHorn 14758]

Sarkisian's 1st 2 complete classes.

QB - Ewers, Murphy, Manning
RB - Blue, Baxter, Wisner
WR - Thompson, Neyor, Hall, Milton, Red, Nibblett, Cook, Moore
TE - Billingsley, Randle, Shannon
OL - Campbell, Banks, Umeozulu, Abgo, WIlliams, Huston, Robertson, Chatman, Stroh, Cojoe, Goosby, Kirkland
DL - Bledsoe, Ross, Bryant, Swanson, Mitchell
EDGE - Tapp, Finkley, Burke, Walton, Vasek, Akana, Gullette
LB - Brown, Johnson, Tucker-Dorsey, Hill, Burell, Lefau
DB - Brooks, Allen, Guilbeu, Watts, Jordan, Turner-Gooden, Brice, Williams, Muhammad, Holmes
ST - Stone, St. Louis, Sanborn

Edited December 23, 2022 by HtownHorn

[Hookem2147 21345]

Too lazy to go back and look but I’m sure there were some great Aranda takes on earlier pages as people played the comparison game. 

[ClubWhatever 12154]

6 hours ago, Thatguy said:

  Maybe Akana is coming here because his sister plays on the vball team. Not sure if that's a factor. 

Of course it’s a factor.

[Zeus 6109]

With the Ws he's hanging in recruiting, I'm a happy camper. 

Still, go get that W and make it 9-4, surprise everyone. 

Call some RB screens. 

Run the fuck out of the ball.

[Zeus 6109]

12 hours ago, burdine said:

While 6 - 3 in Big 12 play was our 2nd best result in 9 years, it did feel like the staff left one or two more wins on the table drawing legit criticism.

Now reflecting on this recruiting class, I think this is easily our best class in a decade.  I know folks say anybody can recruit at Texas and there is some truth in that.  Yet, for balance across the board between defense and offense and lines of scrimmage and skill players, this class just plain looks great.

We did well in Texas and cherry picked very high end talent nationally.

The defensive turnaround on the field led to tremendous success in recruiting.

Numerous defensive players DEVELOPED and played well beyond expectations.

We are also probably about to have our best NFL draft day in over a decade as well.

As the staff deserves criticism for some of those in game decisions, they deserve real praise for this recruiting effort.

My hope is that it reflects real changes in culture and development behind the scenes that I think have been at the root of our inconsistent results.

The talent position recruiting is great but these two dudes making sure we win in the trenches is why we win.

Sark did bring an awesome staff.

[Zeus 6109]

7 hours ago, HtownHorn said:

Sarkisian's 1st 2 complete classes.

QB - Ewers, Murphy, Manning
RB - Blue, Baxter, Wisner
WR - Thompson, Neyor, Hall, Milton, Red, Nibblett, Cook, Moore
TE - Billingsley, Randle, Shannon
OL - Campbell, Banks, Umeozulu, Abgo, WIlliams, Huston, Robertson, Chatman, Stroh, Cojoe, Goosby, Kirkland
DL - Bledsoe, Ross, Bryant, Swanson, Mitchell
EDGE - Tapp, Finkley, Burke, Walton, Vasek, Akana, Gullette
LB - Brown, Johnson, Tucker-Dorsey, Hill, Burell, Lefau
DB - Brooks, Allen, Guilbeu, Watts, Jordan, Turner-Gooden, Brice, Williams, Muhammad, Holmes
ST - Stone, St. Louis, Sanborn

Now win the big 12 on the way out even if the refs are going to fuck us.

 

[Huckleberry 33055]

10 hours ago, burdine said:

Hard to think we out-NIL'd Georgia and Bama for Manning.

Hard to think we out-NIL-'d Miami and Florida for Baxter.

And thinking PK and Choate's west coast roots went a long way with Hawaii kids.

But if I'm wrong, I'll be happy to learn about it.

 

This post says you have so much to learn that I'm not sure where to start.

