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Texas Recruiting Notes 2021

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1 in coaches were made aware late last night 

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Sgt Hulk

Sgt Hulk 13648

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13 minutes ago, ChampionshipLevelPiss said:

I don't have a Rivals sub so I'm getting this secondhand from someone on IT, but apparently Ketchum is saying that LJ Johnson is committing to aggy this week

That’s fine because we are going all in on * checks notes.   Fuck never mind 

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utexas8

utexas8 1433

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Yeah, Nahlin gloating about Wheaton leaving us out of his top 3 being "great news" isn't looking so great in retrospect

TBF does it really matter. None are coming here because Texas sucks. You think if Wheaton left us in his top 3 he would want to come to this sinking ship?
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satyanash

satyanash 14281

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(Eric Nahlin) Inside Scoop: Tom Herman, CDC, Hartzell, BOR, Cigars

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Of course we weren’t going to get out of 2020 without significant coaching intrigue. Silly me for thinking otherwise. To better understand where we’re going, let’s take a look at the immediate landscape. After I present the road conditions, I think you’ll understand who the most capable driver is to help the school steer out of the skid. Right now I’m seeing three potential outcomes with varying degrees of likelihood: Tom Herman wins out and saves his job; there is a protracted coaching search; there is a swift, peaceful transition of power.

Let me follow that up with: Herman isn’t winning out; a protracted search, one that extends well into December, has the potential to decimate the roster and recruiting; a peaceful transition of power is ideal for improving the program’s short-term prospects.

Tom Herman: In case you couldn’t tell, Tom Herman is in very hot water. His seat began to warm last year but Chris Del Conte decided to support Herman revitalizing the coaching staff. After a 2-2 start that should be 1-3, Herman has very little chance of saving his tenure. The 25% chance I gave him of keeping his job on Saturday was generous as I worked to find out more. After further discussions I give him much less of a chance. Read between the lines.

It’s hard to find any source of support for Herman at this point. He’s made life tougher for the administration and he’s ticked off the boosters. The problem isn’t so much the record, but also the total lack of team discipline.

I’m going to delete any comments that delve into the political, but to paint a clear picture I have to dance around the third rail a bit. Some of Herman’s quotes over the summer ticked people off. “Who is Tom Herman to lecture me” is a common sentiment. Many blame him for how The Eyes of Texas situation was handled. He was seen as putting the school in a difficult position to deal with it head on. That doesn’t absolve Del Conte, they’re pissed at him too, but Herman entered the season with short leash.

Pride goeth before the fall, and also during the Fall. Herman’s inability to get out of his own way makes football almost worthless to discuss right now. If you were on the fence of whether or not he was meddling too much in the offense, I’m guessing Saturday was clarifying. It’s same old Tom, and same old Tom nearly lost the team in 2017 and again in 2019. This is by far the worst things have been behind the scenes.

Further decimating any leverage Herman might have: his 2021 recruiting class looks transitiony. Given this class is already laboring, do you want this to be the transition class, or the loaded one with the five-star generational quarterback committed? This is easy math.

Chris Del Conte: Where it’s all bad with Herman, it’s a mixed bag with the Athletic Director. Let’s first start with the bad.

The extension to Herman is often cited as his biggest mistake but Del Conte’s inability to foster definitive resolution with player unrest (so much easier said than done) has more people rankled than the extension. Like betting on Herman the first time, the early extension was a calculated bet that didn’t hit. Del Conte had support for it, and it may not have even been his idea in the first place. If it wasn’t, falling on the sword is still his job, but it might restore a little more faith in him. At the time of the extension, it was seen as a long-term money saving play. It’s considered bad business but not an anchor around Del Conte’s neck.

The intertwining of pandemic and politics is terrible timing for Del Conte because it gives boosters much more leverage. Especially when you consider all the ongoing capital projects. Many are demanding he find a solution to The Eyes and general player discord. With a weak figure at head coach that’s incredibly difficult to do. Dare I say, it’s impossible to do.

Del Conte is the one on the hook for fixing this long term. From what I can gather, he still has way more allies than obstacles, and he has the confidence of the president and BOR, but he definitely has a clear fundraising problem. Anecdotes have made their way to the forums here, but it’s even worse than what’s being let on from a financial standpoint at a time where the school took a giant haircut due to the pandemic.

