2022 Summer Season: Flavor-Aid (Strength: Prison Wine)

[Pam Cummings 9,645]

3 minutes ago, Deej said:

I feel the need to go read a bunch Brisket's posts to bring a little optimism into my life after reading CTJ's. 

Eh, you're a loser until you're not, just how it goes.

[TotallyLegit 3,053]

5 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said:

Eh, you're a loser until you're not, just how it goes.

And you're a winner till you're not, e.g., Clemson

[Codaxx 5,764]

11 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

unless it's Justin Fuente, of course.   Projecting success for coaches is hard, even with all the inside information that someone like CTJ has.

Forecasting failure is quite a bit easier, and as noted, was immeditately obvious with the staffing hires of both Strong and Herman.  I dont think Sarklossian made immediately obvious bad initial hires like the other two dipshits (though PK may turnout to be that).  Otherwise, I see zero reason to date to have hope for Texas being a national contender because of Sark, but perhaps we can do it in spite of him with generational talent like QE, Bijan, Banks etc and a modern offensive gameplan.

I think it is lot of luck and situational opportunity. Just an aside, I thought Urban's greatest gift as a college coach was picking the right job. . I can not tell you how much I would have bet on Dabo being a failure. I betting against him, but he will be in the hall of fame for coaching. 

[DanTheHorn 4,934]

50 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

There has not been a HFC at Texas that I have "liked" in my lifetime:

-DKR was before my time and I was little at the end of the Akers era.

-McWilliams overtly sucked but was very likable and gave us one great season until Miami. Mackovic was impossible to like.

-I appreciate what Mack Brown did for Texas, but he and I both should wake up every day thanking God for Vince Young. Outside of the winning, I despised most aspects of Mack Brown's weak and insecure bullshit.

-Chuckles I was excited to see hired, but I dumped out on him immediately with the Shawn Watson hire. It was immediately obvious he was going to bust.

-I knew Herman in Houston in various ways and despised him from the jump.

-Steve Sarklossian was a trash hire, I don't give a fuck how nice of a guy he is. I realize due to relationships I have in and around the CFB world and with Bama that it's not fair for me to smear my understanding of the guy over that of the average fan, but fuck it. 

Anyway, who gives a fuck? I liked Barnes and Garrido plenty and was happy to see them go when they left. I'll take a HFC that denies The Holocaust and vacations with Putin and Kim Jong Un in Caracas if he wins games without bringing Switzer/Sherrill levels of shame onto the program. I don't need to like them. I'd like just like to have one on campus eventually that I think can help Texas win national titles again.

Memory lane since I kind of fit into the same time frame you do of having an opinion on coaching hires.

-McWilliams overtly sucked but was very likable and gave us one great season until Miami. Mackovic was impossible to like.

- I loved the Mack Brown hire since I was not a Barnett guy. The one thing I did not expect was that he would continue to choke against a rival at Texas. I always thought he looked bad against Florida State due to superior talent. Well guess what Mack just chokes based on the uniforms he sees on the other sideline based on the recent results.

- When Chuckles hired Shawn Watson I think I posted that is the first nail in the coffin since he was my second choice after Harbaugh. Thank god we did not get Harbaugh he would have done just enough to still be here and we would all know he was not the guy.

-Steve Sarklossian was a trash hire, I don't give a fuck how nice of a guy he is. I realize due to relationships I have in and around the CFB world and with Bama that it's not fair for me to smear my understanding of the guy over that of the average fan, but fuck it but I hold on to hope because he seems to try to hire the right people even though I am probably wrong to do so. People hate PK but his numbers at Washington showed he was an attempt at a good hire. 

[Lhorn 4,915]

48 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

Sark basically made 2 points:

1. Don’t talk shit unless you’re badass.  Ojomo ain’t badass.

2. If you wanna talk shit, do it to somebody’s face, not to the media.

 

What would Saban have said differently?

I think he would have told them “better check yo self before you wreck yo self.”

