Deja Vu: Seems Like The End of the SWC Years Again

[MaybeACoordinator 8,350]

Up until I was 13 the SWC was still an elite conference. Arkansas was tough. SMU had the Pony Express and some badasses on their D. A&M was their usual pesky selves. Some of Yeoman's UH squads were pretty fucking awesome, and we were competing for NCs pretty much yearly under Akers.

And then it all fell apart. I am convinced there was a conspiracy on the part of the NCAA and the TV networks to kill the SWC but that's another thread. What this one is about is how the SWC looked as an irrelevant conference.

And it boiled down to recruiting. Year after year after year, the truly elite Texas HS players left the state. Back then it was to places like Notre Dame (Tim Brown), Colorado (Koy Detmer, Alfred Williams and a bunch of other badasses on D), OSU (Thurman Thomas), Iowa (Hayden Fry was always raiding Texas), the LA schools in the Pac 10 always got a few, along with the usual suspects like LSU, Arkansas and OU, even though it was a down period for all of them. Year after year after year it seemed like most of the five-stars and too many of the four-stars bolted out of state. Watching NYD bowl games would always piss me off, because Texas was almost never in them, but a hell of a lot of Texas HS players were. 

And it seems like we are back there again, even if the outside talent poachers are now Bama and tOSU and even Stanford. Same scenario, different schools, same result for Texas. Mediocrity. 

[Surly Bevo 25,539]

Come on you putz....you know you want to make your closing argument that Jeff Traylor and all his East Texas HS coaching experience and maybe recruiting prowess would change this whole situation.  Don't let us down now.  

[MaybeACoordinator 8,350]

5 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

Come on you putz....you know you want to make your closing argument that Jeff Traylor and all his East Texas HS coaching experience and maybe recruiting prowess would change this whole situation.  Don't let us down now.  

I've yet to see a better option put forward. People on these boards are seriously envying aggy and Jimbo right now. Others are holding on to the delusion that we will be able to money-whip and airlift Gary Patterson out of FW, while still others are saying he is too fat to represent our university. 

What the fuck is wrong with you people? Why is hiring a HS coaching legend from the very heart of our state's most fertile recruiting ground such a regarded idea? Again, Traylor is just as experienced at the college level as Briles was when UH gave him the keys, and there is no indication that Traylor is a scumbag like him. And it's a fact that coming from Gilmer instead of out of Stephenville would bring in better recruits. 

Again, I think it's akin to some people's objection to Patterson. Y'all don't want a redneck coach and y'all don't want a fat coach. You want some Axe Body Spray douche with a fake ice grill and a hot wife. So be it. I'd prefer wins. 

[Bullneck 19,320]

17 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Up until I was 13 the SWC was still an elite conference. Arkansas was tough. SMU had the Pony Express and some badasses on their D. A&M was their usual pesky selves. Some of Yeoman's UH squads were pretty fucking awesome, and we were competing for NCs pretty much yearly under Akers.

And then it all fell apart. I am convinced there was a conspiracy on the part of the NCAA and the TV networks to kill the SWC but that's another thread. What this one is about is how the SWC looked as an irrelevant conference.

And it boiled down to recruiting. Year after year after year, the truly elite Texas HS players left the state. Back then it was to places like Notre Dame (Tim Brown), Colorado (Koy Detmer, Alfred Williams and a bunch of other badasses on D), OSU (Thurman Thomas), Iowa (Hayden Fry was always raiding Texas), the LA schools in the Pac 10 always got a few, along with the usual suspects like LSU, Arkansas and OU, even though it was a down period for all of them. Year after year after year it seemed like most of the five-stars and too many of the four-stars bolted out of state. Watching NYD bowl games would always piss me off, because Texas was almost never in them, but a hell of a lot of Texas HS players were. 

And it seems like we are back there again, even if the outside talent poachers are now Bama and tOSU and even Stanford. Same scenario, different schools, same result for Texas. Mediocrity. 

Don't forget Miami.

But it was geography that killed the SWC.  It was from a time when teams took trains to play away games.  The SWC covered a lot of earth with too few TV sets.

And cheating.  The cheating didn't help.

Edited September 3, 2018 by Bullneck

[Surly Bevo 25,539]

I knew you wouldn't let us down you hack.  And by the way the fact that some people argue against Patterson because he's fat (stupidly by the way I would take Gary in a heart beat but as long as he is coaching TCU have no problem making fun of him being fat and sweaty) does not mean your idea about Traylor is any less retarded.  False equivalency doesn't mean your solution is a good one you moron.  

Here is some research for you.  Come back and tell us all the guys with Jeff Traylor's level of experience at the POINT they were hired to steer the ship of a historically Top 25 college football program have ever gone on to be successful in said role in the modern era.  And when you see how it doesn't happen or has happened so rarely that it's like a 1 in 100 shot that it works out you should staple your hands to your face.  

