2023 Texas Coaching and Support Staff Thread

[Billy Pilgrim 1960]

Marion at least had buy in with blocking downfield and in the flats. That was improved this year. Everything else…. Not so much

[closetohumping 17439]

21 minutes ago, BornAndRaised said:

I would argue that while we all know Samples is a recruiting plus, based on production out of the WR room last year we should be looking for someone who can develop. We already have recruiting witches on staff.

After his work with Addison, we thought Marion would develop this room.  I don't think he did.

[BrazilHorn 6586]

Having position coaches and coordinators getting poached to me is sign of healthy program. For years Texas has had dudes seemingly no other program wanted. Hire a young aggressive ballsout recruiter and get moving. 

[Doc Daneeka 6769]

36 minutes ago, BornAndRaised said:

I would argue that while we all know Samples is a recruiting plus, based on production out of the WR room last year we should be looking for someone who can develop. We already have recruiting witches on staff.

Well, hell, then, hire Hooks and let him bring Stewart with him. 

[BurntOrange&White 39931]

2 hours ago, TheContractor said:

A- Hartline

B- Malcolm Kelly, Emmett Jones, Ra'shaad Samples, Dennis Simmons, Jeff Scott

C- Tyron Carrier, Holmon Wiggins

There are definitely more B and C options out there. 

This is such a bad list.


A - Hartline, Jeff Scott

B - Malcolm Kelly, Dennis Simmons, Emmett Jones

C - Ra'shaad Samples, Tyron Carrier, Holmon Wiggins

[ClubWhatever 12129]

If Hooks trains any of our signees then I am not sure he can be hired. 

[Hiphopopotamos 20869]

2 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

If Hooks trains any of our signees then I am not sure he can be hired. 

This is for an 'on field' position - pretty sure those rules don't apply (also not sure if they even would apply to 'trainers' or just HS coaches).

[HateYouAndMyself 828]

42 minutes ago, BornAndRaised said:

this is a good point, and an interesting concept. So the idea is we could hire someone like Samples as our WR coach for the recruiting implications, but also add a developmental candidate like hooks?, (i'll use hooks as an example, I can't think of anyone else here).

Exactly. I have no idea if that is the direction we will go with this hire but it does alleviate some of the concerns.

The rule change is a massive deal for smaller sports like swimming, or even the baseball team, where you had a rigid cap only allowing ~two paid assistants. This caused 'volunteer coaches' to become a thing and it was this whole toxic somewhat predatory system mess that is thankfully about to be killed off. While it isn't as big a deal with football specifically, since many programs have begun following the Bama trend of just stocking up on 'analysts', but it removes the need for any smoke and mirrors nonsense and you can just bluntly have on staff, as titled, "assistant WR coach" and things like that without limit. 

Obviously Hooks himself isn't a great example since he is already established and could likely land a decent full WR positional coaching gig if he wanted one but there are plenty of guys like him out there that specialize in training technique that continue to work with college kids all around the country. You have them at every position. Currently it is often very difficult to get these guys to join your staff because it is hard to convince the program leadership to invest in roles that pay them more than they make doing their personal training. It is also a weird ambiguous thing to add to a resume for many of these guys. By being able to formalize the positions and just bluntly be like "Your title is "Assistant WR coach" or whatever it helps sell the job and justify paying them what it takes to bring in developmental difference makers. 

edit: The key thing here is that they are going to be formally recognized on field positions which is what these kind of people look for and need for their resumes. It also should skirt around the issue of not being able to hire trainers who worked with any of your signees 

Edited January 8, 2023 by HateYouAndMyself

[texifornia 56917]

45 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

I agree. Underrated but I also think we need a guy who brings some "energy" like Marion did. 

Man, just say "we probably could use a younger black guy in terms of staff composition". It's ok, it's a valid point. 

[RGBIII 22840]

3 hours ago, Butch Had Not said:

Looks like Tom Herman's and RGBIII''s dickhead half brother.

“Dickhead half brother” makes it sound like he’s a bigger dickhead than myself and Tom Herman…don’t hire that dude

[HateYouAndMyself 828]

5 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Man, just say "we probably could use a younger black guy in terms of staff composition". It's ok, it's a valid point. 

I was going to reply something similar along the lines of "It is okay to just say we need more than one non-white coach on our offensive staff" but then I struggled in deciding whether Banks  counts. If we had a draft I'm not sure where he ends up tbh. 