[gmr548 16,580]

IT - Development and improvement a consistent theme of spring (lots of sunshine)
Spoiler

When this staff was initially hired it looked like a solid mix of recruiting and coaching, but with a bias towards coaching. After going 5-7, some may dispute that, but the more distance we get from last year, the more I think talent inefficiencies were by far the biggest issue and those are on their way to being addressed. That’s not to exonerate coaching, but this spring seems to be highlighting both coaching ability and improved baseline talent thanks to the portal and early enrollees.
We’ve heard of individual players and position groups improving throughout the spring, some more than most. The group we’ve heard the least about, offensive line, also has the lowest ceiling. In other words, the current group has the least amount of room for growth and is therefore the hardest to develop. Improvement will come through unit cohesion more than Kyle Flood rapidly improving the individual parts. Flood will get his big chance for marked improvement in August, during the season, and then especially next spring when his extremely talented 2022 signees will be in the sweet spot between having some experience but also tons of room left for growth. That position will be spring-loaded for the 2023 season.
Something I’ve failed to name over the years, but have observed countless times, is the point where young talent overtakes experienced players, even those who are themselves talented. Bobby mentioned Terrance Brooks this a.m. as someone who continues to impress. On3 was brazen on his ranking because Gerry knew Brooks’ football character would make it very hard to keep him off the field every bit as much as his athletic gifts. Brooks is in the passing lane but it remains to be seen at whose expense he sees the field.
For all the talk of Ryan Watts joining the team, Jahdae Barron might be developing into the team’s best defensive back. Watts is good of course, but Barron has rapidly improved over the last year and won’t come off the field whether the defense is in base or nickel.
Part of Barron’s development saw him jump Kitan Crawford, who is more athletically and physically impressive. Part of development is the vision to put players in the right place, and Crawford has taken warmly to safety. He has shown incredible improvement from the beginning of camp to now.
Then there’s De’Marvion Overshown. If you go by how much time he’s spent in college there shouldn’t be a whole lot left to improve, but given the context of his playing days we know that isn’t the case. Even as a fifth-year senior he was in desperate need of more physical and positional development. If his play on the field has improved as much as his build for the position has, he’s headed for a big year.
Jaylan Ford and David Gbenda are also said to have made noticeable improvements this spring. Namely, they are finding the ball better in traffic.
We’re hearing about Alfred Collins flashing more than in the past. Practice hasn’t exactly been his calling card since his arrival, but he’s gaining more and more mention. Texas will be as good as its 6-7 highest ceiling players in 2023 and Collins should be a big part of that.
Edge is somewhat similar to the offensive line in the current crop doesn’t have the ceiling of the players who are about to arrive, but as it pertains to this season we’re still hearing good things about Barryn Sorrell and Ovie Oghoufo. Given his lower recruiting profile, Sorrell is a player with a higher ceiling than you might think — he’s long, wide, and is known for his dedication and intelligence. By definition a maximized will develop. He will need another offseason to develop lower body strength but he’s going to be a player in time. He should be reliable this season.
On the offensive side of the ball, Hudson Card is noticeably more comfortable and improved from last year. He has better command of the playbook and, these days, the metaphorical huddle.
Numerous receivers have been mentioned as being improved, Casey Cain chief among them. He’s not being called a difference-maker, more a capable player who should see snaps this season. Based on reports, it’s not hard to see him continuing to develop into the sort of bigger receiver Mike Gundy has used to complement his primary receiver (recall, former Gundy OC Mike Yurcich pushed for Cain to be offered).
Ja’Tavion Sanders is expected to be a key piece this coming season. He’s another one whose development was noticed during the January S&C bloc. He is nowhere close to a finished product but he’s come a long way in the last year as he transitioned from dominating high school athlete to position-focused college player.
Sanders has a high ceiling, and as stated, the higher the ceiling a player has the easier they are to develop (assuming they care just a little). Maybe the best example in the program is Quinn Ewers who has made rapid improvements in just three weeks of practice. He still has a long ways to go but Steve Sarkisian has made a name for himself developing a whole lot less.

 

This is about as close as $9.95 will get to saying “Yeah, the OL still blows.”

