2024 Texas Football Coaching and Support Staff Thread

[TexasRenegade 2611]

15 minutes ago, bejezuz said:

There's been some smoke here and there that Bo Davis and PK were butting heads because Bo wanted to coach the whole D-Line.  Choate was PK's guy, and Sark replaces him with Nansen, who is a fit for Sark because of their prior relationship and presumably knows PK because they were both PAC guys.  Maybe Kenny Baker was a name they kept hearing, so they brought him in and everything just clicked.  I hope it works.  Only the coaches CDC know what the process was, so time will tell.  

There's also been smoke that Sark wasn't happy with Bo's effort in recruiting.  

 

Also, Joe Wickline wants me to remind ya'll that past performance is not indicative of future success....

 

In other words stop freaking out over name recognition.  Great coaches have to get their breaks somewhere....Joe Brady had a worse resume then Baker and he was a homerun hire for LSU.  Sark seems to want young and hungry coaches, that has been a definite trajectory in his hiring following the inititial staff.  

We don't know a lot about Baker, but we do know that everywhere he has, admittedly limited in scope, been the dline play has improved dramatically while he was there.

So I'm here for Sark taking a chance on hiring a future star at the position.  Maybe he flames out spectacularly and gets replaced.....next man up if he does.

[Reese Bennett 3663]

Baker is our only hope for a 1,000 page thread.

[Michael Knight 13239]

obviously you people had worked yourselves into a lather for us to hire Bill Belicheck or for some godawful reason Ed Orgeron before eventually convincing yourselves that Rod Wright would be acceptable. An underwhelming hire would have been Oscar Giles or a myriad of 60+ year old retreads picked just because they had the requisite experience. "Oh no I've never heard of this guy" as if any of you have a blog where you discuss the best coaches in the game and all the up and coming ones. This is a very whelming hire and at the least shows Sark is willing to think outside the box and inject fresh blood to the program. I for one can't wait for the myriad number of posts that will blame our lack of 5 star DTs this cycle on the new guy. I would say rants on firing him on the football board but that would require them to know who the coaches actually are there.

Edited January 26 by Michael Knight

[NoName 17164]

5 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

Sarkisian obviously has a blueprint of guys that he wants to hire. They have to meet certain criteria and he seems to be pretty unwavering in making sure that they do. If a coach meets the criteria at 35 or 50, it doesn't really matter. If you want to just hire a bunch of coaches with very long resumes to come here as position coaches, then perhaps I can load you up with this group of fine specimens. Jeff Fischer, Bill O'Brien, Gary Kubiak, Dan Mullens, Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel, Matt Patricia, Eric Mangini. I am sure that all of them could be had on the cheap.  

exclusively, the guy who he has hired who meet his criteria have had more experience and success at higher levels than Baker. 100% of them. every one of them.

i'm not saying he is going to be shit or going to be good but he has less of a track record than Choate (which someone compared him to) and less success than Choice (who someone else compared him to) - both of those guys are absolute dogshit comparisons.

there isn't a comparison between Baker and anyone else Sark has hired, because bluntly, no one else he has hired has been less known, had less of a track record, had less success or had less written about them than Baker. not a single one. Chris Jackson is going to be the next example brought up but Jackson had more experience coaching at the NFL level than Baker had coaching at the G5 level, on top of playing in the NFL, the guy played 0 high school football games and ended up lettering at WSU and bouncing around for 5 years at the NFL level.

Spoiler

you listed a bunch of dudes - 3 of them are over 65. all of them are over 49. shitting on Romeo Crennel is certainly a choice, the guy literally coached for longer than Baker and Mullins and BOB have been alive (he coached for 50 years) but guess what? Fischer was last a position coach in 1987. Mullens was last a position coach in 04. Weis was last a position coach in 1996. Crennel last was a position coach in 1999. Patricia was last a position coach in 2011. Mangini left coaching in 2015.

i don't want old fucks, i want asskickers with at the very least a minimal track record of being an asskicker and someone - anyone - identifying them as an asskicker before they were hired. putting out quotes after Texas hires someone has next to no value.

 

i've never seen Texas hire a coach with less written about him in the last probably 20 years? literally. go look for articles written about him as a coach at WKU. they don't exist. there was more written about Drew Mehringer pre Texas than this guy. he has no wiki. he has no 247 coach page. footballscoop mentions him in anything more than a "these guys are coaches on a coaching staff" once, literally. i couldn't find anyone saying he was a great coach or recruiter or developer when looking at reddit or message boards when he was a WKU.

face it: he's a complete unknown who has coached for 3 years at the G5 level and 1 year at the NFL level before today. if LSU, OU or A&M hired Kenny Baker we would mercilessly make fun of them. that isn't typically the resume of a guy who is an asskicker at a position where you really fucking need to be an asskicker.

defend the hire all you want to, but in every single way Kenny Baker is an outlier to the hiring process and standards that Sark has followed for every single coach he has hired. that should be concerning for everyone, including Kenny Baker.

all this to say he could work out great - or he could be fired by the time the spring portal opens. anyone who acts like they know fuck about shit regarding him and his ability to coach, recruit or develop is a liar.