If you type the sentence "Hard to think we out-NIL'd..." and don't say Oregon anywhere in the sentence then you don't even know what NIL is. Start there.

[Gravy Train 974]

30 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

This post says you have so much to learn that I'm not sure where to start.

If you type the sentence "Hard to think we out-NIL'd..." and don't say Oregon anywhere in the sentence then you don't even know what NIL is. Start there.

It's stark because one should assume Bama/Jawja are at the peak of their own dynasties and are either behind the ball in NIL or can't ball at our level.  

Oregon might be a two-trick pony which happens to play in an overlooked conference over a viewership slot most of the country moved on from by the time of their kicks.

Trick 1: 526 alternate swish-uniform combinations, bro

Trick 2: Play spoiler to USC, but only for one more year, then... [looking around] Utah, U-W, Cal?

[Ignatius 4017]

14 hours ago, burdine said:

players DEVELOPED and played well beyond expectations

This is far and away the top reason I’m optimistic about this staff….

[HornsOverIthaca 2335]

10 hours ago, 927 E. 41st said:

I'm of the opinion that the Patterson-Strong-Plonsky troika could have found a way to COMPLETELY screw up NIL for Texas had it been around at the time. Even thinking about it makes me feel like I've got covid. 

Yeah I'm getting tested tomorrow.  Thanks!

[C-Man 27240]

11 hours ago, immamac said:

I think it has a lot more to do with everything than you think. 
i don’t think Manning’s college coach is gonna be the thing that makes him pro and neither should you. 

Arch is here for one reason and one reason only -- Steve Sarkisian. He was going to cash in HUGE on NIL wherever he went.

[BurntOrange&White 39941]

15 hours ago, 927 E. 41st said:

I'm of the opinion that the Patterson-Strong-Plonsky troika could have found a way to COMPLETELY screw up NIL for Texas had it been around at the time. Even thinking about it makes me feel like I've got covid. 

Do you even CDC’s Leverage program bro?

 

God bless the guys like imma Ctj Sydney RGB and the other 3-4 guys here. 

[statsman 5474]

There is a core staff position open right now, with Chris Gilbert’s (not that Chris Gilbert) departure. That is something really important to discuss, affecting the program’s future. 

[ClubWhatever 12154]

14 minutes ago, statsman said:

There is a core staff position open right now, with Chris Gilbert’s (not that Chris Gilbert) departure. That is something really important to discuss, affecting the program’s future. 

That’s easy.  Hire another highly respected HS coach from the metroplex.  I’m sure there will be interest.  Especially since Gilbert turned it into an on-field college job within 2 years. 

[statsman 5474]

I disagree. I think it’s time to organize j to a NFL style personnel department, scouting high schools and every other college team, year round. Like our leading competitors are doing. 

[LTtxfan 49326]

7 minutes ago, statsman said:

I disagree. I think it’s time to organize j to a NFL style personnel department, scouting high schools and every other college team, year round. Like our leading competitors are doing. 

That's not Gilbert's role.

You're talking about Billy Glasscock's group.

https://www.burntorangenation.com/2021/2/19/22291671/billy-glasscock-hired-texas-longhorns-director-of-player-personnel-north-carolina-state

https://247sports.com/Article/Texas-football-recruiting-Steve-Sarkisian-Billy-Glasscock-Longhorns-160945899/

Edited December 24, 2022 by LTtxfan

[ClubWhatever 12154]

12 minutes ago, statsman said:

I disagree. I think it’s time to organize j to a NFL style personnel department, scouting high schools and every other college team, year round. Like our leading competitors are doing. 

They are different roles.  Chris Gilbert’s function was to open the door to recruitments for coaches, primarily in the DFW area, using existing relationships.  We still need that function. 

[statsman 5474]

2 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

That's not Gilbert's role.