I'm guessing that if the board of directors at your Rubber Chicken factory (that just had a 30% drop in revenue) wanted to bring on [mention=192]SydneyCarton[/mention] - who just got fired as CEO at the Rubber Dogshit factory - so that he could help you right the ship, you'd be less than enthused too.

Don’t be ridiculous. Texas is clearly the rubber dogshit factory in this analogy.

[Tex Pete 20,399]

28 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

This is about as close as $9.95 will get to saying “Yeah, the OL still blows.”

Don’t be ridiculous. Texas is clearly the rubber dogshit factory in this analogy.

I hate to tell you this, but the dogshit isn't made of rubber.

[JFKFC 4,890]

1 hour ago, Snake Diggity said:

What would Saban have said differently?

Not lost to Kansas.

[bad_teammate 13,216]

1 hour ago, Enchubben said:

Forecasting failure is quite a bit easier...

Bingo, especially in the case of a coach following multiple dysfunctional coaching administrations in a program without a recent history of success.

[Codaxx 5,764]

2 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

Bingo, especially in the case of a coach following multiple dysfunctional coaching administrations in a program without a recent history of success.

It also a world where you need to win early. Turnarounds are a lot harder in the new millennium. If you dont show major progress by year 3, you might as well call the firing squad in. 

[MrBig 5,414]

29 minutes ago, Tex Pete said:

I hate to tell you this, but the dogshit isn't made of rubber.

Can we get Ewers’ face on this pic? Because a lot of people are acting like the dogshit will magically go away with him on the team.

[Askew 362]

1 hour ago, Enchubben said:

unless it's Justin Fuente, of course.   Projecting success for coaches is hard, even with all the inside information that someone like CTJ has.

Forecasting failure is quite a bit easier, and as noted, was immeditately obvious with the staffing hires of both Strong and Herman.  I dont think Sarklossian made immediately obvious bad initial hires like the other two dipshits (though PK may turnout to be that).  Otherwise, I see zero reason to date to have hope for Texas being a national contender because of Sark, but perhaps we can do it in spite of him with generational talent like QE, Bijan, Banks etc and a modern offensive gameplan.

So we’ll win in spite of Sark with recruiting and offense, even though recruiting and offense are the main things Sark brings to the table. 
 

got it.

[MAUFRAIS 6,629]

Not lost to Kansas.

You’ll have to just keep saying this even if we lose our first game next season.

[Longhornlove 4,832]

27 minutes ago, JFKFC said:

Not lost to Kansas.

Kansas, Kansas, Kansas, Kansas, Kansas. Is that all you talk about? We all know what happened against Kansas. Stop being such a cunt.

[closetojumping 62,746]

1 hour ago, Enchubben said:

unless it's Justin Fuente, of course.   Projecting success for coaches is hard, even with all the inside information that someone like CTJ has.

Forecasting failure is quite a bit easier, and as noted, was immeditately obvious with the staffing hires of both Strong and Herman.  I dont think Sarklossian made immediately obvious bad initial hires like the other two dipshits (though PK may turnout to be that).  Otherwise, I see zero reason to date to have hope for Texas being a national contender because of Sark, but perhaps we can do it in spite of him with generational talent like QE, Bijan, Banks etc and a modern offensive gameplan.

 

1 hour ago, Codaxx said:

I think it is lot of luck and situational opportunity. Just an aside, I thought Urban's greatest gift as a college coach was picking the right job. . I can not tell you how much I would have bet on Dabo being a failure. I betting against him, but he will be in the hall of fame for coaching. 

I can certainly agree with you guys that predicting success and failure of college football coaches is challenging. I don't think forecasting failure is any easier than success. It feels that way at Texas because, well, we've had a ton of failures. That said, I and plenty of others believed that Texas could win big under Mack Brown. I developed disdain for his brand of bullshit, and he got woefully lazy after the title, only to be buoyed and have that sloth masked by Muschamp, McCoy, Shipley and Cosby for a bit, but I wasn't surprised by his success.

That considered, predicting in either direction in most instances is tough. I mocked the Dabo Swinney hire with the rest of CFB fans. We all did the same when Pete Carroll was hired at USC. 

