Tom "the turtle" Herman [Lame Duck or greatest 5d chess player ever?]

[ztejas 43264]

4 minutes ago, ATLLonghorn said:

This is what pisses me off the most:

 

No, motherfucker, this isn't about you as a family. This is about you, Tom Herman, being too much of a chicken shit to let your best player go out and get two fucking yards to win a game when you had TWO opportunities to do it. 

They didn't hit enough wiffle balls and play hop scotch for long enough on Friday.

[nnm 36092]

25 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Canning him today would be the best birthday present I could hope for 

Congrats on the anniversary of exiting your mom’s vagina. 

[NoName 16296]

11 hours ago, Horn80 said:

Herman doesn’t seem to grasp that defense wins championships.  Fire his ass.

Year			Defense	Rank
2017				29th
2018				57th
2019				65th
2020				66th

 I mean, here are the DFEI ranks:

• 2017: 7
• 2018: 44
• 2019: 54
• 2020: 30

plenty of reasons to shit on him but let's not use what i assume are total defense numbers when we have access to much better statistics.

there is a reason we don't use batting avg to identify how valuable a player is these days - wOBA is so much better because it gives you the complete picture. that's what things like DFEI give you vs total defense.

 

[ATLLonghorn 841]

5 minutes ago, Liquor and Poker said:

Fleck has bothered me since he first got noticed.  His whole persona has a carefully cultivated MLM/Influencer vibe. Those pics look like the ones that come in picture frames at Target.  

That is totally fair, but let's ignore all of that for a second.

He led to Minnesota to their first 11 win season in a century. He led Western Michigan to their first ten win season in school history. I think it's an easy argument to say those are both more impressive feats than what Herman did at Houston especially because Herman inherited the Houston roster.

So why was PJ Fleck able to do what he did at those two places? Is it because he's an X's and O's guy or because he's a program building guy? 

I'm talking philosophical coaching styles here and not any one specific candidate. The next Texas coach needs to be dynamic in a lot of ways. I think the program builder/CEO type coach provided he puts the right staff in place is what Texas needs. I think Urban Meyer is a fantasy.

 

[BrazilHorn 6576]

Just here to say Fuck Tom Herman. Just fuck him and his arrogant, conceited ass right in the fucking face.

[Bodacious Bevo 3576]

Anybody have this athletic article? 

https://twitter.com/ChrisVannini/status/1315818592802402305?s=20

[Francisco 2.0 32333]

10 hours ago, Coach pop a bitch said:

First wife is better. This guy seems like he makes poor decisions 

 

 

He has a strong "works in the used car department at a Toyota dealership in Plano" vibe going on.

[MIkeHoncho 1895]

4 minutes ago, ATLLonghorn said:

That is totally fair, but let's ignore all of that for a second.

He led to Minnesota to their first 11 win season in a century. He led Western Michigan to their first ten win season in school history. I think it's an easy argument to say those are both more impressive feats than what Herman did at Houston especially because Herman inherited the Houston roster.

So why was PJ Fleck able to do what he did at those two places? Is it because he's an X's and O's guy or because he's a program building guy? 

I'm talking philosophical coaching styles here and not any one specific candidate. The next Texas coach needs to be dynamic in a lot of ways. I think the program builder/CEO type coach provided he puts the right staff in place is what Texas needs. I think Urban Meyer is a fantasy.

 

Agree with this.  Mack Brown never struck me as a great X/O guy either.  He had the charisma to get the talent, "put the b.b.'s in the box" with respect to donors, and get the whole programmed aligned.   Fleck seems like a younger version of MB.  Get Meyer if possible, shit - take a swing for Shanahan if Meyer doesn't work out, but I'd say Fleck is a huge step up from mensa.  

[Treefidy 1463]

4 hours ago, PilotsError said:

I guarantee the first wife stopped fucking or was using her pussy as a weapon. Doesn't matter how hot she is once that starts happening. Second wife gives me Martha from Homeland vibes. Which are vibes I like

More like Martha from The Americans

[victory88 5659]

26 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

Articles like this don't get written unless the coach is a dead man walking. For Burton to write that piece, Tom is gone. Burton doesn't have to worry about burning any bridges because the bridge will not be there in the future. Why it's taking so long for the announcement is bewildering. 

he called him "mensa" in that article, lmao

[ATLLonghorn 841]

3 minutes ago, MIkeHoncho said:

Agree with this.  Mack Brown never struck me as a great X/O guy either.  He had the charisma to get the talent, "put the b.b.'s in the box" with respect to donors, and get the whole programmed aligned.   Fleck seems like a younger version of MB.  Get Meyer if possible, shit - take a swing for Shanahan if Meyer doesn't work out, but I'd say Fleck is a huge step up from mensa.  

I don't think Fleck is the guy for Texas because I don't think he has the mettle for the job. Mack Brown was the perfect man for the Texas job because the Texas job has to have a politician to succeed. The brilliance of Mack Brown is that when the cameras were on he was your best friend and he could charm the pants off anyone (particularly people who can keep the money flowing) but he had an absolutely nasty side towards anyone who slighted him and was masterful at keeping that out of the public eye.

That's not ignoring Mack's faults by any means. I guess I'd like someone with Mack's temperament for the Texas job with Dabo Swinney's ability to build a coaching staff.