I much prefer to discuss the good of Del Conte. He employs the Frank Windegger approach (old TCU AD) where good football improves the overall college experience on the surface, thus boosting enrollment and all that comes with it. Despite some of you getting into UT, it was even correlated to attracting better students as measured by GPA/SAT. Bad football is bad for the overall brand.

In the end it boils down to improving finances, and we know Texas loves its finances, but in theory this is a good thing for football fans who want to see coaches held accountable to a winning standard.

Del Conte is very proactive in situations like these. I’m sure he has books written on PJ Fleck, Matt Campbell, and a few others, but he’s also the sort to be very aggressive and aim high. If there’s a coach out there with a big enough personality to help the program overcome its current woes, that will help that coach’s case immensely. Del Conte needs help on that front. He needs a coach who can return the transactional nature of big time football to the program. It’s amazing how trivial standing with your teammates for a song after a game seems if you’re winning and developing into a millionaire.

CDC/Hartzell/BOR: It’s certainly a positive sign that I can roll these three actors into the same section. While there’s plenty of volatility in the Texas ecosystem, these three central figures are on the same page, with Del Conte having the support of Jay Hartzell and the Board. If we learned anything from the time Texas had the greatest coach of all time gifted to it (the only gift the school ever turned down) only to have it scuttled internally, it’s important to know the pulse of the president, AD, and Board of Regents.

The RRS is an annual opportunity for the decision makers and key boosters to meet and greet. To use an old and familiar phrase, it’s a good time to ensure the BBs are in the box. The biggest immediate issue for this group is two-fold: 1) decide Herman’s fate, or, rather, allow him to continue to do it himself, and, 2) if Herman is to be removed, find a way to pay for the buyout.

If you’re reading between the lines, barring a major turn of events, #1 is mostly decided, and the only way that can happen is if the decision makers have a good handle on #2. I think they have a good handle on #2. While expectations for the season and Herman were high, this group has not been caught flat-footed and they didn’t just start having real talks in the last couple days.

In years past we’ve mentioned, regardless of sport, to not expect a midseason firing. This year isn’t like years past and that outcome is within the realm of possibility. Recruiting is different now, and the Portal also has to be accounted for.

The Boosters: Given the financial climate, this group has more leverage than I can recall. Their finances are green while the school‘s are red. With the big cigars largely sitting on its collective pocketbook, Del Conte is getting to a point where he can’t afford to not make a move, especially since the boosters would foot the bill for it. Whichever group covers that $20+ million will want a say in the ultimate hire. That’s a good thing, if and only if, Texas makes the most obvious call.

If Herman is removed and a real search takes place, Del Conte will have to mollify this group while seeking out more useful input elsewhere. No offense to that group, but that’s how a sound search derails in a hurry. Depending on how this all shakes out, the boosters will either be heroes or goats, but it isn’t fair to lump them all together. Some well known guys are on the sidelines (the old Nick Saban group) while some lesser known figures have assumed integral roles.

This group is like many of you but with more money. They’re incredibly frustrated and just want to win. Some are saying I’m older than ETex, bring me a winner.

#####

Bring me a winner is a common sentiment. There’s been a sea change within wide swaths of the fan base. Many are finding it more palatable to hire a controversial figure. That feeling extends to the boosters. That feeling extends beyond. If you think boosters have leverage right now, think how much a high level candidate would have given the factors outlined. One thing is for sure: The program is in a precarious position and needs a strong centralizing figure to emerge before the BBs start spilling everywhere.

It’ll cost a lot to get it right, it’ll cost more to get it wrong.

 

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Pato del Muerto

Pato del Muerto 52342

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So if I were to believe what nahlin wrote in its entirety, I have to believe that the boosters lined saban up and the school rejected him. That’s where we are at?

urban is the easy choice, but there’s a difference between covering for Brock Edwards getting into a fight downtown and covering for Aaron Hernandez. Hopefully there would be SOME ethical constraints still in place out at the edges, and urban knows he can still win at Texas without the aid of sociopaths. 

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Viper

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13 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

So if I were to believe what nahlin wrote in its entirety, I have to believe that the boosters lined saban up and the school rejected him. That’s where we are at?

that's pretty much what is generally accepted. Mack got wind of it and worked to pressure the school to schuttle it.

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Dbeasy

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I rarely comment on the inter-workings of the administration, but reading that Nahlin article pissed me off. He’s got a lot of that article right but the one thing that he’s failed to highlight is the absolute, complete disfunction of the entire University of Texas. Not because CDC is bad. He’s not. He’s a high quality AD. It’s because all of the administrative disfunction makes it very difficult for him to do his job effectively.