I wanted Justin Fuente when Texas hired Herman. Whoops. Plenty of people were fucking certain that Charlie Weis would crush it as Notre Dame. Plenty of people felt like Chip Kelly would kill it at UCLA.

Everyone is still flummoxed by what is going on with Harbaugh at Michigan. Many people (not most of us) predicted "sleeping giant" success for Fisher at ATM. Plenty of people predicted the same for Herman at Texas. Those are all kind of "meh" at this point.

Unless you're close enough to it, and want to assess things objectively and have a solid point of reference in doing so, it's tough to do. That said, anyone that watched what Strong put together or Herman put together and said "alright! these guys are going to win big!" was just being a fanboy. I've already offered on this thread and various others the opportunity for anyone to vigorously in favor of Sarklossian being the guy at Texas besides the "blind faith and I need to be able to hope" argument. 

1 hour ago, DanTheHorn said:

Memory lane since I kind of fit into the same time frame you do of having an opinion on coaching hires.

-McWilliams overtly sucked but was very likable and gave us one great season until Miami. Mackovic was impossible to like.

- I loved the Mack Brown hire since I was not a Barnett guy. The one thing I did not expect was that he would continue to choke against a rival at Texas. I always thought he looked bad against Florida State due to superior talent. Well guess what Mack just chokes based on the uniforms he sees on the other sideline based on the recent results.

- When Chuckles hired Shawn Watson I think I posted that is the first nail in the coffin since he was my second choice after Harbaugh. Thank god we did not get Harbaugh he would have done just enough to still be here and we would all know he was not the guy.

-Steve Sarklossian was a trash hire, I don't give a fuck how nice of a guy he is. I realize due to relationships I have in and around the CFB world and with Bama that it's not fair for me to smear my understanding of the guy over that of the average fan, but fuck it but I hold on to hope because he seems to try to hire the right people even though I am probably wrong to do so. People hate PK but his numbers at Washington showed he was an attempt at a good hire. 

I'm actually not trying to crush anyone's fantasies. Wait. I guess I am, but only because it's fun. In truth, I don't blame anyone for being "hopeful" when it comes to Seven Loss Steve at Texas. It's all we have. I will have that by season's start. I just don't really get any arguments outside of that as the thing.

[MoJames 8,244]

2 hours ago, closetojumping said:

There has not been a HFC at Texas that I have person other than myself that I have "liked" in my lifetime

[closetojumping 62,746]

2 minutes ago, MoJames said:

I don't have even vaguely narcissistic tendencies. Sociopathic? Sure. Narcissistic? No. Hell, I irrationally like a bunch of you idiots when you've done hardly anything to merit it besides basking in the same sordid melancholy as myself for lo these many years. 

[Vertigo 20,290]

2 hours ago, closetojumping said:

There has not been a HFC at Texas that I have "liked" in my lifetime:

-DKR was before my time and I was little at the end of the Akers era.

-McWilliams overtly sucked. Mackovic was impossible to like.

-I appreciate what Mack Brown did for Texas, but he and I both should wake up every day thanking God for Vince Young. Outside of the winning, I despised most aspects of Mack Brown's weak and insecure bullshit.

-Chuckles I was excited to see hired, but I dumped out on him immediately with the Shawn Watson hire. It was immediately obvious he was going to bust.

-I knew Herman in Houston in various ways and despised him from the jump.

-Steve Sarklossian was a trash hire, I don't give a fuck how nice of a guy he is. I realize due to relationships I have in and around the CFB world and with Bama that it's not fair for me to smear my understanding of the guy over that of the average fan, but fuck it. 

Anyway, who gives a fuck? I liked Barnes and Garrido plenty and was happy to see them go when they left. I'll take a HFC that denies The Holocaust and vacations with Putin and Kim Jong Un in Caracas if he wins games without bringing Switzer/Sherrill levels of shame onto the program. I don't need to like them. I'd like just like to have one on campus eventually that I think can help Texas win national titles again.