 

[BigHornedLurker 1936]

1 hour ago, HateYouAndMyself said:

Since no one else has mentioned this:

I know I have harped on this before but the NCAA is voting (next week I believe) to basically formalize the removal on coaching caps. You are still limited in how many coaches can directly interact with recruits during games but there will be no caps on how many can be on the field or helping to coach the players during the week. It is essentially just making legal what Bama and some others have been doing for years already anyway. The reason I bring this up is because inevitably Samples is going to get floated for our opening and just as inevitably people will bring up concerns about his player development skills. While those concerns are valid it really just doesn't matter as much moving forward because the position coach simply needs to set a tone and recruit well; actual development and technique can be handled by elite specialized assistants that can now have free reign in practice and development. 

TLDR: Coaching limit change coming next week means you can hire a 'recruiter first' guy and not have to sacrifice development assuming you have the budget to afford quality assistants under them (spoiler: we do). 

Promote Gary Patterson 

[Davis Lane 5581]

4 hours ago, HenryJames said:

  Hide contents

 

[gmr548 16576]

I just don’t see the Kelley thing happening. He’s a Former player at OU. 

He hates OU

[BornAndRaised 12281]

Ojomo gone

[ClubWhatever 12129]

Isn’t Bobby Kennedy (the alive one) looking for a job?

[gmr548 16576]

Not to bring this name up - but the only 'personal trainer' I'm aware of Texas hiring as a position coach is Jay Valai - but he had 1 year of experience coaching at Rutgers.  Is anyone aware of any other personal trainer hires Texas has made?

Even Valai played and coached under the coordinator that hired him - a coordinator that was coaching S while he Valai was at CB. Not to defend the hire as Texas but even that had more to stand on than Hooks would. There are plenty of known quantities at WR coach with connections to Sark or the state of Texas. They’re not going to go with a trainer.

[RollLeft 5044]

1 minute ago, ClubWhatever said:

Isn’t Bobby Kennedy (the alive one) looking for a job?

foku.gif

[Scholz 11942]

7 minutes ago, BornAndRaised said:

Ojomo gone

He finally got his drivers license?

[someguy 1508]

5 hours ago, FreeHorn said:

Marion has been trying/begging for an OC job for months. He literally would have taken ANY OC job available.  For a while in December he basically stopped recruiting because all he was focused on was getting a new job. He got his ass back focused when he realized he was getting a job at the time but he been focused on himself for a while. 
 

Good recruiter, good relationship builder  but did a bad job holding that WR accountable. Some of that is on Sark as well but Marion let Worthy get away with whatever. Our receivers didn’t improve this year and Worthy actually played better under the last coach. There will be people in that room happy with this move. Hopefully Sark has somebody lined up. 

I co-sign all this.  Marion had/has maturity/cockiness issues and did a subpar job coaching/running his WR room.  I was hoping he'd move on and was very happy to see this news.  Good riddance.

Edited January 8, 2023 by someguy

[6th Street 6392]

Does this jeopardize our chances of returning to the Alamo Bowl?

[WinningIsHard 4029]

27 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

Does this jeopardize our chances of returning to the Alamo Bowl?

Right on cue lol. 
 

[BornAndRaised 12281]

 

[nycHorn 3006]

 

[Hookem2147 21209]

[Teryor 4466]

Roach: Ten candidates to replace Brennan Marion at Texas 

Spoiler

With reports out that Brennan Marion will leave Austin for the UNLV offensive coordinator position, Texas will have a big opening that should attract a lot of candidates.

Here are five names that could make sense from a coaching and recruiting aspect.

Joe Price, Wide Receivers coach, UTSA

Price made the move to the UTSA wide receiver role where he could be on the road recruiting. A native of Houston, Price played at Aldine Nimitz before playing wide receiver at Harding University in Arkansas. Price worked in the high school ranks as the recruiting coordinator at Galena Park High School before moving to North Shore in 2014 as Passing Game Coordinator and Recruiting Coordinator. Price has deep ties to the Houston area where his father coached for over 30 years. He’s already gaining acclaim for his department’s ability to evaluate and recruit talent.

Kevin Cummings, Wide Receivers, Arizona

A Los Angeles native with a growing reputation as a coach and recruiter, Cummings played at Oregon State in college before a stint in the CFL. Cummings spent three years as a quality control coach at Oregon State before making a final play run at playing professionally during a short stint in the CFL. He returned to Oregon State as a graduate assistant and moved on to San Jose State as wide receivers coach. Cummings joined Arizona last year under then first year coach Jedd Fisch. Seen as a major riser in the coaching ranks, Cummings landed elite wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan at the end of his first cycle after flipping him from Oregon.