Think about it. You have a BOR that over-meddles. You have the university administration that historically has been difficult to deal with. You have not only influential boosters, but separate groups of them. CDC has to deal with an organizational mess right now. Firing someone is extremely difficult, for example. And no, this is not what it’s like at every state school. I personally believe the guy is savvy enough to navigate it, and hopefully we don’t lose a high quality AD over it.

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TexasGary

TexasGary 833

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Summary of Nahlin article (in my opinion):

Herman - even if Herman wins out he is gone and he may not get the chance to win out.  He could be fired before the end of the season.

CDC - Good AD and well liked.  The school is in financial trouble even more than we realized and needs booster money more than ever now.

Boosters - More leverage than ever before.  They are willing to give money but they want Herman gone no matter what.

Next coach - Boosters are tired of more than a decade of losing and want Urban Meyer.  They are now willing to over look a few things as long as he gets back to winning.

Recruiting - Do you want the 2021 class to be the transition class or do you want the 2022 (Ewers) class to be the transition class?

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VirginiaLonghorn

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50 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

So if I were to believe what nahlin wrote in its entirety, I have to believe that the boosters lined saban up and the school rejected him. That’s where we are at?

urban is the easy choice, but there’s a difference between covering for Brock Edwards getting into a fight downtown and covering for Aaron Hernandez. Hopefully there would be SOME ethical constraints still in place out at the edges, and urban knows he can still win at Texas without the aid of sociopaths. 

I lost the bubble.  How many folks did Hernandez murder before or while at UF or should Meyer have predicted the sociopathic tendency by some other indicator .. like tattoos, perhaps?

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satyanash

satyanash 14281

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32 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

Think about it. You have a BOR that over-meddles. You have the university administration that historically has been difficult to deal with. You have not only influential boosters, but separate groups of them. CDC has to deal with an organizational mess right now. Firing someone is extremely difficult, for example. And no, this is not what it’s like at every state school. I personally believe the guy is savvy enough to navigate it, and hopefully we don’t lose a high quality AD over it.

OrangeBloods put out an article yesterday that was much more critical of CDC. Courtesy of @Bodacious Bevo

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Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte is failing at his job. There is no other way to put it. It is hard to sugarcoat. Impossible to ignore.

Oh, Del Conte is good at telling jokes at fundraisers. He has a great sense of humor. If you want to drink and hear a guy tell jokes, Del Conte can provide entertainment that rivals any comedian on open mic night. Heck, Del Conte’s biggest achievement was creating Bevo Blvd., a lively street with food trucks, music and alcohol. Del Conte was responsible for creating concerts after Longhorn home games, prior to the pandemic, of course. Del Conte definitely knows how throw a damn good party.

When it comes to making hard decisions about his coaching staff (dating back to TCU), leading an athletic department, or preventing The Eyes of Texas tradition from becoming arguably the most divisive issue between fans and players in school history, Del Conte is doing nothing to justify earning $2.5 million annually until 2027. Del Conte has created this chaos. He has to do a better job of finding solutions.

Texas was defeated by Oklahoma, 53-45 (four overtimes), on Saturday. Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley currently has a 4-1 record against Texas’ Tom Herman. Texas could not defeat one of the worst Oklahoma programs in recent memory. We saw Riley bench his starting quarterback, the ultimate surrender decision, and the same guy was reinserted after halftime and led his team to victory.

The Longhorns are 2-2, but it took a miracle comeback against Texas Tech to prevent a 1-3 start. Texas recovered the onside kick and pulled off a victory when it had less than a one-percent chance of winning with around three minutes remaining. Nobody can take the win off Texas’ record. However, it helps to remember how fortunate this team is not to be 0-3 in the Big 12 right now.

After the game, Herman looked defeated. He reminded me of the President who aged dramatically after four years in office. Herman did not have any answers. He talked about how great practice was last Sunday in an effort to show how close his program is to winning football games like this. The coach did not understand his fan base is more concerned about the product they are witnessing each Saturday.

This is the moment when you save a fighter from himself. Herman is not winning the way he or the fan base desires. Recruiting is not going well. Literally, a player quit during the middle of a game this season. Longhorn fans are pissed about his team’s lack of participation in The Eyes of Texas. Herman will not throw in the towel, but I sensed if Del Conte tapped him on the shoulder after Saturday’s game and said they should discuss an exit plan, deep down, Herman might be relieved to get out of this situation. That is just my opinion and nothing I heard from my sources.