You're talking about Billy Glasscock's group.

https://www.burntorangenation.com/2021/2/19/22291671/billy-glasscock-hired-texas-longhorns-director-of-player-personnel-north-carolina-state

https://247sports.com/Article/Texas-football-recruiting-Steve-Sarkisian-Billy-Glasscock-Longhorns-160945899/

Thanks. I didn’t know that. Good to hear we have that. 

[Eskimohorn 5642]

This is going to be a really fun thread for some people to quote in three or four years. I’m on the “this is the Simms/Redding foundation 2.0” bandwagon at this point. I’m hoping I will enjoy the quotes being thrown around. 
Theres definitely room for improvement but there’s also clearly a well-defined plan with concrete positive steps being taken. 

I’m old enough to remember both Charlie Strong and Herman pulling Top 5 classes. When the coaching staff weaknesses were not yet revealed. It remains to be seen how Sark’s back to back classes will development, but coaching ability, scouting, and alignment will be key. A plan executed by competent individuals is what’s new, hopefully.

[Doc Daneeka 6769]

37 minutes ago, Eskimohorn said:

I’m old enough to remember both Charlie Strong and Herman pulling Top 5 classes. When the coaching staff weaknesses were not yet revealed. It remains to be seen how Sark’s back to back classes will development, but coaching ability, scouting, and alignment will be key. A plan executed by competent individuals is what’s new, hopefully.

The evidence of widespread competence and improvement is why this doesn’t look like Strong or Herman. 

[Hookem2147 21345]

Been a while since this thread turned into the alternate game thread. Looking forward to seeing the post first drive overreactions tomorrow.

[immamac 42882]

Sark is a bad head coach.

[lilMAC25 3802]

[taybo20 2878]

Yeah…too many situational game errors. Not good

[TexArcher 37997]

Record after 2 years at Texas:

 

Tom Herman:  17-10 with 2 bowl wins.

Steve Sarkisian:  13-12 with 0 bowl wins.

Charlie Strong:  11-14 with 0 bowl wins.

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by TexArcher

[ATXhorn17 1626]

Tonight featured several baffling clock management, play calling, and personnel decisions… Sark will ALWAYS drop at least ~3-4 games a year based off that alone.

Edited December 30, 2022 by ATXhorn17

[perfectchaos007 6677]

Sark will probably note that all 5 of our losses this season were within 1 score, but Sark also acknowledges you are what your record says you are, which is 8-5. If he can't figure out how to turn close games into wins next season, HE GONE 

[Boogaloo 268]

Forget players that sat out , they were straight up out coached & out prepared tonight. 

[LonghornSean 4014]

8-5 is pretty frustrating in that it’s sort of right on the edge of the success/failure spectrum for this year. Close margins of defeat give a bit of weight to the success side, but I think most would agree it tends more to the failure side given the missed opportunities.

In the end, all that really means is that next year’s result will carry most of the weight towards Sark’s tenability as coach. (Year three, no shit)

My opinion, failure to appear in Big 12 title game next year: Sark is on extremely thin ice if not fired outright.

Edited December 30, 2022 by LonghornSean

[GreenspointTexas 9662]

He needs 10 next year 

[bschoolprof 6271]

Sark is who he is. He’s a nice guy and recruits well (for now) and will hang on for another few years. But we will never win anything of significance with him at the helm. Then it’s on to the next hire we fuck up. 

[troph 24900]

2 minutes ago, LonghornSean said:

8-5 is pretty frustrating in that it’s sort of right on the edge of the success/failure spectrum for this year. Close margins of defeat give a bit of weight to the success side, but I think most would agree it tends more to the failure side given the missed opportunities.

In the end, all that really means is that next year’s result will carry most of the weight towards Sark’s tenability as coach. (Year three, no shit)

Failure to appear in Big 12 title game next year: Sark is on extremely thin ice if not fired outright.

Absent a complete miserable disaster like 3-9 he’s not going anywhere. In fact he’s more likely to get a 5th year so long as he’s bouncing around at at least .500.  Yes that’s at least 2 if not 3 more years.