Emmett Jones, Wide Receivers, Texas Tech

Any time there’s an opening at wide receivers, I will push the name of Emmett Jones. Jones played his high school ball at Seagoville and then walked on at Texas Tech before entering the coaching profession after graduating from North Texas. Jones rose to prominence as the offensive coordinator for legendary high school coach Reginald Samples at Dallas Lincoln and Dallas Skyline. Jones then moved on to accept the head coaching position at South Oak Cliff before taking a collegiate position at Texas Tech in 2015. When Kliff Kingsbury was fired, Jones took a position on Les Miles’ staff at Kansas before returning to Lubbock with Joey McGuire. On the field, Jones was integral in the development of Texas Tech receivers Antoine Wesley, TJ Vasher, and Keke Coutee. Jones remains a top name to know for a few reasons. The former Dallas South Oak Cliff head coach is seen as a great recruiter and a strong position coach as well. Jones has ties to the staff from his time as a high school coach. One south Dallas coach I spoke with said, “He would win recruiter of the year at Texas. It wouldn’t even be close. He will shut down Dallas if they let him loose.”

Justin Stepp, Wide Receivers, South Carolina

A native of South Carolina, Stepp went from up and comer to veteran assistant. After playing his college career at Furman, Stepp had stints at Clemson and Appalachian State. He first appeared in Dallas on staff at SMU where he started to gain a reputation as a young and hungry recruiter. He carried that reputation to Arkansas where he won some head to heads over the Longhorns for coveted prospects. When Shane Beamer took over at South Carolina last year, Stepp took the opportunity to return to his home state. Big recruiting wins include Treylon Burks, Markee Anderson, Ketron Jackson, Darin Turner and Trey Knox.

Ron Bellamy, Wide Receivers, Michigan

A native of New Orleans, Bellamy played his college ball for the Wolverines before taking a job as a high school coach in Michigan. Jim Harbaugh added him to his staff in 2021. Bellamy coached safeties before shifting to receivers last year, and he’s already gaining a reputation as a recruiter. With whispers that Jim Harbaugh is looking toward the NFL again, now could be the time to make a run at Bellamy and see if you could pull him away and back down south.

Chansi Stuckey, Wide Receivers, Notre Dame

Stuckey acclimated quickly to the college coaching world after his college and professional career. The former Clemson star had stints in the NFL and CFL before returning to Clemson as a graduate assistant. Stuckey got his first full time chance at Baylor under Dave Aranda before moving to Notre Dame this past year. Big recruiting wins include Cam Williams, Braylon James, Jaden Greathouse, Rico Flores and Armani Winfield.

Holmon Wiggins, Wide Receivers/AHC, Alabama

Wiggins was a name that we heard as a possibility when Sarkisian formed his first staff at Texas and it would make sense given his ties to the Alabama assistant. Nick Saban put a priority on keeping Wiggins in Tuscaloosa where he’s been a valuable member of the Tide. Wiggins has earned respect from recruits and players for his approach, but Texas would have to come up with more money and an enhanced title to pull him away from Alabama where he appears to be second in command currently.

JaMarcus Shephard, Wide Receivers/AHC/Passing Game Coordinator, Washington

A native of Indiana, Shephard made his way up through the coaching ranks quickly. After playing at DePauw, Shephard went from the high school ranks to a role at Western Kentucky where he went from an analyst to on-field assistant. Shephard went from Western Kentucky and Washington State to Purdue where he really found a home. Shephard has been a strong recruiter and rising star in the coaching industry. Washington’s receivers were incredibly productive this year, and he should have more suitors for his services. Texas would need to figure out the pay bump and title upgrade to have a chance.

Keary Colbert, Wide Receivers, Florida

Colbert makes sense for a few reasons. The former USC star played for Steve Sarkisian in LA and went on to a productive NFL career. His name came up when Sark assembled his initial staff in Austin, but he ultimately went to Florida with Billy Napier after serving his alma mater. Colbert was a solid recruiter at Southern Cal and continued that trend at Florida. Colbert is currently a Top 50 recruiter in the country with three prospects rated four stars or better in his class this year.