Herman was originally under contract until 2021, which meant both sides could have happily parted ways after this season. Instead, Del Conte gave Herman a two-year extension in 2019, months after the Sugar Bowl victory. Herman is still slated to make $6.25 million in 2021, and Del Conte added $6.5 million in 2022 and $6.75 million in 2023. This is the equivalent of staying married until the children graduate from high school.

By the way, Del Conte also gave running backs coach Stan Drayton and offensive lineman coach Herb Hand raises back in May. Drayton was bumped up from $640,000 to $700,000. Hand’s salary increased from $515,000 to $650,000. Only $19.5 million for Herman’s contract, plus add in a little extra for his assistants? Just ask those big money donors to cut a check, right? You mean the same people who are ticked off about players not participating in The Eyes of Texas?

I received multiple messages from sources this weekend saying the athletic department has lost at least $25 million in pledges in the past two weeks. That number may not be 100 percent accurate, but longtime fans are withholding their financial support. By the way, Del Conte expected several donors to cut checks for the south endzone project in December. The completion of that project is in trouble at this rate. Del Conte should have resolved this issue before the season.

In July, Texas President Jay Hartzell rolled out a comprehensive set of proposals to create a more diverse and welcoming campus, including plans to allocate Athletics’ revenue to recruit and support Black students, rename the Robert L. Moore Building, and honor Black trailblazers at UT through new campus symbols. Hartzell said the university would keep “The Eyes of Texas” as the university’s song but would work to own the history of the song while reclaiming and redefining what the song stands for.

“The Eyes of Texas, in its current form, will continue to be our alma mater. Aspects of its origin, whether previously widely known or unknown, have created a rift in how the song is understood and celebrated, and that must be fixed,” Hartzell said in a press release. “It is my belief that we can effectively reclaim and redefine what this song stands for by first owning and acknowledging its history in a way that is open and transparent.

“Together, we have the power to define what the Eyes of Texas expect of us, what they demand of us, and what standard they hold us to now. The Eyes of Texas should not only unite us, but hold all of us accountable to our institution’s core values. But we first must own the history. Only then can we reimagine its future, and I look forward to partnering with our campus community to do just that.”

At that point, the controversy should have been over. The President did his part. Dr. Leonard Moore successfully talked players out of boycotting the season and was no longer involved in any athletic discussions. Longhorn players openly applauded the initiatives. I thought it was a very fair compromise for everyone involved. Del Conte’s task was simple. Inform the players they need to resume participating in the tradition. They did not have to sing the song, but he expected them to stay after games.

Simple. Instead, Del Conte never expressed his expectations with student-athletes, which is why there has been chaos. Many cheerleaders did not participate in The Eyes during Texas’ recent home game against TCU. Several band members have said they will not play the song. The football team – black and white players – have skipped the tradition this season. The volleyball team recently stayed on the court but did not acknowledge the song.

That administrative failure is on Del Conte. I know some fans are blaming the “woke” generation or “social justice warriors” for what is occurring right now. Nobody wants to be labeled a racist when those sentiments are not in their heart. Fans view this song as a tradition. They played the song at weddings, parties, and it was a source of school pride. I understand the anger.

Yet, I look at how other athletic departments across the country handled the current climate better than Del Conte. Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard threatened to boycott all team activities after a tweet surfaced of coach Mike Gundy wearing a One America News Network T-shirt. I was not convinced Gundy could prevent a player revolt. Yet, they put those issues aside and unified.

Oklahoma football players decided not to practice and marched for social and racial justice. That could have ripped apart the team. Instead, there were several productive conversations between players, administrators and coaches. In addition, the athletic department decided to place a “Black Lives Matter” and “Sooners for Humanity” patch on team jerseys this season.

Texas? Del Conte told the football staff this week they had to participate in the tradition after games to show respect to their fans. Unfortunately, Del Conte did not have a conversation with players and express his expectations. He definitely has done nothing to publicly express any solutions to the fan base. As a result, Sam Ehlinger and Cameron Dicker were the only players I saw participating in The Eyes after the Oklahoma loss, while everyone else was in the locker room.

That was unacceptable. If Del Conte can receive credit for creating a carnival atmosphere, he has to be accountable for this circus. Del Conte should tap Herman on the shoulder this week and express the importance of finishing this season 8-2, or at least 7-3, because Longhorn fans are tired of losing. In addition, Del Conte should sit down with players in every sport and express his expectations. I am not saying Del Conte needs to bang the table in anger. Instead, he has to be the leader Texas needs at this moment.