[Bill Lumbergh 7170]

Anybody have this athletic article? 
https://twitter.com/ChrisVannini/status/1315818592802402305?s=20

Seen him mentioned a few times, but can someone who knows, convince me his resume isn't similar to Strong and Herman at the time when we hired both?

Up and comers seem I'll prepared for the pressures of Texas. I want someone with P5 experience and success. No more promising up and comers we hope work out.

[nnm 36092]

34 minutes ago, Longboard Horn said:

FOR.THE.FINAL.FUCKING.TIME: PATTERSON IS NOT COMING TO TEXAS, PERIOD! HE WALKS ON WATER AT TCU AND WILL NEVER LEAVE. 

Patterson has had a bad 3-year stretch and the hard core TCU fans are fired up, with the more vocal even calling for him to step down. https://247sports.com/college/tcu/board/101445/Contents/time-to-reevaluate-152768060/?page=1.  They’re convinced he has too much loyalty to his good buddy coaches, and the game has passed him by. And he’s not catering to the first two 5* guys on his roster this year, with rumors already flying that Brooks may be gone.

 

Even with that pressure of what appears to be the third bad season in a row, the people that matter (the big money guys) will let GP write his own ending to his TCU career. He answers to no one on campus, and can run the program however he wants. Only approved information escapes his lockdown on communications, and as pointed out, money will not sway him (he already gets paid in the top quartile, and the big money TCU guys have never let that be a reason he’s tempted). 
 

He’s been approached about every single BTCF opening over the last 20 years, with the possible exception of ‘Bama, and he’s still at little ol’ TCU. He may not have been the leading candidate in all of those discussions, but he or his agent have been approached about them all. Including UT. 
 

So with all of that, he is not coming to Austin. He has no need to put up with all of the noise around running UT football. He gets paid enough. There is no reason he would come.
 

Just stop it with this talk. 

Now return to your regularly scheduled Urban programming. 

[victory88 5659]

No to PJ Fleck.  I'd rather fucking have Matt Campbell who knows how to beat Lincoln Riley and has experience in the Big 12.  

With that said, neither Campbell or Fleck will be able to get this shit fixed.  It has to be Urban.  He's the only one that can come in and go toe toe with LSU, Bama, Clemson, tOSU, ou in the recruiting trail.  He's the only one that will be able to convince ELITE assistant coaches to come here.  Outside of Urban, you need to look at Mullen, Cristobal, and Malzahn.  Both understand how recruiting works and both have run upper level P5 programs for multiple successful seasons.  If neither of them wants to come, then fuck it... go for Herm Edwards.  I thought that guy was going to fucking fail flat on his face and he has ASU recruiting well and winning games.  

[dcar00 14035]

10 hours ago, Tex Pete said:

What has James Franklin ever won?

The Big 10, the Fiesta Bowl, Cotton Bowl, and 3 top 10 finishes.

[Leanderman 2267]

Still so pissed after the last two games, I am afraid If I post something it will enrage someone? Wait a second this is surleyhorns, never mind.

[NoName 16296]

55 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

put yourself in Herman's shoes at those moments and ask yourself, "in what way is our chance of winning preserved by prolonging the game?".

it becomes even more inexplicable. he thought, at some level, for some reason, we would be MORE likely to beat Oklahoma by keeping the game going instead of converting one two-point conversion

I don't give a flying fuck what anyone's carefully curated chart says about anything, the moment to win that game was at the end of regulation-- or, as soon as OU showed it could start scoring on the defense again, at the bottom of the 2nd overtime

right? i understand rolling into OT somewhat. but man, that first OT was the prime position to do it if you weren't the first time.

it was truly the final nail in the coffin for me. grow a pair, you are at Texas and you can either be a legend or a clown - and btw you can easily blame the loss on trying to win vs turtling it up. but not this guy!

[Bill Lumbergh 7170]

Patterson has had a bad 3-year stretch and the hard core TCU fans are fired up, with the more vocal even calling for him to step down. https://247sports.com/college/tcu/board/101445/Contents/time-to-reevaluate-152768060/?page=1.  They’re convinced he has too much loyalty to his good buddy coaches, and the game has passed him by. And he’s not catering to the first two 5* guys on his roster this year, with rumors already flying that Brooks may be gone.  

Even with that pressure of what appears to be the third bad season in a row, the people that matter (the big money guys) will let GP write his own ending to his TCU career. He answers to no one on campus, and can run the program however he wants. Only approved information escapes his lockdown on communications, and as pointed out, money will not sway him (he already gets paid in the top quartile, and the big money TCU guys have never let that be a reason he’s tempted). 

 

He’s been approached about every single BTCF opening over the last 20 years, with the possible exception of ‘Bama, and he’s still at little ol’ TCU. He may not have been the leading candidate in all of those discussions, but he or his agent have been approached about them all. Including UT. 

 

So with all of that, he is not coming to Austin. He has no need to put up with all of the noise around running UT football. He gets paid enough. There is no reason he would come.

 

Just stop it with this talk. 

Now return to your regularly scheduled Urban programming. 

 

You could write a similar list of reasons why Urban isn't coming. I hope it's him, but odds are probably against it. 

If it's not Urban, I'll stand by thinking Patterson is at least a good option. All of the pressure you mention at tcu is as much a reason as any to consider it. If you're under pressure at little old tcu, you might as well look. In how many past searches has cdc been involved in trying to bring him in? Have to think that could have an impact.