I take a weird bit of solace in the fact that you despised the coach who singlehandedly raised the program from the ash heap and gave us one of the greatest decade long runs in CFB history. Vince or no Vince, we went to one more national title game without Vince, got fucked out of one more, and fucked away two more pre-Vince chances. But at least we were in the conversation. I still feel like Sarkisian is going to be successful here. I tend to be an optimist, but if he shows results on the field this year and does land Arch which subsequently starts a killer recruiting class to stack on the past one, then I can see him having a long run. 

[MoJames 8,244]

2 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

I don't have even vaguely narcissistic tendencies. Sociopathic? Sure. Narcissistic? No. Hell, I irrationally like a bunch of you idiots when you've done hardly anything to merit it besides basking in the same sordid melancholy as myself for lo these many years. 

[Sabalo 996]

2 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Bloviators gonna bloviate.

[Codaxx 5,764]

9 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

 

I can certainly agree with you guys that predicting success and failure of college football coaches is challenging. I don't think forecasting failure is any easier than success. It feels that way at Texas because, well, we've had a ton of failures. That said, I and plenty of others believed that Texas could win big under Mack Brown. I developed disdain for his brand of bullshit, and he got woefully lazy after the title, only to be buoyed and have that sloth masked by Muschamp, McCoy, Shipley and Cosby for a bit, but I wasn't surprised by his success.

That considered, predicting in either direction in most instances is tough. I mocked the Dabo Swinney hire with the rest of CFB fans. We all did the same when Pete Carroll was hired at USC. 

I wanted Justin Fuente when Texas hired Herman. Whoops. Plenty of people were fucking certain that Charlie Weis would crush it as Notre Dame. Plenty of people felt like Chip Kelly would kill it at UCLA.

Everyone is still flummoxed by what is going on with Harbaugh at Michigan. Many people (not most of us) predicted "sleeping giant" success for Fisher at ATM. Plenty of people predicted the same for Herman at Texas. Those are all kind of "meh" at this point.

Unless you're close enough to it, and want to assess things objectively and have a solid point of reference in doing so, it's tough to do. That said, anyone that watched what Strong put together or Herman put together and said "alright! these guys are going to win big!" was just being a fanboy. I've already offered on this thread and various others the opportunity for anyone to vigorously in favor of Sarklossian being the guy at Texas besides the "blind faith and I need to be able to hope" argument. 

I'm actually not trying to crush anyone's fantasies. Wait. I guess I am, but only because it's fun. In truth, I don't blame anyone for being "hopeful" when it comes to Seven Loss Steve at Texas. It's all we have. I will have that by season's start. I just don't really get any arguments outside of that as the thing.

Someone once said "It easier to ride a horse in the direction it is going". I think that is the same with college football programs. Changing the long term trend is hard. That takes skill and honestly  luck. I am not sure which one is the bigger need. 

As far as Sark goes, he went 5-7. He did a lot wrong and a little right. I think this ride is going to be on Ewers. If his rating turns out to be correct, Sark may have stumbled onto his success. It takes 2 good years to get the ship going in the right direction. That might not be fair to Ewers, but that is where I see Texas right now. If he struggles to reach his ceiling, this place is going to suck. 

[Domedriver 655]

Is it my fault that I actually liked David McWilliams?  That I liked that odd formation with one of the Cash Twins standing at the end of the line?  I hated that day against Miami, but we were winning until that shit-packed round house punch in the gizzards.

I say we win, I like our talent.  Desperate corches do desperate shit.  I think Sark puts his nutz on the line and calls some win.

Yeah battered Horn, but I love our RB room!

[GringoSalado 1,651]

53 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

Someone once said "It easier to ride a horse in the direction it is going".

How the fuck have I never heard this?

 

rep

[Eggo 3,977]

Allow me to explain my admittedly flawed logic: 

We fired a coach for going from a MNC caliber decade to getting absolutely raked by OU and Baylor every year. 

We hired a coach who gave us 3 losing seasons in a row and showed zero ability to improve from there. 

We hired another coach who produced no losing seasons or Kansas losses and a Sugar Bowl win because he was a fucking asshole who no one wanted to work with or play for. 

