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2024 Gaskamp Award Nomination & Discussion Thread


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Years ago, Russell Gaskamp was a rarely played participant on the OL at Texas. Dude barely got to sniff the turf from the sidelines until his senior year and by then, most folks didn't expect much of anything from the guy. It was during that senior year that the little known center rose to longhorn legend status, for the Internet dorks, at least, through highly competent play that had a big helping hand in getting Ricky Williams the Heisman Trophy.

Gaskamp has since gone on to an amazing coaching career. I say "amazing" only in the since that I can't believe the guy still has a head coaching gig. He went 1-20 in his first 2 seasons at the esteemed Franklin Pierce University, where abolitionists are still berated and ostricized to this day. He took them to 4-6 last year and they are expected to shout down dissenters and pursue an uneasy and unsettled peace with their rivals to the tune of 5-5 or maybe even 6-4 this season.

So there you have it, a senior came from nowhere, had a big season, and people in Longhorn Netdom celebrate him to this day. His celebration is managed through the honoring of the senior who randomly shows up in a given year, having done little ahead of that season, and kicks all kinds of ass. Or at least does decently enough for us to notice. This honor is called The Gaskamp Award*. There are nominations each season, but there isn't always a winner, unless someone is forced to name someone due to the Bill Miller BBQ sponsorship in which someone must be named and streamed about on their YouTube channel. Many seasons, there are only echoes in the hallways of those who have come before that season's team. 

Guys who have won this award, and others may recall more, but let's eventually get to the fucking point:

-Marcus Wilkins

-Mo Gordon

-Nate Jones

-John Harris

-Fozzy Whitaker

There's nothing super official here. I don't remember the last time I read about a nominee/winner process, but it still gets mentioned and @Red Five reminded me of it in a post earlier. So, fuck it, here's content fodder for people idiotic enough to be loitering on the football board like me. 

Seniors this season who have also played sparingly within position groups (not counting STs). Touted transfers and regular starters defeat the purpose of this discussion:

-Gavin Holmes - dude was relegated to 3rd string after transferring in from Wake Forest and is currently not winning any money for NIL unless he explodes onto the scene early this year.

-Maurice Blackwell - yes, he's been excellent on STs but he's always been a tweener on defense who hasn't played much.

-Juan Davis - outside of some specialty goal line stuff, I don't remember seeing this guy ever play a lick. That said, he's mentioned constantly as something akin to Windex in terms of being able to presumably fix any ailment in regard to the team's depth issues within any random position group. At the moment, people are penciling him into the rotation for productive snaps at both TE and TB. I'm assuming someone is on the verge of claiming that he's about to get reps at SS or Edge as well. 

-Alfred Collins - it's all relative, I guess. Collins was a highly touted 5 star, future sure-fire NFL draftee when he signed with Texas. While he's certainly received snaps during his tenure at Texas, I'd say they haven't been incredibly productive snaps. Ottomans have been more productive in most of our homes over the last 4 years. Encyclopedia collections have shown more resilience over that span for many of us. I've been less disappointed in my insolent children during Collins' time at Texas. I'm not looking for "okay" from this current bust. Anything less than 3rd Team All SEC doesn't qualify this loafer for the award. 

Anyway, open to other thoughts and interested how the votes shakeout. I'd make this an actual poll, but you can't really create content within the post when doing so. So we'll just count out where people stand, I guess.

*I don't remember for sure, but I think @Scipio started this on Go Big 12 or Hornfans. Not sure if he's doing it somewhere these days and I don't think anyone does it here these days but credit where it is due.

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Great callback. This used to be more of a noticeable thing, ten to 20 years ago. In Mack’s teams, once a player had been passed on the depth chart by a younger recruit, he was stuck there. Mack really wasn’t into coaching different paces of development. Gaskamp, and many of his successors, got their senior playing time due to:

-necessity: usually an injury, or recruiting failure, and

-with no transfer portal, lack of other candidates  

Now, we have a transfer portal, but we also have a staff that keeps coaching guys even after they have been passed up. Will be fun to follow. 

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Posted (edited)

Personally, I don't think transfers should be eligible. Maybe a Ryan Watts kind of situation where they came in without much experience. But they should probably have to be here for at least three years. 

Anyways, here are my qualifiers and the kind of season they would need to win. 

- Mo Blackwell. Significant and positive contributor. 

- Juan Davis. Significant and positive contributor. 