Junior Adams, Wide Receivers/Co-OC, Oregon

Adams has some crossover with members of this coaching staff having spent time at Boise State and Washington. After playing at Oregon State and Montana State, Adams worked his way up the coaching ladder finding footing at Eastern Washington where he helped develop Cooper Kupp. Adams also spent time at Boise State, Eastern Kentucky and Washington before Dan Lanning tabbed him to join his current staff. Adams is a Top 30 recruiter in the country who helped secure guys like Sam Huard, Jurrion Dickey and Jalen McMillan.

 

[Hookem2147 21209]

Alternate title: 10 guys who’s names I know or seem like they might be a good coach based on their teams success

[FreeHorn 1307]

Roach uses that same quote about Jones being the recruiter of the year at Texas every time we have an WR opening. Legit third time he has used the same exact quote/blurb. 
 

we get it Mike. 

[Radical Larry 28584]

Another alternate title: 10 guys I’ve met

[texifornia 56917]

2 minutes ago, FreeHorn said:

Roach uses that same quote about Jones being the recruiter of the year at Texas every time we have an WR opening. Legit third time he has used the same exact quote/blurb. 
 

we get it Mike. 

He's one of Mike's favorite former TXHSFB coaches, and we all know how hard it is for him to narrow down that last.

[CHEF RIBS W/ THE HAMM YALL 1259]

3 hours ago, Scholz said:

He finally got his drivers license?

I knew this was coming but im not prepared to see Less o Ojomo 

[LTtxfan 49170]

5 hours ago, Tex-19 said:

I agree. Underrated but I also think we need a guy who brings some "energy" like Marion did. 

 

Hey Tex-19...  The magic words were used to describe Justin Johnson when he went to baylor...

“Justin has a great track record of developing young players. He brings a lot of energy,” the first-year Baylor football head coach (Aranda) said in a statement. “I think his ability to recruit the state of Texas, particularly the city of Houston, is going to a great advantage for us. He’s got a beautiful family. He’s a family man that loves football and wants to be able to push our student-athletes to be the best they can be.”

[BurntOrange&White 39931]

The part of Houston is interesting. Really need to step up that area a bit.

[closetohumping 17439]

Regarding Johnson , he helped run “the reliable violent offense” at Baylor. Interesting name for Baylor. 
 

[Hookem2147 21209]

3 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

The part of Houston is interesting. Really need to step up that area a bit.

Especially with A&M being as weak as they’ve ever been. Normally that area leans more Aggie but we can flip that this cycle.

[Getafix 28600]

 

Is this guy seriously being considered for WR coach??

From his Baylor bio:

2012 - QC Assistant, UH

2013 - GA, TA&M

2014-15 - not sure

2016 - 2017 - Offensive Analyst, Kansas

2018 - Wide Receivers coach, Kansas (Yes!!)

2019 - RB coach, UH

2020 onwards - RB coach, Baylor

**********************************************************************

Justin Johnson joined the Baylor Football staff in February 2020. He serves as running backs coach.

Johnson helped the BU running game break out in 2021 behind a big season from Abram Smith as part of offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes’ “Reliable Violent Offense”. The Bears led the conference and were 10th nationally in rushing offense with 219.3 yards per game.

After converting him from linebacker, Johnson helped Smith lead the Big 12 and finish fifth nationally in rushing yards (1,601). Additionally, Smith finished second in the Big 12 and seventh nationally with 114.4 yards per game, notching 6.23 yards a carry which was also good enough for second in Big 12 and 14th nationally. For his big season, Smith earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team, and signed a lucrative contract with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in April.

In his first season at Baylor, Johnson led a deep running back position that included All-American Trestan Ebner. Ebner finished the season with 1,047 all-purpose yards and scored a team-high six touchdowns (one rushing, three receiving, two kick return).

Additionally, five different running backs led the team in rushing at least once in 2020 including underclassmen Craig Williams, Taye McWilliams, Qualan Jones and Jonah White.

Johnson joined Baylor following a one-year stint in 2019 as running backs coach at his alma mater, the University of Houston. He helped UH achieve its 18th straight season with at least 1,500 rushing yards in 2019. The Cougars’ rushing attack ranked 37th in FBS, averaging 188.2 yards per contest.

Prior to his time at Houston, Johnson spent three years at Kansas, including serving as wide receivers coach in 2018. He spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons as an offensive analyst.

Johnson served as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M in 2013, helping the Aggies to a 9-4 record including a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl win over Duke. He began his coaching career in 2012 at UH, serving as an offensive quality control assistant for the Cougars.