Finally, we hire this current guy who perhaps shows some of the flaws of both Strong and Herman, but seems to have assembled a staff that will at the very least challenge his tunnel vision. They recruited well and it's anyone's guess at this point if they will be able to develop the talent and put them in a position to succeed, but I'm willing to try something different than just firing a guy because he didn't give us what we wanted in the first 1 or 2 seasons.

I think if we get less than 8 wins this season, I'll be inching towards the eject button. For now, count me in the optimist school.

[Barbacoa 1,934]

I like Sark. I think he’s an elite OC. We whiffed on our guy and he is who we settled for, because who else were we going to get? As far as I can tell, we chose him because we thought at least he might be able to attract elite qbs and develop them. Not bad logic, but his first season was a fucking disaster. I just don’t see any reason to think he is the guy. Our offense should be good, but even there we aren’t close to competing with a team that’s strong on the d line. There’s no quick fix there, so I’m not even worried too much about this season. We just don’t have the pieces. 

[Enchubben 5,510]

LOL

 

 

[Hornlover 8,830]

9 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

LOL

 

 

[quigley 1,563]

4 hours ago, Enchubben said:

 I dont think Sarklossian made immediately obvious bad initial hires like the other two dipshits

Sark wanted to hire Mike Stoops.

[Octavian 1,025]

28 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

LOL

 

 

I feel like our performance is always the inverse of our preseason FPI. God help us all.

[A’Dam Psycho 1,470]

22 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

 

Seriously why does this shit happen to us every fucking off-season?

[JFKFC 4,890]

1 hour ago, Eggo said:

I'm willing to try something different than just firing a guy because he didn't give us what we wanted in the first 1 or 2 seasons

When have we fired someone after 1 or 2 seasons? What are you talking about? 

[Eggo 3,977]

10 minutes ago, A’Dam Psycho said:

Seriously why does this shit happen to us every fucking off-season?

[oldhorn2 431]

2 hours ago, GringoSalado said:

How the fuck have I never heard this?

 

rep

all this time you have been riding them backwards?

[gmr548 16,580]

Seriously why does this shit happen to us every fucking off-season?

We’re Texas

[LTtxfan 49,251]

28 minutes ago, A’Dam Psycho said:

Seriously why does this shit happen to us every fucking off-season?

 

TEXAS is the fuckin' villain that folks enjoy kicking whIle we are down...

 

Time to get our HOUSE in order...  FUCK THE HATERS !!!🤘

[Dbeasy 15,068]

6 hours ago, closetojumping said:

3) LOL on Sarkisian getting credit for Patterson. I said it contemporaneously and I'll say it again after hearing more from numerous places - Sarkisian wanted nothing to do with Patterson at Texas. He's got him now, and they're working well together so far, but it's a fucking fan fiction construct to give Sarkisian any credit associated with Patterson. The fucking guy was almost overt in a press conference about his lack of enthusiasm for the move. 

I can confirm as an additional source that Patterson was not brought in by Sark, and not really wanted by Sark. I believe I may have been among the first to post many months ago on Surly to watch for his addition. He was brought in “to help”.  

[TommyGufano 6,021]

Just now, Dbeasy said:

I can confirm as an additional source that Patterson was not brought in by Sark, and not really wanted by Sark. I believe I may have been among the first to post many months ago on Surly to watch for his addition. He was brought in “to help”.  

Thank you for your service

[DaysOff 7,951]

Seriously why does this shit happen to us every fucking off-season?

At least we're not talking about a song anymore.

[Coelenterate Fuccboi 13,116]

1 hour ago, A’Dam Psycho said:

Seriously why does this shit happen to us every fucking off-season?

Lazy reporters look at a blue blood with consistently high recruiting rankings and assume it has to happen eventually. They don’t pop open the freezer to see the power went out a long time ago, everything spoiled, and it smells like Uncle Boobs’ mustache.

[Hookem2147 21,339]

Out of curiosity, will some of your who are pessimistic about this season change your tone at all if Mathis and another portal body (OL or LB) is added? Or do you just believe the writing is on the wall?