Del Conte has created this chaos. He has to do a better job of finding solutions.

 

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Pato del Muerto

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4 minutes ago, VirginiaLonghorn said:

I lost the bubble.  How many folks did Hernandez murder before or while at UF or should Meyer have predicted the sociopathic tendency by some other indicator .. like tattoos, perhaps?

I never said anything about murder did I...

 

Hernandez was among four former Gator football players who were questioned in connection with a September 2007 Gainesville shooting. The Pouncey twins and former safety Reggie Nelson also spoke to police. But Hernandez, just 17 at the time of the incident, fit the description of the man who fired five shots into a car, wounding both passengers.

During the spring of 2007, Hernandez was accused a punching a bouncer at a popular Gainesville establishment while out with former star quarterback Tim Tebow. Tebow reportedly tried to intervene, but Hernandez's punch managed to rupture the victim's eardrum.
 

 

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victory88

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7 minutes ago, TexasGary said:

Summary of Nahlin article (in my opinion):

....

Recruiting - Do you want the 2021 class to be the transition class or do you want the 2022 (Ewers) class to be the transition class?

Let’s rephrase this part.  Do you want the 2021 class to be a transition or do you want both the 2021 and 2022 class to be transition classes?

2021 recruiting is done and will be the worst recruiting class we sign in 20 years from a stars standpoint.  With early signing period, even if we fire Herman and bring in a big name like Urban, it’s not going to be enough time to sway many blue chip guys to switch their pledges.  
 

What we can’t have is a max exodus to the portal, a bad transition class in 2021, and a bad transition class in 2022.  That will take 5-6 years to recover from... both from a depth and talent level stand point.  

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Burt Macklin

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5 minutes ago, satyanash said:

OrangeBloods put out an article yesterday that was much more critical of CDC. Courtesy of @Bodacious Bevo

 

This was an extremely stupid article. They’re basically just blaming CDC for not making the players sing the Eyes. It’s not nearly that simple, especially with a coach who has/had a tenuous grasp on the team. An AD can’t just come into the locker room and mandate they sing the Eyes. If he tried that, everything would have gone to shit, and everyone except a few old white dudes would be blaming CDC for ruining the season.
I get that lots of boosters are mad about the Eyes, but it isn’t some massive failing of CDC. He’s had good and bad so far. Let him do his job and identify and hire the next HC and then judge his performance based on that. 

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UhhhIdk

UhhhIdk 125

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10 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

First thing Urban does is go down to the Travis County jail and post bail for everyone in there and hands them a helmet on their way out. We’ll be in the playoffs by year 2. 

My uncle who’s doing a 5 year bid was an all county safety back in the 80s, can’t hurt right? 

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Mason Ramsey

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1 minute ago, TexasGary said:

With Kansas State, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State still on the schedule..............

Although I guarantee we lose at LEAST 1 out of 3 here, Skylar Thompson is out for the year for KState. But that is our last game, so plenty of time for the freshman QB to get reps in before we make him look like a superstar

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victory88

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2 minutes ago, TexasGary said:

With Kansas State, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State still on the schedule..............

After needing a game winning FG at home to beat Kansas, I’m not sure we should count that as a win either.  And WVU is still there as well along with Baylor.  Not sure he makes it past October without another loss.

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Dbeasy

Dbeasy 14969

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Satya,

Thank you for posting this. I think it is a good example of some of the bigger problems at UT.

Here’s a re-statement of the above article seen from a different perspective. Because a bunch of old white men with money and power can’t understand or identify with the struggles of our black athletes to not want to tolerate or embrace a song that they find offensive because of the conditions of its unveiling, these same old tone deaf old white men are going to try and coerce and force players to stand for it, using the athletic director as the muscle for their insensitive views. And they are disappointed that he can’t solve racism through his edicts to the players.

I’ve told this board several times the song is going away and that it would be a shitshow until it did. It can happen in a relatively positive way, or after our program has been just about burned down to the ground. Your choice BOR, BMD’s, lifetime administrators and fans. It’s just a matter of time.
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satyanash

satyanash 14281

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For those unaware, nuufaola is a respected OB poster with legit connections in the BOR/athletics department. This is what he has to say:

Quote

Fire Herman as soon as you can. It’s over.