[Newy25 7927]

17 minutes ago, Hornlover said:

Shit, I must have stopped watching the NFL for a while. I take it Western Kentucky is now at a level beyond the Miami Dolphins? 

 

I guess I missed the part where he was the defensive line coach at Miami. I read “assistant defensive line coach”. As in, not the defensive line coach. 

[closetojumping 65480]

1 minute ago, Michael Knight said:

obviously you people had worked yourselves into a lather for us to hire Bill Belicheck or for some godawful reason Ed Orgeron before eventually convincing yourselves that Rod Wright would be acceptable. An underwhelming hire would have been Oscar Giles or a myriad of 60+ year old retreads picked just because they had the requisite experience. This is a very whelming hire and at the least shows Sark is willing to think outside the box and inject fresh blood to the program. I for one can't wait for the myriad number of posts that will blame our lack of 5 star DTs this cycle on the new guy. I would say rants on firing him on the football board but that would require them to know who the coaches actually are there.

Just shut the fuck up if you're going to open with Ed Orgeron being a bad DL coach hire. There's enough ignorant silliness inundating the thread. That didn't need to be added to the pot. Thanks.

Also, Sarkisian talked to Giles and he was a finalist. You guys are applying almost god-like abilities to Sarkisian's hiring practices. He's gotten most of the right. Gideon, Coleman and Stoops were bad hires. Two of those were unequivocally known as bad hires. The jury is out on Jackson, although it shows promise. Marion was meh. He didn't do shit in the WR room in terms of leadership and he quit on the job several months before leaving.  This new guy might be great and he might not, but we narrowly missed having to watch a bunch of you rubes defend Oscar Giles rejoining the staff. Provide the benefit of the doubt to the hire if you like, but spare us the weak ass admonishment while mixing in an attempt to make a home run hire look stupid. 

 

[Atticus 4221]

Do we always hire the more experienced candidate when filling positions? 

I'm not excited by the hire, but I also lack the information to really assess it. 

When experience is lacking, we rely on reputable references and context to fill in the gaps. 

 

HOT TAKE: I think this guy is gonna make his name here, learn from PK and Nansen, and be a DC candidate in 5 years or so.

[Newy25 7927]

1 minute ago, closetojumping said:

Just shut the fuck up if you're going to open with Ed Orgeron being a bad DL coach hire. There's enough ignorant silliness inundating the thread. That didn't need to be added to the pot. Thanks.

Also, Sarkisian talked to Giles and he was a finalist. You guys are applying almost god-like abilities to Sarkisian's hiring practices. He's gotten most of the right. Gideon, Coleman and Stoops were bad hires. Two of those were unequivocally known as bad hires. The jury is out on Jackson, although it shows promise. Marion was meh. He didn't do shit in the WR room in terms of leadership and he quit on the job several months before leaving.  This new guy might be great and he might not, but we narrowly missed having to watch a bunch of you rubes defend Oscar Giles rejoining the staff. Provide the benefit of the doubt to the hire if you like, but spare us the weak ass admonishment while mixing in an attempt to make a home run hire look stupid. 

 

I don’t mind if he talked to Giles as a former Longhorn but if he actually considered him Jesus Fucking Christ. If the criticism about Davis was he was not an elite recruiter imagine going with Giles in that scenario. That’s through the looking glass-Joseph Hellerish level absurdity. 

[Js1 87220]

1 minute ago, Atticus said:

Do we always hire the more experienced candidate when filling positions? 

I'm not excited by the hire, but I also lack the information to really assess it. 

When experience is lacking, we rely on reputable references and context to fill in the gaps. 

 

HOT TAKE: I think this guy is gonna make his name here, learn from PK and Nansen, and be a DC candidate in 5 years or so.

Same.  I'm in the camp of:

[Hank Kingsley 21799]

Made the 4 team playoff, starting QB stays with Arch in the wings, killing the transfer portal and recruiting. An incredible run of great news and positivity over the last couple of months. 

One weird assistant coach hire and people are losing their minds. I think now we're officially "back". This was the moment. 

 

[Newy25 7927]

7 minutes ago, Atticus said:

Do we always hire the more experienced candidate when filling positions? 