 

He's not perfect, but after Meyer the list goes downhill pretty quickly. Cristobal probably isn't leaving Oregon, dabo and saban arent even worth discussing, and I'm not as enamored with malzahn, mullen, and franklin as some. Personally I'd rather have someone who knows Texas and knows our conference, hence my interest in Patterson if the dream candidates don't emerge.

 

 

 

[Js1 85109]

9 minutes ago, ATLLonghorn said:

I don't think Fleck is the guy for Texas because I don't think he has the mettle for the job. Mack Brown was the perfect man for the Texas job because the Texas job has to have a politician to succeed. The brilliance of Mack Brown is that when the cameras were on he was your best friend and he could charm the pants off anyone (particularly people who can keep the money flowing) but he had an absolutely nasty side towards anyone who slighted him and was masterful at keeping that out of the public eye.

That's not ignoring Mack's faults by any means. I guess I'd like someone with Mack's temperament for the Texas job with Dabo Swinney's ability to build a coaching staff.

This is a good post.  It takes a very unique personality to coach at Texas.  Tom utterly fails the part where you have to charm the media, he's such a fucking dick in public. 

[RGBIII 22798]

If it isnt Urban, I think surly as a collective will look similar to this

[Js1 85109]

Just now, RGBIII said:

If it isnt Urban, I think surly as a collective will look similar to this

If it's not Urban, our collective fan base is going to have worse heart problems than Urban ever did. 

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

1 minute ago, NoName said:

right? i understand rolling into OT somewhat. but man, that first OT was the prime position to do it if you weren't the first time.

it was truly the final nail in the coffin for me. grow a pair, you are at Texas and you can either be a legend or a clown - and btw you can easily blame the loss on trying to win vs turtling it up. but not this guy!

I see people saying this but I don't agree that the first overtime was the time to go for the two-point conversion since we had the ball first. At least that's not how I'm thinking of it. I'm thinking of it in walk-off terms. End the game at the end of regulation, or if you don't have the sack for that, the end of the 2nd OT since at that point it seemed obvious that our late-game hold on OU's offense had been broken. 

Anyway. Fuck Tom Herman. Hire Urban. 

[Halohal 498]

If bowl eligible, then which one... (using last year teirs system.

Big 12 ConferenceEdit

2019:^[4]

• #1 College Football Playoff. Champion goes to Sugar Bowl if not selected for playoffs. The Sugar Bowl gets filled by a Big 12 team if champion is in the playoffs
• #2 The Alamo Bowl versus Pac-12 #2.
• #3 The Cheez-It Bowl versus ACC #2.
• #4 The Texas Bowl versus SEC.
• #5 The Liberty Bowl versus SEC.
• #6 The Cactus Bowl versus Pac-12 #7.
• #7 The Servpro First Responder Bowl versus the American Athletic

[NoName 16296]

27 minutes ago, Bodacious Bevo said:

Anybody have this athletic article? 

https://twitter.com/ChrisVannini/status/1315818592802402305?s=20

here it is

 

How Billy Napier found his purpose and became college coaching’s next big thing

 

Spoiler

 

How Billy Napier found his purpose and became college coaching’s next big thing

Chris Vannini Oct 12, 2020 29

Billy Napier sat in the parking lot of South Carolina State’s Oliver C. Dawson Stadium in his beat-up blue Honda Accord. He still drove an early ’90s model, but even in 2006, it did the job.

On a chilly February day, Napier felt comfortable. Coming off his first season as quarterbacks coach, South Carolina State promoted him to offensive coordinator at just 26 years old. He’d taken the job in Orangeburg in part to be closer to his college girlfriend, Ali, but he had a knack for coaching quarterbacks. In his first year, his QB set the school record for completions in a season.

Sitting in his old car, Napier’s phone rang with a call from Brad Scott, Clemson’s offensive line coach. Napier had been a Clemson graduate assistant a few years prior, and Scott told Napier to expect to hear from Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden offering him a job coaching tight ends. He’d be one of the youngest full-time assistant coaches at the FBS level.

“It felt like it was a prank, maybe,” Napier says in his Georgia accent. “’Is this really happening?’”

It was happening, and it didn’t surprise his boss.

“Very soon, I think he’ll probably rise up the ladder,” South Carolina State head coach Buddy Pough told The Times and Democrat at the time. “You’re looking at a rising star.”

Bowden knew it, too. He prioritized getting Napier back on his Clemson staff.

Now, more than a decade later, what Bowden saw then has come to fruition.

“I had the same feeling about Billy as I did Dabo (Swinney),” Bowden says. “They have the intangibles.”

As a first-time head coach in his third season, Napier has taken the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns to unprecedented heights. Last year’s 11-3 record broke the school record for wins. This year’s opening win at Iowa State was UL’s first road win against a ranked team, and the Cajuns are ranked for the first time since 1943.

People close to Napier aren’t surprised. To them, this is where he was always supposed to be. The son of a legendary high school coach became a coaching prodigy himself.

“I saw them play one time last year,” Bowden says. “I called him after and I said, ‘Man, alive. You’re making this thing look easy.’”

But it took getting knocked down, both professionally and through personal loss, to get Napier to this point, at 41 years old, where he’s becoming one of college football’s most sought-after head coaches.

---

Less than three years after Napier rejoined Clemson in 2006, the Tigers promoted Swinney to head coach. Napier became offensive coordinator at just 29 years old, making him the youngest coordinator in the FBS. In his first year in 2009, the offense improved and Clemson went 9-5.