Preamble: I have now gotten a million texts and requests on two things. One, what I think we should do. Two, a bunch of requests on insider stuff. In other words, what do I think or know is actually happening? I won’t do the latter. UT is a complicated place, Covid has changed traditional forms of football communication, and most importantly, I would never want to purposefully or unwittingly interfere with whatever those folks are trying to accomplish.

After the TCU loss, I said that I needed 3 more games to come out with what I said I thought we should do. Why? Basic statistics. As the sample size increases, the margin of error decreases. I was hoping to have a real chance of being right. But the last week has convinced me that I don’t need any more games to get Into the 90ish percentage of feeling like I have the information I need to make my informed-yet-unpaid recommendation.

My opinion: My opinion is the Herman should be replaced at some point in the near future. And, that replacement schedule should be affected by the timing of such replacement. I would hire Urban Meyer, and I have a pretty good feeling that the UT ethos and infrastructure would have a different result than we saw at Florida and Ohio State (i.e., the depth of Texas HS football and the allure of UT overcome the need to push ethical boundaries). If Urban cannot be hired, for whatever reason, then the timing and the replacement are tricker questions. I personally don’t have a backup plan, but with CDC at the helm, he would likely pick the next best alternative. He is one-for-one on HC replacements with women’s BB.

Why did I switch from needing 3 more games to 1 game? The last 3 games have been sufficiently telling, particularly OU. Penalties, undisciplined play, running off the field instead of standing for the Eyes, glaring problems in the OL, and just so much dumb football. Its been the same crap for a couple of years. And, I don’t think we can blame the assistant coaches. We had a bunch of guys who got Herman here, and they ultimately couldn’t do it. So, we got new ones, and the team looks the same. Honestly, a number of us were pressing to get the assistants replaced early on, but 10-2 and the Sugar Bowl win scuttled any notion of telling Herman what to do. Until last year, when it manifested itself with a huge losing streak and a barely-reported WR revolt about coaching.

Special teams are a real hint. The only good difference from last year on special teams is that we are not receiving the ball on Kickoffs in the end zone and running it out to the 13-yard line like we did a thousand times last year. Statistically, that is a loser, even with Goodwin/Lockett back there. Thank God we fixed that idiocy. But, in return, we can’t perform basic ST functions. We seem to have set a record for special team errors. There is a lot of formulaic stuff that you just have to do right to be competent, and we are not doing them. It baffling, and blaming the new ST coach is one of the complaints-du-jour, but I simply believe Jay is coaching a bunch of kids that have a larger problem. OU’s special teams might not have been perfect, but they didn't suck like ours do now.

Penalties. I haven’t looked it up, but this team looks just as undisciplined as Strong’s teams (or some of Brile’s teams). They just never end. Every game is a new record. Penalties are a sign of lack of discipline and proper coaching. These assistants did not come with such a record of poor discipline.

Offense: I am not as articulate as some others, but basically, our team is unstoppable at times, and then we can’t do anything for huge stretches of the game. Bully and leader Sam tries to be a drop-back passer, and he is lulled there by any defensive coordinator with half a brain. He doesnt run at all, then with 5 min left, he is all over the field. The continued trend to not take a sure-fire first down on a run but instead a huge incompletion downfield—it keeps happening. Perhaps most annoying is the TE split wide who basically cannot get open, and also doesn’t block a right side of the line that can’t do anything. And, while I love Brewer, he just isn’t good enough physically for a lot of what he is asked to do, and Wiley and Epps actually can (Sam used to throw tall guys open, but has stopped) but are not thrown to. It’s like we are holding some super-trick play back for when we are 5-5 and going for a winning season....I think all of this has been obvious, and should have been fixed by now. Again, Scipio has written about this elsewhere in a much more articulate fashion, but even a finance guy can see it, and my own understanding of football informs my opinion.

Defense: I am less upset about this than others, as I think its a little bit more about personnel than plays. Now the penalties are awful, but that is team-wide, not defense-specific. The penalties keep extending drives. The DL is decent, but I think we are just short on WDE, as Ossai can’t do it all. Other than Overshown (who should be a year away from being a starter at an elite program), our LB group makes me crazy. They are either green, slow or slow to recognize. And we have a revolving door at safety, although I am not sure if that this the player or the coach or both. We are not great, but we are not 2-2 bad on defense. I think that some of the naps we take on offense end up getting our defense tired out. With a functional offense and special teams, I think our defense plays better than it has. This may be wrong, but it’s not really important in my thinking. I see Bama giving up a ton of points to good offenses, but I still see that team and coaching staff as elite.