No of course not. But when was the last time we hired a position coach at Texas that had never coached the position at the P5 level and only had one year in the NFL which did not even include being the position coach in that role, only an assistant. I don’t pretend to be the Texas Longhorn encyclopedia so maybe someone else knows. We paid the last guy 1M a year so our replacement budget should have opened the pool of candidates to a pretty large group of experienced candidates.  

Edited January 26 by Newy25

[Newy25 7927]

3 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

Made the 4 team playoff, starting QB stays with Arch in the wings, killing the transfer portal and recruiting. An incredible run of great news and positivity over the last couple of months. 

One weird assistant coach hire and people are losing their minds. I think now we're officially "back". This was the moment. 

 

Show me where people “are losing their minds”. Having a healthy debate and criticizing does not mean people are questioning the direction of the program. That sounded more like projection on your part. 

[Foosters 18286]

4 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

Made the 4 team playoff, starting QB stays with Arch in the wings, killing the transfer portal and recruiting. An incredible run of great news and positivity over the last couple of months. 

One weird assistant coach hire and people are losing their minds. I think now we're officially "back". This was the moment. 

 

I think the winning has gone to our heads. Probably need another decade of program malaise to recalibrate expectations. 

[Hornius Emeritus 12807]

1 hour ago, NoName said:

people LOVE making terrible comparisons

Choate was a head coach longer than Baker coached at the G5 level.

Choate had a ton of experience with very good coaches at Boise and Washington.

Baker is nowhere near comparable to a guy who had like 20 years of coaching experience (Choate) or who was seen as a rising star and had skins on the wall (Choice)

but Choate to Baker specifically is a lazy comparison that is truly fucking terrible. you think a guy with 3 seasons of experience at the G5 level is the same as Jeff Choate who had 20 years experience, including like 5 as a head coach? lol

 

Irony. You talked about making terrible comparisons when the post you quoted did not make a "lazy comparison" of Baker to Choate, or any comparison at all between the two men.

Rather, it was a comparison of Surlyhorn's reaction to the hiring of the two men.

Reading is fundamental.

[SydneyCarton 49514]

26 minutes ago, sith_horn said:

I didn't see this posted elsewhere, but FCB has an article saying Kenny Baker was mentored by Pete Jenkins. I did a search for Pete Jenkins in this and the Football Forum and found the following post by bar in texas d-line talk thread:

  Hide contents

Sark should make the call to this Pete Jenkins for a consulting gig -- he was at Alabama, Georgia, Michigan in the past year: https://www.si.com/college/2021/12/21/when-alabama-nick-saban-calls-pete-jenkins-answers-daily-cover

Apparently he does speak with Bo Davis regularly though.

 

 

Sources: New Texas defensive line coach Kenny Baker is an 'elite teacher' with NFL experience

Article below.

  Hide contents

Sources: New Texas defensive line coach Kenny Baker is an 'elite teacher' with NFL experience

In hiring Miami Dolphins assistant defensive line coach Kenny Baker, Steve Sarkisian is getting a young, rising star known as "an elite teacher and developer of talent" with energy to burn on the recruiting trail, sources told 247Sports' Matt Zenitz and me.

AUSTIN, Texas — In hiring Miami Dolphins assistant defensive line coach Kenny Baker, Steve Sarkisian is getting a rising star known as "an elite teacher and developer of talent" with energy to burn on the recruiting trail, sources told 247Sports' Matt Zenitz and me.

Zenitz was the first to report Sarkisian is hiring Baker, 37, as the Longhorns’ new defensive line coach, replacing Bo Davis, who spent three seasons at Texas before taking the defensive line coaching position at LSU, Davis’ alma mater.

Baker helped coach a defensive line for the Dolphins led by Christian Wilkins, Raekwon Davis, Zach Sieler and Emmanuel Ogbah as Miami finished No. 3 in sacks (56) behind the Baltimore Ravens (60) and Kansas City Chiefs (57) while also ranking No. 7 against the run, giving up 97.1 yards per game on the ground.

Before joining the Dolphins in 2023, Baker spent three seasons as Western Kentucky's defensive line coach, helping develop DeAngelo Malone into the Conference USA Player of the Year and a third-round draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 2022.

One source close to the situation told Horns247 that Sarkisian wanted “a young, hungry technician who has helped groom NFL talent” to replace Davis.

Sarkisian also emphasized hiring a coach with NFL experience when he hired wide receivers coach Chris Jackson away from the Jacksonville Jaguars before the 2023 season. Sarkisian's belief is to attract NFL-caliber players in recruiting, it helps to have coaches who've helped develop players in the NFL and know what it takes to make it in the league.

Baker, a native of Cartersville, Ga., has a “relentless work ethic and passion for the game,” said a coach who has worked with Baker.