But the Tigers stumbled to 6-7 the following year. Their scoring dropped, and Swinney made a change, firing Napier. It rocked him.

“After the second season, I just, schematically, wanted to go in a different direction and just really needed the spot,” Swinney says. “Billy did an amazing job. We’ve always stayed in touch. We’re still friends to this day.”

Napier can say now that Swinney made the right decision. At the time, he didn’t believe it. For the first time in his football life, he faced a setback,

“I probably didn’t quite understand my purpose,” Napier says. “I was a little arrogant. I was a little bit out of control. I probably was a little bit too aggressive, whatever the case may be. …  But it made me better because I had to regroup. I needed a big piece of humble pie.”

He needed to think about home.

As far back as Napier can remember, he wanted to be a coach. Same with his younger brothers, who are both high school coaches now. Their father, Bill, was a longtime high school coach in rural Chatsworth, Ga., leading Murray County High School for 25 years.

The school bus would drop off the Napier kids at the fieldhouse where Bill coached. In middle school, Billy walked there. Long before Billy played for his father, before he started his own career, he understood the life. The Napier boys loved to watch coaches film of Nebraska option football with their father.

“I lived in the back of a pickup truck,” Billy says. “I lived in the fieldhouse and equipment room and on buses traveling all over the place to camps. I loved it, man. I was eaten up with it. From an early age, I knew I wanted to do what my dad did, be a high school football coach.”

When Murray County lost 21-20 to Carrollton in the Georgia high school playoffs in 1991, an 11-year-old Napier cried his eyes out.

“I felt like I was a part of the team,” he says.

When Napier did start playing, his father wouldn’t let him play flag football. Bill Napier told his son football was meant to be played in shoulder pads and a helmet. So he didn’t fully get started on a team until a year before middle school.

He mostly wanted to become good enough to play for his dad. He did just that, becoming Murray County’s starting quarterback as a junior and a senior.

“My dad was really hard on me,” Napier says. “He was very tough. Maybe I didn’t quite understand that when I was in the middle of it, but I was better because of it.”

 

Billy Napier played for his father at Murray County High School. (Courtesy of Billy Napier)

Napier’s play attracted college interest, and he chose Furman, where his dad took a group of players to their four- or five-day camp each summer. As he did in high school, Napier won the starting quarterback job as a junior, leading the Paladins to the 2001 FCS national championship game. Furman lost 13-6 to Montana. Just like the Murray County playoff loss a decade prior, it still hurts.

“I can remember every play in that game,” he says.

A two-time all-conference player, Napier turned his eye to coaching. He sent 300 letters looking for a graduate assistant job so he could get his master’s degree paid for, but he got no bites. A high school in South Carolina offered him an offensive coordinator job that he prepared to take. But a few days before he planned to head there, a graduate assistant job opened at Clemson. Tigers assistant Rick Stockstill knew Bill Napier and got his son an interview.

It gave Billy Napier his first chance in college ball, just as he’d been rethinking his plan to be a high school coach. In 2000, Murray County reached the state quarterfinals. It was probably Bill Napier’s best team, with several Division I players. But Murray County faced a Shaw team filled with SEC commits, and Shaw won 33-6.

“I’d watched my dad for all those years work hard every year, pour his heart and soul into it, and then just run into a buzzsaw like that where the other team has just got unbelievable talent,” Napier says. “At the same time as that, I was observing the recruiting in college football at Clemson, and I was fascinated with the fact that, in this college deal, you get to outwork people and recruit and evaluate and pick your own team. In high school ball, I just watched my dad over the years: You’ve got what you got.”

Pick your own team. That was a green light for Napier as his college coaching career got underway, and his ability to recruit quickly became evident. Clemson gave him recruiting coordinator duties when he returned in 2006, and he went to work. He played an integral role in signing five-star quarterback Tajh Boyd in 2009.

“He’s a tenacious recruiter,” Bowden says. “He’s like a pit bull. He gets his teeth in one and he don’t let go.”

When Clemson promoted Napier to offensive coordinator, assistant Jeff Scott (Brad’s son) became recruiting coordinator. Scott developed into one of the top recruiting assistants over the next decade at Clemson. Now the head coach at USF, Scott credits those early years with Napier.

“I just remember late nights, long hours of the office, where we just sat up there talking about recruiting and different strategies and different things that we could do,” Scott says.

But Napier’s self-described arrogance came out from time to time.

As a young coach at Clemson, Napier rose so quickly that others had to make sure he didn’t get out over his skis. Bowden remembers Napier trying to call out plays as a position coach in games, offering all kinds of suggestions. Or coming in on a Sunday morning proclaiming that they’d manhandle the next opponent.

“I’d be on vacation in summer and I’d get a call from the AD about Billy not going to his compliance courses,” Bowden says with a laugh. “He’s a very aggressive recruiter. If the speed limit is 70, I’m going to go 79, and a policeman will give you that. If the speed limit’s 25, Billy would go 34. I’d get a call that Billy hadn’t gone to compliance class again, so I’d call him to get to that class.”

His rise came to a screeching halt when Swinney fired him. Everything had gone according to plan, until it didn’t. Napier had to realize there was a lot he didn’t know yet as a college coach. He had to take a step back.

In his early 30s, Napier held a coordinator job at Clemson that would make most coaches envious. Moving forward, he could take a position coach job if he wanted. But he spoke with Nick Saban, and the idea of an off-field coaching job with Alabama intrigued him. One year removed from a national championship in 2009, it was obvious what Saban was building.