Obviously it’s hard to know what kind of quality we could add at OL or LB at this stage, but I know personally adding Mathis is worth at least an extra win or two, imo.

[Duane Moore 5,243]

3 hours ago, Domedriver said:

Is it my fault that I actually liked David McWilliams?  That I liked that odd formation with one of the Cash Twins standing at the end of the line?  I hated that day against Miami, but we were winning until that shit-packed round house punch in the gizzards.

I say we win, I like our talent.  Desperate corches do desperate shit.  I think Sark puts his nutz on the line and calls some win.

Yeah battered Horn, but I love our RB room!

No one should feel bad about liking David McWilliams the person. He was and is a genuinely good and decent man. Unfortunately, those two character traits seem to have an inverse correlation with success as a head football coach. 

5 minutes ago, Coelenterate Fuccboi said:

Lazy reporters look at a blue blood with consistently high recruiting rankings and assume it has to happen eventually. They don’t pop open the freezer to see the power went out a long time ago, everything spoiled, and it smells like Uncle Boobs’ mustache.

But these rankings aren’t just Dennis Dodd or Pat Forde looking over a two deep and some past 247 recruiting class pages, these are supposed to be the mathematical formulas that analytics geeks use to avoid that kind of lazy takes. It’s really mystifying how they are spitting out these rankings. 

[Coelenterate Fuccboi 13,116]

15 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Out of curiosity, will some of your who are pessimistic about this season change your tone at all if Mathis and another portal body (OL or LB) is added? Or do you just believe the writing is on the wall?

Obviously it’s hard to know what kind of quality we could add at OL or LB at this stage, but I know personally adding Mathis is worth at least an extra win or two, imo.

I’m pessimistic about this team until they consistently show me something on the field that changes my mind.

[Eggo 3,977]

1 hour ago, JFKFC said:

When have we fired someone after 1 or 2 seasons? What are you talking about? 

The rabble rousers seem to have made their minds up before a game was played, and maybe they were right, but I say we give it time. 

[lilMAC25 3,796]

24 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Out of curiosity, will some of your who are pessimistic about this season change your tone at all if Mathis and another portal body (OL or LB) is added? Or do you just believe the writing is on the wall?

Obviously it’s hard to know what kind of quality we could add at OL or LB at this stage, but I HOPE personally adding Mathis is worth at least an extra win or two, imo.

FIFY

 

 

(if we even get him)

Edited April 14, 2022 by lilMAC25

[LTtxfan 49,251]

20 minutes ago, Duane Moore said:

But these rankings aren’t just Dennis Dodd or Pat Forde looking over a two deep and some past 247 recruiting class pages, these are supposed to be the mathematical formulas that analytics geeks use to avoid that kind of lazy takes. It’s really mystifying how they are spitting out these rankings. 

If you are referring to ESPN FPI for preseason, here's how it's compiled...

Quote

AUG 2016:      What goes into the preseason ESPN FPI ratings?

Preseason ratings historically have their flaws, but ultimately they allow for an opponent adjustment after Week 1 and are a great tool to preview the season. As noted, there are four components to the preseason rating: prior performance, returning starters, recruiting rankings and coaching tenure.

-- Prior performance is built off the framework of expected points added. The most recent year’s performance is by far the most important piece of information powering preseason FPI, but three more years are added to measure consistency and account for outliers in performance. The most recent year counts almost twice as much as the three years before it.

-- Returning starters on offense and defense, with special consideration given to starting quarterbacks or transfer quarterbacks with starting experience, is the second piece of information powering preseason FPI. Because starters interact with other inputs, it’s not as simple as saying an extra returning starter is worth one point. Nonetheless, a starting quarterback is worth about 3.3 points per game to a team returning an average offense (all else equal), and a transfer quarterback is given half the weight of a starter.

-- FPI uses four recruiting services -- ESPN, Rivals, Scouts and Phil Steele -- to measure the talent on a team’s roster and add an additional piece of information about which teams are on the rise. The addition of recruiting has been a controversial piece of FPI, but it’s worth noting that it is a very minor component that helps with prediction accuracy.