Things off the field: Our recruiting has seemed to lose some momentum. It just feels different, and I worry that folks are rethinking UT, and not in a good way. This is a bit of the “panic button” for a relatively-rare midseason firing (which I have never been in favor of until now).

This one is starting to feel more like Charlie Strong than Mack Brown, and that means an easy decision. Mack had real pockets of support when he was fired, and that made the decision difficult for some, particularly in the political context of the time (Powers/Perry/Jamail, etc). When Charlie was fired, he was clearly a horrible coach who was in over his head, and the support was simply that he was a great person and he was only here for 3 years (I think his ethnicity was less of a problem than his 3 year tenure). With Herman, he simply doesn’t have any pockets of support that I know of. Now, I live in NYC, so you could argue that I don’t understand all the pockets of potential support in Texas, and that would be a reasonable position for you to take. That is why this is an opinion piece and not a “fact piece”. But, I am telling you guys to a man, I have the ability to talk to a lot of people, and the only people who seem to think that he needs more time are folks who don’t understand football. Oh, and Herman seems to have a lot of enemies. A lot of great coaches have rubbed folks the wrong way, but they had the benefit of being able to win. Arrogance, low emotional EQ, bad PR, drinking and flying off the handle, keeping absolutely terrible subordinates around are all fatal flaws in a coach that doesn‘t make up for it with an elite staff, a tight team, most importantly, winning.

The 3 big websites are all calling for Herman’s head. This is remarkable for two different reasons.

First is credibility. Sophisticated football information has pivoted from newspapers to online forums. I don’t know anyone who really knows about UT football that doesn’t get most of their info here, or from the other 2 big ones. The newspapers just don’t have space or the resources to do what OB does. I know a lot of folks that have a single paid periodical: this one.

Second is unanimity. While the 3 websites use different words, they all basically say the same thing. Fire Herman. I have never seen anything like it. And, there are only two possible reasons. A. It’s either totally obvious to them. Or B. UT’s press department is unleashing a coordinated attack on Herman, and using the websites to do it. I am pretty sure its A, although you can probably sprinkle a little business model protection in that. “Get rid of Herman now so we can save recruiting, as recruiting is what drives a lot of the value in the websites”

Could I be wrong? Sure, we have only played 4 games, and we might win out. I just don’t see that being likely, but it explains my rough usage of 90%. But the lack of voices defending Herman is striking to me. So, without revealing a single thing that I know or have heard from anyone who works for UT, I come to the opinion that we should accelerate the inevitable and make a mid-season switch.

Post Script: Why the delay? I have a couple of kids at UT and a parent in Dallas. I needed to spend time with them instead of all of you. And the weather was epic. And I also wanted to spend an hour or two writing down what I think in a clear and coherent fashion. I can’t tell you how incredibly miserable I am about UT football right now. But, I see hope for the future, as I think that we will get this one right, even if the next few days or weeks feel like total hell to all of us.

Hook’em
Nuufaola

 

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Viper

Viper 12030

Posted
Posted
22 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:


Satya,

Thank you for posting this. I think it is a good example of some of the bigger problems at UT.

Here’s a re-statement of the above article seen from a different perspective. Because a bunch of old white men with money and power can’t understand or identify with the struggles of our black athletes to not want to tolerate or embrace a song that they find offensive because of the conditions of its unveiling, these same old tone deaf old white men are going to try and coerce and force players to stand for it, using the athletic director as the muscle for their insensitive views. And they are disappointed that he can’t solve racism through his edicts to the players.

I’ve told this board several times the song is going away and that it would be a shitshow until it did. It can happen in a relatively positive way, or after our program has been just about burned down to the ground. Your choice BOR, BMD’s, lifetime administrators and fans. It’s just a matter of time.

There could be a third way but it would take a lot of conversation and time. Regardless it does sound like Ketchum is just being his meathead self and parroting the emotional fit throwing of an ancient donor or two that still talk to him.

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texifornia

texifornia 56526

Posted
Posted
35 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

This was an extremely stupid article. They’re basically just blaming CDC for not making the players sing the Eyes. It’s not nearly that simple, especially with a coach who has/had a tenuous grasp on the team. An AD can’t just come into the locker room and mandate they sing the Eyes. If he tried that, everything would have gone to shit, and everyone except a few old white dudes would be blaming CDC for ruining the season.
I get that lots of boosters are mad about the Eyes, but it isn’t some massive failing of CDC. He’s had good and bad so far. Let him do his job and identify and hire the next HC and then judge his performance based on that. 