By then, Napier and Ali had gotten married. He told her if this was his first job in college football, he would be ecstatic about it. That was the approach. These days, a former head coach or coordinator taking an analyst job for Saban happens every year. At the time, Napier’s move was unique. He went to coaching school.

“I probably learned more in that 2011 season than I’d learned in the 10 prior to that,” Napier says. “It shaped the things we believe in and the processes that we use now.”

Napier followed Jim McElwain to Colorado State in 2012, before returning to Alabama a year later as wide receivers coach. The recruiting pickups continued with five-star players like offensive tackle Cam Robinson and wide receivers Calvin Ridley and Jerry Jeudy. Napier developed several NFL Draft picks at receiver, including Ridley, Kevin Norwood, Amari Cooper and Ardarius Stewart.

“You just always knew Billy was going to be successful,” says Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, the former Alabama defensive coordinator. “No matter what he did, he’s got a lot of energy. He’s not afraid to think outside the box.”

At Alabama, Napier contributed to multiple national championships. He defeated his friends at Clemson in one title game and lost a title to them in another. By 2017, he wanted a bigger role. He wanted to be a coordinator again and to call plays.

He joined Todd Graham at Arizona State, a partnership secured in a Dallas-Fort Worth airport hotel room in the job interview. Graham later said Napier was “pissed” he was passed over for the Alabama offensive coordinator job when Lane Kiffin left, which initially went to Steve Sarkisian.

In Tempe, Napier had an offense of his own again. But something else weighed on him.

---

In 2013, Napier’s first year as an Alabama assistant, doctors diagnosed Bill Napier with ALS, a nervous system disease that affects the brain and has a life expectancy of two to five years after diagnosis.

Billy says now he wasn’t a good coach for the Crimson Tide that year. The invincible man Billy had always looked up to was suddenly vulnerable. Initially, Billy stayed positive, looking for any treatment they could find. His father would compete and win, like he always had. But every attempt to find a fix fell short.

“I struggled throughout that entire year coming to grips with the fact that my dad was getting ready to go through a horrific couple years,” Napier says.

Bill could see it in his son.

“I remember my dad having a tough conversation with me,” Napier says. “He said, ‘Look, we’re not going to complain, we’re going to try to make a difference. We’re going to try to make an impact through this.’”

 

Bill Napier died in 2017 after battling ALS. (Courtesy of Billy Napier)

Bill kept coaching as long as he could, even calling plays from a wheelchair for Dalton High School in Georgia until he couldn’t speak. He began texting Bible verses to more than 400 people every day.

In 2015, the community held a banquet to honor Bill and raise money to offset medical costs. A tribute video included well-wishes from Saban, Swinney, Vince Dooley, Mack Brown, Peyton Manning and others. Bill instead took some of that money to create scholarships for players at high schools where he’d coached.

Bill died on Sept. 26, 2017, at 60 years old. The first line of his obituary noted that Bill “took his place on the coaching staff of Heaven’s team.” A coach to the very end.

His death came on a Tuesday, three days after Arizona State beat Oregon and one week before the Sun Devils had an idle week, when Napier had hoped to go home and see his dad again.

The funeral was on a Friday. Napier flew from Georgia to California to coach in Arizona State’s game against Stanford on Saturday.

“I gave him a big ol’ hug. Heck, I cried more than he did,” says Louisiana offensive coordinator Rob Sale, then an Arizona State assistant. “(Napier) said, ‘Hey, man, it’s OK. He’s in a better place.’”

Later that season, Arizona State debuted a “Ram” formation with seven offensive linemen and a fullback. It was a short-yardage package from the old Nebraska tapes that Napier and his father used to watch.

A few months later, Napier landed his first head coaching job at Louisiana, and he brought Sale with him, along with lessons from his father. Bill Napier was always teaching, always coaching. Through his battle with ALS, he delivered his greatest lesson to his son.

“I always say now that football is a game about people, strategy and competition, and you’ve always got to keep people at the top of that list,” Napier says. “I think when I was young, I would get consumed with the strategy or the competition, and that people part would slip to second or third on that list.

“The big thing for me going forward was, I had a clear purpose. I had an understanding of why I was coaching.”

---

Bryan Maggard expected his phone call with Billy Napier to last for 15-20 minutes. In December 2017, his first year as Louisiana’s athletic director, Maggard attended the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame event in New York City. He needed a head coach, and Napier expressed interest.

Maggard sat at a lobby bar, expecting a quick introduction over the phone. They talked for more than an hour. Maggard didn’t know much about Napier. Now he saw the ideal candidate.

“I was hoping to find a process coach,” Maggard says. “Certainly coming from Alabama, you know he had that. He was just so easy to talk to. I’m sitting there thinking, ‘OK, as a recruit or a parent, this guy would be really, really easy to listen to and visit with and trust your son with.’ … He was somebody who had a plan. We didn’t get into great detail in that first phone call about the running of a program, but there was enough dialogue there that you could tell that this guy, he’s got a plan, he would have a process. And you could just tell by communicating with him, he’s gonna be very genuine as a relationship-builder.”

Hiring Napier brought him back to a familiar state.

He recruited Louisiana for Alabama, and he admits he sometimes didn’t wear his Alabama apparel in public in LSU territory on those recruiting trips. No need to draw too much attention, right? Always thinking about every detail in recruiting.