“Elite teacher,” the coach said. “He’s from Georgia, and he’s going to recruit hard. And as a coach, he’s elite and has gone through every level of college football and worked his way up. He’s earned it, and he’s now a hot name because of his work with DeAngelo Malone (at Western Kentucky) and then now in the NFL.”

The coach said Baker had been mentored by legendary former SEC defensive line coach Pete Jenkins, who has worked at Florida, Mississippi State, Auburn and LSU.

“Just a great developer of talent,” the coach said of Baker. “He’s going to be very precise. He’s going to be technical. And I think the talent development is the biggest piece with him. That’s what they got — an elite developer of talent and an elite teacher. And he’s a monster on the recruiting trail — non-stop — and he’s got the right connections in the southeast being from Georgia.”

Baker served as the defensive line coach at Chatanooga in 2019 and at Mercer from 2014-18. Baker was a three-year starter on the defensive line at Gardner-Webb from 2005-08.

Pos rep for actual new content. 

[Hank Kingsley 21799]

3 minutes ago, Newy25 said:

Show me where people “are losing their minds”. Having a healthy debate and criticizing does not mean people are questioning the direction of the program. That sounded more like projection on your part. 

Lighten up, Francis. 

 

[DixonHur 11967]

4 minutes ago, Foosters said:

I think the winning has gone to our heads. Probably need another decade of program malaise to recalibrate expectations. 

I don't think so.  Sark is the only reason most of us are in the "underwhelmed, but hopeful" camp...which is precisely because we had a great season last year.  Let's not forget the pitchforks were out for Sark 12-months ago too.

But imagine if Kenny Baker, or someone with a similar resume, had been hired under Strong or Herman.  The servers would have exploded. 

[Bevo 13903]

4 minutes ago, Newy25 said:

Show me where people “are losing their minds”. Having a healthy debate and criticizing does not mean people are questioning the direction of the program. That sounded more like projection on your part. 

Show me proof where this is a healthy debate. Literally, this thread has caused Surly to quit work early on Friday and start drinking and chain smoking. If you call the conversation between the boy and the pilot in Airplane! healthy, then maybe, just maybe, this thread is healthy. Otherwise, I'm just seeing a bunch of guys running around like:

 

[Red Five 41760]

1 minute ago, DixonHur said:

But imagine if Kenny Baker, or someone with a similar resume

Anthony Daniels?

[Hornlover 8947]

26 minutes ago, Newy25 said:

 

I guess I missed the part where he was the defensive line coach at Miami. I read “assistant defensive line coach”. As in, not the defensive line coach. 

I hate to break it to you, but the Assistant Defensive Line Coach coaches the defensive line. What the fuck do you think Rod Wright's title was this year with the Texans?

[Ragde 260]

I don’t remember what we thought about Sark a year ago. 

[DixonHur 11967]

11 minutes ago, Red Five said:

Anthony Daniels?

Coaching staff completed

[jw4381 3249]

2 hours ago, South Austin said:

If there ever was a Surly motto.

[closetojumping 65480]

30 minutes ago, Atticus said:

Do we always hire the more experienced candidate when filling positions? 

I'm not excited by the hire, but I also lack the information to really assess it. 

When experience is lacking, we rely on reputable references and context to fill in the gaps. 

 

HOT TAKE: I think this guy is gonna make his name here, learn from PK and Nansen, and be a DC candidate in 5 years or so.

Making positive predictions about the hire are as useless and unhelpful as the negative predictions. There is zero reason to assign a 5 year time horizon for DC to the guy other than it makes you feel nifty inside. You could just write that in your diary.

11 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Show me proof where this is a healthy debate. Literally, this thread has caused Surly to quit work early on Friday and start drinking and chain smoking. If you call the conversation between the boy and the pilot in Airplane! healthy, then maybe, just maybe, this thread is healthy. Otherwise, I'm just seeing a bunch of guys running around like:

 

You're as dramatic as the Verizon phone fee dad. 

[Had Enough 2124]

I hate to break it to you, but the Assistant Defensive Line Coach coaches the defensive line. What the fuck do you think Rod Wright's title was this year with the Texans?

I’m a bit confused as to why a defensive line coach needs an assistant.

[SydneyCarton 49514]

Just now, Had Enough said:

I’m a bit confused as to why a defensive line coach needs an assistant.

Becuase it's the NFL. There isn't a 10 or 11 person limit on coaching staff.  So hire as many as you can and call them assistants, who report to their boss. 

Sort of like Analysts in college football, but more clearly and obviously defined. 

[DixonHur 11967]

1 minute ago, Had Enough said:

I’m a bit confused as to why a defensive line coach needs an assistant.

Duh, the coffee's not gonna fetch itself

[Bevo 13903]

2 minutes ago, Had Enough said:

I’m a bit confused as to why a defensive line coach needs an assistant.