- David Gbenda. All-SEC honorable mention. Sure, he played a lot last year, but he's always been an afterthought. If he puts together a really good year and gets drafted in the early-to-middle rounds, that meets the criteria for me. 

- Vernon Broughton. All-SEC honorable mention. See above. 

Collins has spent way too much time in the Longhorn public eye to qualify for me. He's had actual expectations every year since 2021. Gunnar Helm has been too good to qualify. Maybe if he's like an All-American. All the other seniors are returning starters, transfers, or walk-ons. 

Edited by Bodacious Bevo
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I think Mo Blackwell and David Gbenda and maybe even Vernon Broughton have all contributed too much already to really and truly be Gaskamp guys.
It's basically Juan Davis. 

If Juan wins it this year- in the age of the portal- we might have to retire the award because it might not ever be given out again. 

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To this day I  blame the Texas loss on Russell and his wife for scheduling their wedding on Big 12 championship game day....2001.

We watched the carnage at the reception. Really more on Russell since his wife is a bigger UT fan than him.

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Fyi --  2023 Winners per "Scipio Tex"

Screenshot_20240813-121329_kindlephoto-261975.thumb.png.30f7f773c4e486eba998fee7240ba920.png

 

Quote

The most prestigious and coveted award in college football and arguably all of human existence is being conferred upon two deserving 2023 Longhorns. They are 5th year senior defenders Jett Bush and David Gbenda. First, a quick reminder of who the famed prize honors:

Russell Gaskamp was a highly recruited OL prospect from Weatherford, Okla. that came to Texas with great acclaim and then seemingly gathered dust like a College Station library book. In 1998 – then a fifth year senior – he was a struck by a meteorite doused in Gamma rays, won the starting center job, played extremely well, and helped Ricky Williams win the Heisman and revitalize Texas football with a record-breaking rushing performance.

Thereafter the award goes annually to the breakout senior who has spent much of their career forgotten, marginalized, downtrodden, or injured. Sometimes, these are players that spark some degree of derision from the fanbase until their breakout year – when thereafter they are remembered fondly, even wistfully: “I always knew he’d be a player!”

Former winners include late-breaking standouts Brandon Healy, Maurice Gordon, Nate Jones, Henry Melton, Chris Ogbonnaya, Ben Alexander, Eddie Jones, and John Harris. In some years, the Gaskamp has not been awarded to preserve its aura of gritty eliteness.

David Gbenda

Few plays better encompass the never-quit attitude that embodies the Gaskamp.

Since first earning playing time in 2019, the 5-11, 225 pound Gbenda struggled with consistency and had even seen his rotational playing time diminish in 2022 from prior years. Coming into this year, he was seemingly being written off, but Gbenda had other ideas. After a strong spring and summer, Gbenda turned in his best year at Texas with career highs in snaps (381), tackles (49, 4th on the team) and game impact to include 9 QB pressures, 2 sacks, 3 QB hits and a PBU.

Gbenda’s relentless energy, effort and quickness make the 2023 Longhorn defense better. Could Gbenda be the first Gaskamp Winner to return? Possibly. COVID years have gummed up the works, but a 5th year senior is a 5th year senior. But definitionally, a player can only win the Gaskamp once. Beyond the rules structure, awarding any player the Gaskamp twice would be too great a responsibility for any man, a burden comparable to bearing Tolkien’s Ring of Power in LOTR

Jeff Bush

Jett Bush will forever have the Kick Six to cherish in his scrapbook of memories, but the Gaskamp will eclipse it like the sun’s shadow.

Jett Bush’s 2023 wasn’t just characterized by right place, right time heady play but by his consistent dedication to choosing violence. The 5th year senior former walk-on totaled 17 tackles in his 254 snaps, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find another defender who gave up his body more willingly to destroy outside zone and pulling linemen in gap schemes than Bush. He was also a fill-up-the-box-score contributor who finished the year with 14 QB pressures, 2 sacks, 8 hurries, 4 QB hits, 1 interception and a batted ball.

Bush’s raw physicality and effort made the 2023 Longhorn defense better. Please congratulate both of these athletes for winning the most coveted prize in the world.

 

Note: The prestigious award panel consists of an elite group of evaluators, chaired by Paul Wadlington aka "Scipio Tex". 

The voters include Paul Wadlington. The appeals process is headed by Paul Wadlington and all appeals are filed for review in a Walmart trash dumpster.

 

 

 

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