“When you’re going into enemy territory and competing against the hometown team, that requires a lot of different approaches,” he says.

No longer in enemy territory, Napier inherited a Louisiana program that had reached one bowl in the previous three years. Maggard expected Napier to build Louisiana back into a winner, but he didn’t expect it so quickly. The Ragin’ Cajuns went 7-7 but won the Sun Belt West division in 2018. The breakthrough came next with a school-record 11 wins in 2019. Napier has continued his recruiting success, signing the No. 1 class in the Sun Belt in each of the past two years.

“He’s done a phenomenal job with the program there,” Saban says. “It’s no surprise to me.”

Napier still coaches the quarterbacks, even as the head coach, leading the meetings and working directly with that position. It’s paid off. In 2019, junior Levi Lewis threw for more than 3,000 yards in his first season as the starter, with 26 touchdowns and only four interceptions. Lewis tries to play by a saying Napier always tells him.

“Take what they give you, and eventually they’ll give you the game,” Lewis says.

 

Napier and QB Levi Lewis have Louisiana ranked for the first time in 77 years. (Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)

The Cajuns have won 14 of their past 17 games under Napier. Their 3-0 record this year includes a win at nationally ranked Iowa State, a 14-point comeback overtime win at Georgia State and a last-second field goal win against Georgia Southern.

When Louisiana upset Iowa State, Napier told the ESPN broadcast, “I hope my man D.J.’s up there smiling.”

It was a reminder that this success hasn’t been nothing but highs. It was a reminder of the pain the Cajuns have carried.

On Aug. 1, assistant offensive line coach D.J. Looney suffered a heart attack at practice and died. The news rocked the coaching profession. The gregarious Looney was beloved by everyone. Napier says he was integral to the fabric of the organization, a part of the group since Napier’s first staff at UL. On top of the nation’s battle with the COVID-19 pandemic and the struggle for social justice, the Cajuns’ hearts hurt for the loss of a coach.

The team put up a banner in the indoor facility where the incident happened. It reads “5 = 1,” one of the Looney-isms for five offensive linemen as one unit. At a memorial for Looney, his mother told the players to get up off the ground and dust themselves off, something she always told her son. The team plans to honor him when it travels to his hometown of Birmingham to play UAB on Oct. 23.

Just like when his father died, football and coaching became a therapeutic outlet for Napier.

“We benefited from transitioning right into training camp because we were around each other, we were able to have conversations,” Napier says. “When we were having tough days, we had people to lean on.”

It’s often pointed out that Napier coached under both Saban and Swinney, two of the greatest college football coaches of the era. He was once the youngest coordinator in FBS. The subsequent success all looks preordained on a résumé. But it was anything but that.

“He takes a lot from the Alabama blueprint, but he doesn’t try to be Nick Saban,” Sale says. “He tries to be Billy Napier.”

There are lessons from Saban and Swinney. But also from Tommy Bowden. From Jim McElwain. From D.J. Looney. From Bill Napier.

The days of riding in the pickup truck to the fieldhouse won’t ever leave Napier. Neither will the days of watching old Nebraska tape. He’ll always be a coach’s kid. He’ll garner interest for Power 5 jobs in the not-too-distant future, as he did in the last cycle from places like Mississippi State, but he’s learned over the years to focus on where his feet are and where they’ve been. He knows how quickly things can change.

Napier likes to say he can’t believe he gets paid to do this job. Being a football coach is all he’s ever wanted to do. That path started early, but it took getting knocked down to shape who he became. It took getting fired at Clemson to humble him. His father’s illness changed his approach to relationships and taught him to adjust to unexpected hurdles.

That’s the job of a coach, after all.

“Dad’s teams, he always got a little more out of them than he was supposed to,” Napier says. “Take what you’ve got and get a lot out of it.”

 

 

[Jack Wilson 313]

7 hours ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

you people are morans.

You're familiar with the old pot-and-kettle metaphor, I assume?

[South Austin 52144]

8 minutes ago, RGBIII said:

If it isnt Urban, I think surly as a collective will look similar to this

Somebody photoshop that to substitute a burnt orange jacket and a plate of BBQ.

[ConferenceRoom 6130]

5 minutes ago, Jack Wilson said:

You're familiar with the old pot-and-kettle metaphor, I assume?

[B00M 6280]

1 hour ago, NoName said:

I legit can't believe he didn't go for 2 either at the end of the game or in the first OT

He over estimated his team like he always does, thinking the longer the game went, the more it would come down to QB play and depth, presumably both favoring Texas...

[ATLLonghorn 841]

8 minutes ago, Halohal said:

If bowl eligible, then which one...

We're already Bowl eligible since there won't be win requirements this year!

[Bill Lumbergh 7170]

He over estimated his team like he always does, thinking the longer the game went, the more it would come down to QB play and depth, presumably both favoring Texas...

I wanted us to go for two, but I also thought there was a higher probability of Rattler turning it over in some disastrous way than Sam.

[LTtxfan 48970]

12 hours ago, ztejas said:

Lol. TCU has been worse than we have the past 3 years. 

Found this info from Pat Forde interesting...