The vitriol over a fun little 45 second end of game singalong is fucking absurd. And you're right, the avatar of The Man coming down and telling the players what to do would have been a truly epic shitshow.

He's been good at his hires and getting shit built, mediocre with his extensions, and ok at handling social justice stuff at the student athlete level. The problem is that the football team is bad at football.

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Hank_Hill

Hank_Hill 18494

Posted
Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, texifornia said:

The vitriol over a fun little 45 second end of game singalong is fucking absurd. And you're right, the avatar of The Man coming down and telling the players what to do would have been a truly epic shitshow.

He's been good at his hires and getting shit built, mediocre with his extensions, and ok at handling social justice stuff at the student athlete level. The problem is that the football team is bad at football.

Comes down to this. If we’re  3-0 and beat OU the team could be running a train on Sams mom while he stands for the eyes the rest of the season and nobody would give a fuck.

Edited by Hank_Hill
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victory88

victory88 5659

Posted
Posted

Yeah, it was widely reported that a big hold up in hiring Herman initially was a known drinking issue.  I think when he was hired it was made clear that won't fly here.

But Herman has embarrassed Texas in a quite a few other ways.  It took him 2-3 years to realize that being a prick to the media is probably going to bite you in the ass when you start losing.  Let's also not forget the whole Zach Smith ordeal.  There's a reason Zach Smith threatened to say shit but never said it.  It's because both Texas and Ohio State had a lot to lose if he opened his mouth.  Don't think for one second the legal and athletic department didn't have to fucking work through a delicate situation.  Imagine Fenves and the AD having to deal with keeping Tom's strip club adventures, coke binges, and trying to sleep with students at iowa state and ohio state under the covers.  You think those guys were happy to have to deal with that?  Then acting like a child on national TV mocking Drew Locke and then flipping the middle finger to the camera's on signing day?  They hired an immature idiot and they realized it.  

Unlike Charlie and Mack, there's not a single player or person that feels strongly about him staying the head coach at Texas.  Assholes are easy to fire.  

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RGBIII

RGBIII 22798

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, victory88 said:

Yeah, it was widely reported that a big hold up in hiring Herman initially was a known drinking issue.  I think when he was hired it was made clear that won't fly here.

But Herman has embarrassed Texas in a quite a few other ways.  It took him 2-3 years to realize that being a prick to the media is probably going to bite you in the ass when you start losing.  Let's also not forget the whole Zach Smith ordeal.  There's a reason Zach Smith threatened to say shit but never said it.  It's because both Texas and Ohio State had a lot to lose if he opened his mouth.  Don't think for one second the legal and athletic department didn't have to fucking work through a delicate situation.  Imagine Fenves and the AD having to deal with keeping Tom's strip club adventures, coke binges, and trying to sleep with students at iowa state and ohio state under the covers.  You think those guys were happy to have to deal with that?  Then acting like a child on national TV mocking Drew Locke and then flipping the middle finger to the camera's on signing day?  They hired an immature idiot and they realized it.  

Unlike Charlie and Mack, there's not a single player or person that feels strongly about him staying the head coach at Texas.  Assholes are easy to fire.  

He has burnt boosters, players, assistant coaches etc etc etc. They need to just pull the trigger before more damage is done

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satyanash

satyanash 14281

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, RGBIII said:

He has burnt boosters, players, assistant coaches etc etc etc. They need to just pull the trigger before more damage is done

Has Texas ever fired a head coach mid-season before? Even McWilliams made it to the end of his final year despite starting out 0-2. Not to mention Strong getting to finish out the season after Kansas.

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RGBIII

RGBIII 22798

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, satyanash said:

Has Texas ever fired a head coach mid-season before? Even McWilliams made it to the end of his final year despite starting out 0-2. Not to mention Strong getting to finish out the season after Kansas.

Dont believe so but also not sure if any coach has ever lost the locker room this badly

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TexasBeta

TexasBeta 1261

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Posted
Has Texas ever fired a head coach mid-season before? Even McWilliams made it to the end of his final year despite starting out 0-2. Not to mention Strong getting to finish out the season after Kansas.

Who would take over until we get whomever if he’s canned mid season. I don’t remember any Texas coach getting canned mid season.
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