[DixonHur 11967]

Just now, SydneyCarton said:

Becuase it's the NFL. There isn't a 10 or 11 person limit on coaching staff.  So hire as many as you can and call them assistants, who report to their boss. 

Sort of like Analysts in college football, but more clearly and obviously defined. 

Damn, you with your facts.  They have no place on Surly.  

[closetohumping 17821]

Ketch’s thoughts don’t neg me bro

 

Spoiler

5 Things I'm Thinking About The Hire Of Kenny Baker....
 
Ketchum said:
Here are five initial thoughts on the hire of Miami Dolphins assistant coach Kenny Baker after having a couple of hours to marinate on the move.

1. I've asked myself how I've thought this hire likely happened, especially as someone who has hired before and is in the position of hiring at this exact moment. What is the question that was asked that brought Kenny Baker as the answer.

Was it "Who is the best and most proven college coach in the country that I could hire?" Probably not.

Was it, "Who is the best and most proven recruiter in the country that I could hire?" Probably not.

Was it, "Who is the best and most proven that my Texas money can afford?" Probably not.

Was it, "Who is the best guy flying under the radar in the industry and is going to be everyone's desired target in 5 years? Are they hungry? Do they want to be great? Who can I hire that gives me the best 5 years of their coaching career when they are at their best and not riding the coat-tails of what they once did?"

Maybe, very much maybe. Somewhere along the line in the last couple of weeks, someone that Sark trusts a lot gave him Baker's name. Someone gave him one hell of an endorsement as an answer to the aspect of this hire Sarkisian cared about a lot... and here we are.

2. I think everyone has to be careful not to get carried away with the hyperbole in any direction at this point. Sarkisian hired a wild-card... someone that really doesn't fit the profile of what everyone thought he'd be looking for. He lacks experience at this level and he's never recruited at a high level. It doesn't mean that he can't succeed, but it does mean that he comes without a guarantee on the box, so to speak. How could one possibly put a grade on such an unknown commodity? I think we'll all have to wait and see.

3. It's clear Sark likes to hire from the NFL if when he gets an opportunity. He did it with the wide receivers coaching position last year after hiring the alleged hottest wide receiving coaching target (Brennan Marion) just a year earlier. He has a very similar profile to Rod Wright, who was the favorite to get the job earlier this week. If we judge what Sark was looking for based on the common elements of both a Wright/Baker hire... it would see to suggest he was looking for a young up and comer with NFL experience as the major piece of the building block.

4. I'm a little stunned that the Longhorns didn't hire someone with some real proven recruiting chops. It was the first thing mentioned to me on the day Bo Davis left town by multiple people. Texas HAS to start recruiting defensive linemen at a higher level, as not a single interior player that Bo Davis recruiter in this go round at Texas has been remotely ready at any time to be a major contributor. The interior of the defensive line remains a major position of concern, partly because of what Davis didn't do well enough. Is Baker going to do better? There's no real way to answer.

5. What a massive moment in Baker's career! Seriously good for him. Earlier this week, he had to be wondering if he would even have a job this season with the news that Miami would be changing up its defensive staff with the departure of Vic Fangio. Maybe he goes with Fangio to Philly? Maybe not. Maybe he stays in Miami in the same position? Maybe not. It's a tough world out there in the NFL and as of today, he's working for a program that just played in the NCAA playoffs and has a job that will serve as one hell of a platform should he seize the moment. It's a cool story.

 

[Js1 87220]

4 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

Duh, the coffee's not gonna fetch itself

[Js1 87220]

3 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

5 Things I'm Thinking About The Hire Of Kenny Baker....

1. Ham

2. Ham

3. Why did I get crowdsourced by SurlyHorns

4. Ham

5. Ham

Edited January 26 by Js1

[Atticus 4221]

I'm relatively ambivalent on the hire. Would not have felt much better if it were Rod Wright. 

Just saying shit to drive discussion.

We will see pretty quickly if this guy is Texas quality or not either way. 

 

It also doesn't hurt to have another young AA coach on the staff.

[closetohumping 17821]

Just now, Atticus said:

I'm relatively ambivalent on the hire. Would not have felt much better if it were Rod Wright. 

Just saying shit to drive discussion.

We will see pretty quickly if this guy is Texas quality or not either way. 

 

It also doesn't hurt to have another young AA coach on the staff.

Dont disagree at all.  I want bellichek but oh well

[Hookem2147 22045]

23 minutes ago, Newy25 said:

No of course not. But when was the last time we hired a position coach at Texas that had never coached the position at the P5 level and only had one year in the NFL which did not even include being the position coach in that role, only an assistant. I don’t pretend to be the Texas Longhorn encyclopedia so maybe someone else knows. We paid the last guy 1M a year so our replacement budget should have opened the pool of candidates to a pretty large group of experienced candidates.  