STAT OF THE WEEK

The game that started the grumbling among Longhorns fans was the upset loss to TCU on Oct. 3. But that game was a pyrrhic victory for the Horned Frogs, because it led to their customary Texas hangover (36). The good news for TCU fans is that their team has beaten Texas six of the last seven seasons. The bad news for TCU fans is that they have then turned around and lost four of the last five games that followed beating Texas, while failing to cover the spread the last six games that followed a victory over the Longhorns. The list:

• In 2015, TCU pounded Texas 50–7, then beat Kansas State 52–45 as a 9 1/2-point favorite.
• In 2016, TCU upset Texas 31–9, then lost to K-State 30–6 as a 3 1/2-point favorite.
• In 2017, TCU beat Texas 24–7, then lost to Oklahoma 38–20 as a 6 1/2-point underdog.
• In 2018, after losing to Texas 31–16, TCU beat Iowa State 17–14 but failed to cover the 10 1/2-point spread.
• In 2019, after beating Texas 37–27, TCU lost to Oklahoma State 34–27 as a three-point underdog.
• And this year, after beating Texas 33–31, TCU again lost to Kansas State—which was breaking in backup quarterback Will Howard (37) after a season-ending injury to starter Skyler Thompson—this time 21–14 as a nine-point favorite.

 

(Fatterson knows how to get his team ready for TEXAS, but then has a record of FAILURE the following week.)

[Halohal 498]

Has to be .500 or better

 

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ncaa-committee-recommends-waiving-bowl-eligibility-requirements-for-2020-college-football-season/

[Wally Pryor 5244]

1 hour ago, LTtxfan said:

BOBBY BURTON  (Horns247)

TUESDAY

 

 

"A picture is worth a thousand words. Sam Ehlinger standing alone among a smattering of coaches and support personnel while the school’s Alma Mater is played at the Cotton Bowl was the final straw.

In my correspondence with sources from within the Board of Regents all the way to megadonors who write large checks to complete capital projects currently underway, it is the appearance of sheer dysfunction and disrespect as much as it is the poor play on the field that could very well cost Tom Herman his job. Those in power do not expect players to sing the song, or even raise the Hook’em sign to it. Perhaps teammates could link arms while it plays.

But a modicum of respect, like staying on the field after the game to respect the student body who just cheered for them, is expected. "

 

I'll really go out on a limb and say that you'll see a much different post-game reaction by the team whenever we play next.   

 

[ChiTownDoc 21101]

12 minutes ago, Bill Lumbergh said:

18 minutes ago, B00M said:

He over estimated his team like he always does, thinking the longer the game went, the more it would come down to QB play and depth, presumably both favoring Texas...

I wanted us to go for two, but I also thought there was a higher probability of Rattler turning it over in some disastrous way than Sam.

If Riley didn’t have the balls to bench the shithead early that would have happened.  It’s the exact move Tom is too big a pussy to make.  Also every OU fan I know laughed at not going for 2 at the end of regulation.  There was no stopping that conversion.  Zero chance.  

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

12 minutes ago, Bill Lumbergh said:

17 minutes ago, B00M said:

He over estimated his team like he always does, thinking the longer the game went, the more it would come down to QB play and depth, presumably both favoring Texas...

I wanted us to go for two, but I also thought there was a higher probability of Rattler turning it over in some disastrous way than Sam.

which explains why you'd go to overtime, but not why you'd choose to extend overtime after OU stuck in up your defense's ass twice in a row

I don't agree with this, but I can at least see the perspective of "we have these bitches on the ropes!" at the end of regulation and thus thinking "so let's finish them off in overtime", expecting them to go three-and-out and your offense to score on its first possession. But after the game had clearly turned again in OT and OU scored TDs on both possessions, how could you NOT think "let's get the fuck out of here with the win right now"...? How could you possible think "nah, let's play another OT where we'll both HAVE to go for two" and think that the optimal way forward?

"you" meaning Herman, not "you" meaning Bill Lumbergh or B00M

[BurntOrange&White 39655]

3 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

If Riley didn’t have the balls to bench the shithead early that would have happened.  It’s the exact move Tom is too big a pussy to make.  Also every OU fan I know laughed at not going for 2 at the end of regulation.  There was no stopping that conversion.  Zero chance.  

Rattler played pretty damn good in the second half. 

[Nueces River Rat 5529]

5 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

 

"A picture is worth a thousand words. Sam Ehlinger standing alone among a smattering of coaches and support personnel while the school’s Alma Mater is played at the Cotton Bowl was the final straw.

In my correspondence with sources from within the Board of Regents all the way to megadonors who write large checks to complete capital projects currently underway, it is the appearance of sheer dysfunction and disrespect as much as it is the poor play on the field that could very well cost Tom Herman his job. Those in power do not expect players to sing the song, or even raise the Hook’em sign to it. Perhaps teammates could link arms while it plays.

But a modicum of respect, like staying on the field after the game to respect the student body who just cheered for them, is expected. "

 

I'll really go out on a limb and say that you'll see a much different post-game reaction by the team whenever we play next.   

 

We better or Tom is going to be even more on the hot seat, especially if we lose.     The reaction at DKR will not be pretty if it's the same dog and pony show from last week on display.  

 

[ztejas 43264]

1 minute ago, Nueces River Rat said:

We better or Tom is going to be even more on the hot seat, especially if we lose.     The reaction at DKR will not be pretty if it's the same dog and pony show from last week on display.  

 

Can't remember the last time we got booed in the Cotton Bowl. Even in 2016 there were no boos (that I can recall). And that was when I became completely convinced Charlie wasn't the guy.