A native of Richardson, Johnson was a four-year letterwinner at Houston from 2008-11. An All-Conference USA first-team pick in 2011, Johnson competed in three bowl games and two Conference USA Championship games.

Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Sports Administration from Houston in 2011. He and his wife, Aisha, have two children, Jayden and Kingsley.

[Herbie Hancock 7345]

Fuck that. Bring me Ship or Quan. Teach these soft Sally’s how to be a cold, pipe hittin mofuckahs.

[UDontKnow 10444]

46 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Regarding Johnson , he helped run “the reliable violent offense” at Baylor. Interesting name for Baylor. 
 

 

[Hookem2147 21209]

23 minutes ago, Getafix said:

2018 - Wide Receivers coach, Kansas (Yes!!)

Wait until you find out where Emmett Jones spent 3 of the last 4 years 

[Hiphopopotamos 20869]

Justin Johnson doesn't even have a wikipedia page - how am I supposed to know what to think of him?  Seriously though - he caught 87 balls for 1229 yards and 12tds his Senior year at Houston.  So he's got that going for him - which is nice. 

[Hookem2147 21209]

3 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

Justin Johnson doesn't even have a wikipedia page - how am I supposed to know what to think of him?  Seriously though - he caught 87 balls for 1229 yards and 12tds his Senior year at Houston.  So he's got that going for him - which is nice. 

Everyone knows that every coach in America can be judged off their twitter and brief YouTube videos 

[Getafix 28600]

6 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Wait until you find out where Emmett Jones spent 3 of the last 4 years 

 

Jones has at least been a WR coach for the last seven years.  Johnson has been that for one.  (Jones' Kansas offenses don't seem to have done well passing, but his Texas Tech ones were prolific.  Not sure how much of the credit/blame should be attributed to him, for Kansas vs. Tech.)  And Roach keeps talking him up as a recruiter.  

 

[Hookem2147 21209]

7 minutes ago, Getafix said:

 

Jones has at least been a WR coach for the last seven years.  Johnson has been that for one.  (Jones' Kansas offenses don't seem to have done well passing, but his Texas Tech ones were prolific.  Not sure how much of the credit/blame should be attributed to him, for Kansas vs. Tech.)  And Roach keeps talking him up as a recruiter.  

 

I know, I’m just pointing out some the flaws in your logic with your sarcastic comment that johnson coached at Kansas.

Marion had 2 years experience as a WR coach and 1 year of coaching experience at the P5 level when he was hired here. 

I don’t know anything special about Johnson or Jones aside from what is mentioned about them online or is available on YouTube. But I do think just going to a coaches job history and judging who they are based off that is pretty shortsighted.

Edited January 9, 2023 by Hookem2147

[Getafix 28600]

5 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

I know, I’m just pointing out some the flaws in your logic with your sarcastic comment that johnson coached at Kansas.

Marion had 2 years experience as a WR coach and 1 year of coaching experience at the P5 level when he was hired here. 

I don’t know anything special about Johnson or Jones aside from what is mentioned about them online or is available on YouTube. But I do think just going to a coaches job history and judging who they are based off that is pretty shortsighted.

 

 

- It wasn't about his having coached at Kansas;  it was the only WR coaching the guy did

- Marion was known as a guy with innovative offensive ideas, and had a Biletnikoff winner at Pitt.  Those count for something.

- I don't know anything about Johnson either;  didn't know who he was until this came up, and I looked at his bio.  And I'm likely not the only one in that position.  For a position group that has struggled, ending up with a virtual unknown (at least to me) was a concern, and his bio - an obvious source of information, particularly for this guy - was eminently underwhelming.  It was an opinion, on his background, not a judgement,

 

[SamMan 1362]

1 hour ago, Getafix said:

 

Is this guy seriously being considered for WR coach??

From his Baylor bio:

2012 - QC Assistant, UH

2013 - GA, TA&M

2014-15 - not sure

2016 - 2017 - Offensive Analyst, Kansas

2018 - Wide Receivers coach, Kansas (Yes!!)

2019 - RB coach, UH

2020 onwards - RB coach, Baylor

**********************************************************************

Justin Johnson joined the Baylor Football staff in February 2020. He serves as running backs coach.

Johnson helped the BU running game break out in 2021 behind a big season from Abram Smith as part of offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes’ “Reliable Violent Offense”. The Bears led the conference and were 10th nationally in rushing offense with 219.3 yards per game.