Milwee, Jason Washington/Meekins/Mehringer/Warehime on Herman's staff, some dude named Anthony Johnson/Traylor/Mattox on Chuckles staff, Giles (the first time) on Mack's staff.

And I get you are referring to Jackson's one season as the WR coach in Jacksonville, but this ain't exactly a fluffy resume

As a coach:
Chicago Bears (2019) Defensive assistant Chicago Bears (2020–2021) Assistant wide receivers coach Jacksonville Jaguars (2022) Wide receivers coach Texas (2023–present) Passing game coordinator & wide receivers coach

 

Speaking of which, genuinely curious about what people think is looked at more favorably: being an assistant position coach in the NFL for a year or two or being a position coach at the G5 level for like 3-5 years.

 

[DixonHur 11967]

3 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Ketch’s thoughts don’t neg me bro

 

  Reveal hidden contents

5 Things I'm Thinking About The Hire Of Kenny Baker....
 
Ketchum said:
Here are five initial thoughts on the hire of Miami Dolphins assistant coach Kenny Baker after having a couple of hours to marinate on the move.

1. I've asked myself how I've thought this hire likely happened, especially as someone who has hired before and is in the position of hiring at this exact moment. What is the question that was asked that brought Kenny Baker as the answer.

Was it "Who is the best and most proven college coach in the country that I could hire?" Probably not.

Was it, "Who is the best and most proven recruiter in the country that I could hire?" Probably not.

Was it, "Who is the best and most proven that my Texas money can afford?" Probably not.

Was it, "Who is the best guy flying under the radar in the industry and is going to be everyone's desired target in 5 years? Are they hungry? Do they want to be great? Who can I hire that gives me the best 5 years of their coaching career when they are at their best and not riding the coat-tails of what they once did?"

Maybe, very much maybe. Somewhere along the line in the last couple of weeks, someone that Sark trusts a lot gave him Baker's name. Someone gave him one hell of an endorsement as an answer to the aspect of this hire Sarkisian cared about a lot... and here we are.

2. I think everyone has to be careful not to get carried away with the hyperbole in any direction at this point. Sarkisian hired a wild-card... someone that really doesn't fit the profile of what everyone thought he'd be looking for. He lacks experience at this level and he's never recruited at a high level. It doesn't mean that he can't succeed, but it does mean that he comes without a guarantee on the box, so to speak. How could one possibly put a grade on such an unknown commodity? I think we'll all have to wait and see.

3. It's clear Sark likes to hire from the NFL if when he gets an opportunity. He did it with the wide receivers coaching position last year after hiring the alleged hottest wide receiving coaching target (Brennan Marion) just a year earlier. He has a very similar profile to Rod Wright, who was the favorite to get the job earlier this week. If we judge what Sark was looking for based on the common elements of both a Wright/Baker hire... it would see to suggest he was looking for a young up and comer with NFL experience as the major piece of the building block.

4. I'm a little stunned that the Longhorns didn't hire someone with some real proven recruiting chops. It was the first thing mentioned to me on the day Bo Davis left town by multiple people. Texas HAS to start recruiting defensive linemen at a higher level, as not a single interior player that Bo Davis recruiter in this go round at Texas has been remotely ready at any time to be a major contributor. The interior of the defensive line remains a major position of concern, partly because of what Davis didn't do well enough. Is Baker going to do better? There's no real way to answer.

5. What a massive moment in Baker's career! Seriously good for him. Earlier this week, he had to be wondering if he would even have a job this season with the news that Miami would be changing up its defensive staff with the departure of Vic Fangio. Maybe he goes with Fangio to Philly? Maybe not. Maybe he stays in Miami in the same position? Maybe not. It's a tough world out there in the NFL and as of today, he's working for a program that just played in the NCAA playoffs and has a job that will serve as one hell of a platform should he seize the moment. It's a cool story.

 

Gee, thanks Ketch, very insightful, where do I send my $9.95?

[Hookem2147 22045]

We aren't talking enough about how Ketch said Sunday that he expected the Rod Wright hire to be finalized in the next 24-48 hours. He whiffed again.

[TexasRenegade 2611]

46 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Just shut the fuck up if you're going to open with Ed Orgeron being a bad DL coach hire. There's enough ignorant silliness inundating the thread. That didn't need to be added to the pot. Thanks.

Also, Sarkisian talked to Giles and he was a finalist. You guys are applying almost god-like abilities to Sarkisian's hiring practices. He's gotten most of the right. Gideon, Coleman and Stoops were bad hires. Two of those were unequivocally known as bad hires. The jury is out on Jackson, although it shows promise. Marion was meh. He didn't do shit in the WR room in terms of leadership and he quit on the job several months before leaving.  This new guy might be great and he might not, but we narrowly missed having to watch a bunch of you rubes defend Oscar Giles rejoining the staff. Provide the benefit of the doubt to the hire if you like, but spare us the weak ass admonishment while mixing in an attempt to make a home run hire look stupid. 