[Bill Lumbergh 7170]

It's kind of baffling the relative silence from our 9.95 crew. The last couple of times we were in a situation with an obvious change on the horizon, they couldn't stop posting "updates." Not sure what to make of radio silence, as it's not like fabrication is off limits here in the absence of actual news.

[927 E. 41st 1124]

43 minutes ago, Halohal said:

If bowl eligible, then which one... 

The I ain't gonna buy tickets and gas up the airplane to go it see it bowl!

If we don't get into that one then we drop down to the I'm not gonna bother to watch it on TV bowl (we get into that one if Herman is still the coach)

[ztejas 43264]

20 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

If Riley didn’t have the balls to bench the shithead early that would have happened.  It’s the exact move Tom is too big a pussy to make.  Also every OU fan I know laughed at not going for 2 at the end of regulation.  There was no stopping that conversion.  Zero chance.  

The Family Friday Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Binder doesn't beleive in going for 2 to win the game. It's too mean to the other team that has worked really, really hard all game. 

[Wally Pryor 5244]

13 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

We better or Tom is going to be even more on the hot seat.

 

It will be a different scene, post-game.   Not even a question.

Given that we're probably not going to have a Baylor game, we'll have a 3-week bye to figure it out. 

[UncleBuck 6445]

Okay, someone. Hook us up:

 

 

[Burt Macklin 18998]

55 minutes ago, Bill Lumbergh said:

You could write a similar list of reasons why Urban isn't coming. I hope it's him, but odds are probably against it. 

If it's not Urban, I'll stand by thinking Patterson is at least a good option. All of the pressure you mention at tcu is as much a reason as any to consider it. If you're under pressure at little old tcu, you might as well look. In how many past searches has cdc been involved in trying to bring him in? Have to think that could have an impact.

 

He's not perfect, but after Meyer the list goes downhill pretty quickly. Cristobal probably isn't leaving Oregon, dabo and saban arent even worth discussing, and I'm not as enamored with malzahn, mullen, and franklin as some. Personally I'd rather have someone who knows Texas and knows our conference, hence my interest in Patterson if the dream candidates don't emerge.

 

 

 

Patterson is not a good option at all. People who think this are crazy. 
 

He’s only had one winning record during the regular season in the last 4 years, and he’s staring at another losing record this year. That will be 4 out of 5 years at .500 or below. Why in the fuck would you want to hire that guy? Beating Texas in that timespan is meaningless. He’s not good.

[BrazilHorn 6576]

29 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

 

"A picture is worth a thousand words. Sam Ehlinger standing alone among a smattering of coaches and support personnel while the school’s Alma Mater is played at the Cotton Bowl was the final straw.

In my correspondence with sources from within the Board of Regents all the way to megadonors who write large checks to complete capital projects currently underway, it is the appearance of sheer dysfunction and disrespect as much as it is the poor play on the field that could very well cost Tom Herman his job. Those in power do not expect players to sing the song, or even raise the Hook’em sign to it. Perhaps teammates could link arms while it plays.

But a modicum of respect, like staying on the field after the game to respect the student body who just cheered for them, is expected. "

 

I'll really go out on a limb and say that you'll see a much different post-game reaction by the team whenever we play next.   

 

too fucking little, too late. I don't care about playing the EOT at all post game, but at least stand out there and thank the fans/acknowledge their support. Especially any fans that still come out now. Weather is getting nice and based on how shitty this team is there are a million other things to do in Austin before you need to watch this shit show any longer.

 

[LTtxfan 48970]

2 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Patterson is not a good option at all. People who think this are crazy. 
He’s only had one winning record during the regular season in the last 4 years, and he’s staring at another losing record this year. That will be 4 out of 5 years at .500 or below. Why in the fuck would you want to hire that guy? Beating Texas in that timespan is meaningless. He’s not good.

Thank You... 🤘

[Poe It Up 126]

4 minutes ago, UncleBuck said:

Okay, someone. Hook us up:

 

 

 

Decisions in the coming months? I haven't even read the article and I already fucking hate it. 

[927 E. 41st 1124]

If Tom were fired today (I get endorphins just writing that). Which Tom would we see? the Tom that is trying to position for his next gig? Or the immature double bird at the camera, spring bullets on the way out the door Tom? I mean, I'm good with either one of those scenarios.

[Nivek 16859]

12 minutes ago, Bill Lumbergh said:

It's kind of baffling the relative silence from our 9.95 crew. The last couple of times we were in a situation with an obvious change on the horizon, they couldn't stop posting "updates." Not sure what to make of radio silence, as it's not like fabrication is off limits here in the absence of actual news.

dude, I already posted that things are happening in a big way and will impact the program positively.  I can't get into details without my source being doxxed but if you pay me $9.95, they can get fucked.   This is super serious, big, big, big, news that will blow you eyes out of the back of your skull.  I have some recruiting tips too that I read somewhere else and want to repackage for you.  Basically a  couple of big named recruits are interested in Texas , and they could make an immediate impact to the depth chart.    On the other side, news is coming out that some recruits are cooling off and being tempted by other schools with more recent success.    

 

How is my bullshit?  too much?

[Viper 12028]

11 minutes ago, UncleBuck said:

Okay, someone. Hook us up:

 

 

 

 

tldr;

Herman is gone the next loss and it may be Urban, if not then it will be a cluster fuck with boosters trying to push their weight around.

Edited October 13, 2020 by Viper