After converting him from linebacker, Johnson helped Smith lead the Big 12 and finish fifth nationally in rushing yards (1,601). Additionally, Smith finished second in the Big 12 and seventh nationally with 114.4 yards per game, notching 6.23 yards a carry which was also good enough for second in Big 12 and 14th nationally. For his big season, Smith earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team, and signed a lucrative contract with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in April.

In his first season at Baylor, Johnson led a deep running back position that included All-American Trestan Ebner. Ebner finished the season with 1,047 all-purpose yards and scored a team-high six touchdowns (one rushing, three receiving, two kick return).

Additionally, five different running backs led the team in rushing at least once in 2020 including underclassmen Craig Williams, Taye McWilliams, Qualan Jones and Jonah White.

Johnson joined Baylor following a one-year stint in 2019 as running backs coach at his alma mater, the University of Houston. He helped UH achieve its 18th straight season with at least 1,500 rushing yards in 2019. The Cougars’ rushing attack ranked 37th in FBS, averaging 188.2 yards per contest.

Prior to his time at Houston, Johnson spent three years at Kansas, including serving as wide receivers coach in 2018. He spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons as an offensive analyst.

Johnson served as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M in 2013, helping the Aggies to a 9-4 record including a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl win over Duke. He began his coaching career in 2012 at UH, serving as an offensive quality control assistant for the Cougars.

A native of Richardson, Johnson was a four-year letterwinner at Houston from 2008-11. An All-Conference USA first-team pick in 2011, Johnson competed in three bowl games and two Conference USA Championship games.

Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Sports Administration from Houston in 2011. He and his wife, Aisha, have two children, Jayden and Kingsley.

With all due respect, it is very similar to the résumé of another guy rumored to be under consideration. Say what you will about the wisdom of targeting them specifically, but it isn’t exactly an out-of-left-field idea.

 

6 hours ago, Billy Pilgrim said:

Marion at least had buy in with blocking downfield and in the flats. That was improved this year. Everything else…. Not so much

I am going to challenge this assertion a bit. We’re generally on the same page, but I’m not even sure I’d give Marion full credit for what we saw in terms of blocking. First, I am not convinced this is necessarily as dependent on the coaching as it is on the disposition of the individual players. Marcus Washington was one of the more willing and capable blockers I can recall. Effort was never his problem. Whittington is right there, as well. Frankly, whatever the buy-in was with regard to blocking, that same energy seemed to be lacking at times in terms of tracking and/or giving full effort on catch attempts. I want to say that started on the very first throw of the season (I could be mistaken), when worthy gave up on a ball downfield.

I think I’d be okay with a little less downfield blocking in exchange for a little more effort on downfield or slightly off-target throws. Maybe it appeared as though there was more buy-in because nobody outside of Worthy was really getting targets and the only thing we saw them doing consistently was blocking for Bijan and Roschon. I will say that what little we saw of Thompson and Red blocking was encouraging, but that kind of illustrates the point—we didn’t see them catching passes. The RBs next year will certainly need the WRs to bring that same effort next year (bringing JWhitt back is a big boost), but it goes without saying that the team will need much, much better effort from them catching passes.

[Hookem2147 21209]

18 minutes ago, Getafix said:

For a position group that has struggled, ending up with a virtual unknown (at least to me) was a concern,

Out of curiosity, are you out on Samples too since he hasn't ever coached the position?

[conVINCEd 21469]

Johnson’s bio that I pulled up online says he’s from Richardson, TX.  I’m from Richardson, TX.  That makes me think he was the option QB that took a school that never makes the playoffs to the playoffs despite running the option in an era when the option had already been put out to pasture.  I’m guessing a guy that can do that is tough.

[Hookem2147 21209]

2 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

Johnson’s bio that I pulled up online says he’s from Richardson, TX.  I’m from Richardson, TX.  That makes me think he was the option QB that took a school that never makes the playoffs to the playoffs despite running the option in an era when the option had already been put out to pasture.  I’m guessing a guy that can do that is tough.

Looks like he went to Richardson Berkner

https://247sports.com/Player/Justin-Johnson-53128/high-school-90832/

[conVINCEd 21469]

3 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Looks like he went to Richardson Berkner

https://247sports.com/Player/Justin-Johnson-53128/high-school-90832/

That’s him. 

[Cairn Horn88 8262]

Obviously late to the party, but where’s Marion going?