 

1. If it was Baker or Giles we should all be celebrating the Baker hire!!!

2. I must applaud your ability to keep that under wraps and not go Satya on this board the moment you heard Giles was a finalist. Sincerely, am well aware of the regard in which you hold him.

[DixonHur 11967]

1 minute ago, Hookem2147 said:

We aren't talking enough about how Ketch said Sunday that he expected the Rod Wright hire to be finalized in the next 24-48 hours. He whiffed again.

Not to let Ketch off the hook, but Bobby, who I think is the best at covering Texas all but had Wright in the building too.

I think Houston's DL coach getting fired, and the possibility of Rod getting a promotion, really threw a wrench into things.

[NoName 17164]

6 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

Not to let Ketch off the hook, but Bobby, who I think is the best at covering Texas all but had Wright in the building too.

I think Houston's DL coach getting fired, and the possibility of Rod getting a promotion, really threw a wrench into things.

was Gerry the one who was very clear nothing was on paper/done/locked in? i thought Bobby said that multiple times over the last week

[Bevo 13903]

It looks like Kenny Baker's dad is a well known coach and administrator in Georgia. https://www.bartowsportszone.com/single-post/2018/07/23/kenn-baker-leave-it-better-than-you-found-it-a-coaching-legacy-flourishes

[Vito Andolini 9455]

18 minutes ago, NoName said:

was Gerry the one who was very clear nothing was on paper/done/locked in? i thought Bobby said that multiple times over the last week

You’re right, Bobby was always “wait and see” on Rod Wright. 

[cmontexas 3377]

11 minutes ago, Bevo said:

It looks like Kenny Baker's dad is a well known coach and administrator in Georgia. https://www.bartowsportszone.com/single-post/2018/07/23/kenn-baker-leave-it-better-than-you-found-it-a-coaching-legacy-flourishes

[closetojumping 65480]

I'd like to offer something for everyone to consider regarding this hire.

If the guy is charismatic and not a buffoon, he's going to have a high likelihood of being able to land whoever he wants to land on the DL front. 

Why?

A) Banks and Sarkisian get involved with the high level recruitments. I want to say Choice does as well, in some instances. It's not like they're going to make the poor bastard go it alone.

B) NIL is very likely to be as competitive for Texas on the DL front as it is for any other school or position. 

So, will recruiting be a slam dunk at DL? Probably not. Is it wholly dependent upon the person in role? Absolutely not. Texas will mostly get theirs, though.

There are two other areas that should be drawing everyone's attention. They're also where this guy will be made or broken.

1) In the near term, is the guy a developer of talent? I am not saying he is or he isn't. I don't know enough about the dude on that front. Don't act like you do either. This is the key area where Davis excelled and is an elite position coach.

2) In the longer term, is the guy an excellent evaluator of talent? I don't think we really know if Davis did a great job on this end yet. I think seeing what become of his recruits will remain a work in progress. There are plenty of bad ass DL players in college and the NFL that were low 4 stars and 3 stars. Some of that is development and some of that is evaluation. I assume, if Baker isn't just a total bust, he'll be here for the next 3+ recruiting cycles. Given how few DLs of high quality make it to the portal, and how competitive those recruitments are out of the portal, this aspect of the job is probably the single most important for Baker's success and Texas' playoff future. It's a pretty fucking risky area and I hope he's going to be able to kick ass on that front. 

So, tl;dr, anyone worried about recruiting with the new guy is wasting their anxieties in the wrong spots.

[RockyMountainHighHorn 929]

I did say you can’t judge this hire unless you somehow are plugged into the real coaching talk circles. I’m sure some think they are but no one here knew of “best up and coming DL coaches in the NFL”

at least, SIRI didn’t…

[6th Street 6693]

So he's somewhere between Oscar Giles and Bo Davis. Wide range of outcomes

[Newy25 7927]

1 hour ago, Hornlover said:

I hate to break it to you, but the Assistant Defensive Line Coach coaches the defensive line. What the fuck do you think Rod Wright's title was this year with the Texans?

No, the assistant line coach is not the one responsible for coaching the line. He’s not in charge. It’s like the analyst position. Helping out? Yes. Responsible for scheme and scouting? No. 

[Lone Star Horn 2071]

1 hour ago, closetohumping said:

Ketch’s thoughts don’t neg me bro

 

  Hide contents

5 Things I'm Thinking About The Hire Of Kenny Baker....

 

 

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

1. Black Forest Ham

2. Maple Ham

3. Why did I get crowdsourced by SurlyHorns

4. Smoked Ham

5. Honey Glazed Ham

fifketch

[alphahydro 337]

13 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

I'd like to offer something for everyone to consider regarding this hire.