-- Coaching tenure is primarily a way to capture the addition of a new head coach. With all else equal, a team’s predictive offensive, defensive and special teams ratings will regress slightly to the mean with the addition of a new coach.

Preseason FPI debuted in 2014, and you can read more about how it performed in these recaps of the 2014 and 2015 seasons. In short, if preseason FPI, which was run retroactively to 2005, had been used with no update to predict every game over the last 10 seasons, the FPI favorite would have won 72 percent of FBS-versus-FBS games (Vegas closing line was 75 percent accurate). 

     What is ESPN's College Football Power Index? 

 

 

[Red Five 40,862]

38 minutes ago, Coelenterate Fuccboi said:

Lazy reporters look at a blue blood with consistently high recruiting rankings and assume it has to happen eventually. They don’t pop open the freezer to see the power went out a long time ago, everything spoiled, and it smells like Uncle Boobs’ mustache.

In fairness, their confusion is understandable. We all watch it up close and it's still hard to believe we've been a middle of the pack Big 12 team since 2009. 

[Red Five 40,862]

dp

Edited April 14, 2022 by Red Five

[Hornlover 8,830]

I'm still willing to give Sark a chance to prove it this year. 

There are enough positives - offensive scheme, recruiting, first half performance in most of our games - to hold out hope that last year's problems were some combination of personnel, team chemistry, fixable coaching deficiencies, and bad luck.

But this is the year that those problems need to be addressed.

The personnel issues might not be fully solved (the DL, OL, LB holes are still glaring), but at least it looks like he knew enough to recruit the DL & OL heavily. 

The team chemistry - he brought in younger coaches and is trying to instill player accountability. Will it be enough or are we too dysfunctional to have a turnaround this soon?

Fixable coaching mistakes - He didn't replace PK. Is one bad season over the last 10 years an indication of a shitty coach, or personnel issues? I guess we'll find out. Was the terrible offense in second half of games due to poor coaching/poor playcalling? Was it out of shape players? Poor team psyche? Those are things that can be fixed. 

Bad Luck - 3 or 4 little things in the OU game could have gone different and we win (out of bounds catch for OU, out of bounds no-catch for UT, missed QB tackle). Winning that game likely plasters over some team culture issues, and maybe we don't have PTSD vs OK State & Baylor and we win those games?

 

Right now, Sark's Texas report card is one big Incomplete.

If you want to put all of the blame on Sark, and say "he mis-evaluated the roster, doesn't know how to motivate the team, didn't fix the defensive scheme issues, didn't make good second half adjustments, didn't fire PK, etc.",  I understand where you're coming from. There are plenty of negatives to choose from and say "He's not gonna work out".

I think he can turn most of those things around this year. We'll have better skill players, much improved QB play, possibly better OL play (if the freshman contribute well). On defense, perhaps Fat Gare can bring about improved LB play, better secondary, and we can cobble together some sort of DL that's not bottom 100 in Div1.  If a possibly lethal offense and a slightly improved defense can bring about some early success and the team chemistry turns around, it could be a solid season. 

There are enough examples of second year coaches making the leap (Saban at Bama, Aranda at Baylor, etc.). Maybe our luck will turn around and we can see a similar improvement.

Or, I'm just a sucker and Lucy is gonna pull the football out from under me one more time.

[WinningIsHard 4,044]

Sark is destined for 7 wins lol. Same guys who say that also say we need to recruit well or it’s all fucked. We recruited well. Now we need to bring in portal guys who will help us win this instant or we are fucked relying on freshman. Sark won’t win more than 7 games. The same mother fuckers who are absolutely certain he’s a shit coach also have all these rules he needs to follow to be a good coach. It’s fucking exhausting. He either has the potential here at Texas with this staff to become better or he’s fucked. How can it be both? 

[Slacks 6,821]

On 4/12/2022 at 1:54 PM, Vertigo said:

Half speed routes on air and such, but that sure is an effortless release. 

Same shit. Different off-season.

I need to see that when he is about to get bashed.

Not saying he can't or won't... Saying idgaf about pretty practiceb throws... And you probably shouldn't either.