If the guy is charismatic and not a buffoon, he's going to have a high likelihood of being able to land whoever he wants to land on the DL front. 

Why?

A) Banks and Sarkisian get involved with the high level recruitments. I want to say Choice does as well, in some instances. It's not like they're going to make the poor bastard go it alone.

B) NIL is very likely to be as competitive for Texas on the DL front as it is for any other school or position. 

So, will recruiting be a slam dunk at DL? Probably not. Is it wholly dependent upon the person in role? Absolutely not. Texas will mostly get theirs, though.

There are two other areas that should be drawing everyone's attention. They're also where this guy will be made or broken.

1) In the near term, is the guy a developer of talent? I am not saying he is or he isn't. I don't know enough about the dude on that front. Don't act like you do either. This is the key area where Davis excelled and is an elite position coach.

2) In the longer term, is the guy an excellent evaluator of talent? I don't think we really know if Davis did a great job on this end yet. I think seeing what become of his recruits will remain a work in progress. There are plenty of bad ass DL players in college and the NFL that were low 4 stars and 3 stars. Some of that is development and some of that is evaluation. I assume, if Baker isn't just a total bust, he'll be here for the next 3+ recruiting cycles. Given how few DLs of high quality make it to the portal, and how competitive those recruitments are out of the portal, this aspect of the job is probably the single most important for Baker's success and Texas' playoff future. It's a pretty fucking risky area and I hope he's going to be able to kick ass on that front. 

So, tl;dr, anyone worried about recruiting with the new guy is wasting their anxieties in the wrong spots.

this is really close to where i'm at.  (with the added note that his resume has me at least cautiously optimistic that he can develop talent). 

Spoiler

3 years @ WKU - (DE&DL coach) 

• Conference defensive player of the year (DE) (3rd round NFL draft pick) DeAngelo Malone (3* recruit)
• All conference honorable mention (DT) (3rd round NFL draft pick) Brodric Martin (unrated coming out of high school)

1 Year UT-Chatanooga (DL coach)

• All conference; second team FCS all american; holds conference record # of sacks (DT) Bengals Free Agent -  Devonnsha Maxwell  (unrated coming out of high school[?])
• Second team all conference Khayyan Edwards (unrated coming out of high school)
• Second team all conference Telvin Jones (unrated coming out of high school)

5 years Mercer (DL coach)

• All conference DE Isaiah Buehler (2*)

(obviously he can't take credit for 100% of this development)

a couple other minor points that have crossed my mind. 

1) ppl are saying a lot of stupid shit on this thread because we don't have the information we really need.  imo, to a large degree, we fans should judge position coaches by watching their players play.  You can either teach/get guys to play the position at a high level or you can't.  The proof is in the pudding, imo.  Recruiting aside, imo, you are a good position coach if the players you have all look well coached.  You can turn on the TV or show up to a game and see pretty quickly if a position group is well coached.  Unfortunately, we can't do that here, so we are just saying dumb shit for the most part to kill time/release anxiety.  If we had familiarity with WKU and it was one of those schools where they rotated a lot of DL and every DL player was playing at a really high level, people would prolly feel a little better about the hire.  But we don't have that, so we are saying dumb shit.  If we can get a good fraction of Bo Davis' development from him - and if that's enough to win games, I think that's more important than getting an ace recruiter who sucks at development.  So, unfortunately, i'm chalking this hire up to TBD for now. 

second, one of the things he said in an interview that i thought was interesting is he focused in on being able to coach up different players depending on their skill level and needs.  I know that sounds obvious, but - not defending this hire - made me realize that being really good at that is probably more valuable in the portal era at a school like Texas, where you have to manage the freshmen, the depth guys, and the all conference transfer that you are just getting to know.  in general, coaching at the NFL probably helps here. 

I will add onto what CTJ said - I've been thinking lately that at a school like Texas in the NIL/portal era, we should have a strategic and tactical edge at our coordinator positions, we should have a HC that can roster build and adapt to changes in the game, and we need position coaches that can develop talent at the highest level.  there's no excuse not to have that, with as profitable as the Athletic department is.  if we get that, recruiting shouldn't be a huge problem, because the game has changed with NIL/portal.  knock on wood. 

[trythisathome 981]

1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

We aren't talking enough about how Ketch said Sunday that he expected the Rod Wright hire to be finalized in the next 24-48 hours. He whiffed again.

Nothing to talk about, Ketch is literally wrong 100% of the time. I honestly can't remember the last time he correctly predicted something before it happened.