[David Dennison 19,131]

Why is this only affecting Texas? Oklahoma doesn't seem to have this problem. Nor does TCU, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, or even West Virginia.

Our recruiting classes are every bit as good or better than theirs.

What they have is superior coaching.

So far we are definitely 0 for 1 since firing Mack Brown. It's looking very likely that we're going to go 0 for 2. That's at least six years of suck.

[MaybeACoordinator 8,350]

Just now, Surly Bevo said:

I knew you wouldn't let us down you hack.  And by the way the fact that some people argue against Patterson because he's fat (stupidly by the way I would take Gary in a heart beat but as long as he is coaching TCU have no problem making fun of him being fat and sweaty) does not mean your idea about Traylor is any less retarded.  False equivalency doesn't mean your solution is a good one you moron.  

Here is some research for you.  Come back and tell us all the guys with Jeff Traylor's level of experience at the POINT they were hired to steer the ship of a historically Top 25 college football program have ever gone on to be successful in said role in the modern era.  And when you see how it doesn't happen or has happened so rarely that it's like a 1 in 100 shot that it works out you should staple your hands to your face.  

Art Briles (I was so dreading aggy taking him when they hired Sherman. I guess that worked out for us in the long run, but it seemed like a good idea on paper at the time). Gus Malzahn. 

There is nothing magical about years and years of college experience that makes it better than establishing and running an elite HS program in one of the football-craziest regions on the planet, and that is what Traylor pulled off. And he is still regarded in awe up there in the Piney Woods, where the recruits are. 

[Surly Bevo 25,539]

Just now, MaybeACoordinator said:

Art Briles (I was so dreading aggy taking him when they hired Sherman. I guess that worked out for us in the long run, but it seemed like a good idea on paper at the time). Gus Malzahn. 

There is nothing magical about years and years of college experience that makes it better than establishing and running an elite HS program in one of the football-craziest regions on the planet, and that is what Traylor pulled off. And he is still regarded in awe up there in the Piney Woods, where the recruits are. 

Baylor not a historical top 25 program and Briles brought 4 years of HC experience from Houston.  And you are hanging your hat on Briles and Baylor.  

Malzahn coached at Arkansas State before going to Auburn, only a year and so there is MAYBE your one MAYBE sort of close example.

Here is your stapler.....

[Fondren & Main 6,765]

6 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Art Briles (I was so dreading aggy taking him when they hired Sherman. I guess that worked out for us in the long run, but it seemed like a good idea on paper at the time). Gus Malzahn. 

There is nothing magical about years and years of college experience that makes it better than establishing and running an elite HS program in one of the football-craziest regions on the planet, and that is what Traylor pulled off. And he is still regarded in awe up there in the Piney Woods, where the recruits are. 

How’d Todd Dodge do?

[bschoolprof 6,280]

Goddammit - stop engaging sweet jones on Traylor.  He's certifiable, like your neighbor that always talks about the green party or your crazy aunt that's obsessed with chemtrails. 

At first I thought he was a troll, but now I actually think he's a real live person that  (shudders) drives and stuff.  

[Surly Bevo 25,539]

2 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

Goddammit - stop engaging sweet jones on Traylor.  He's certifiable, like your neighbor that always talks about the green party or your crazy aunt that's obsessed with chemtrails. 

At first I thought he was a troll, but now I actually think he's a real live person that  (shudders) drives and stuff.  

Worse. He's probably a current or former HS coach.  You know.....the one who's asses our coaching staff apparently have to kiss.  

[MaybeACoordinator 8,350]

Eh, still the only somewhat valid criticism I've seen from any of y'all is "Todd Dodge failed at UNT, therefore all Texas HS coaches are doomed to failure."

(I think half of Dodge's legend was built on Brent Duhon -- dude wasn't elite, but he could ball.)

[DaggerHorns 3,109]

29 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Why is this only affecting Texas? Oklahoma doesn't seem to have this problem. Nor does TCU, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, or even West Virginia.

Our recruiting classes are every bit as good or better than theirs.

What they have is superior coaching.

So far we are definitely 0 for 1 since firing Mack Brown. It's looking very likely that we're going to go 0 for 2. That's at least six years of suck.

This.

Its ridiculous that some of you think this is a recruiting problem.

[MaybeACoordinator 8,350]

8 minutes ago, DaggerHorns said:

This.

Its ridiculous that some of you think this is a recruiting problem.

Why? JK Dobbins would be a nice addition to our backfield now. He's from LaGrange and related to a Longhorn legend and two dudes on the roster, and yet he chose tOSU. 

Edited September 3, 2018 by MaybeACoordinator

[dingleberryswitzer 2,724]

5 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Why? JK Dobbins would be a nice addition to our backfield now. He's from LaGrange and related to a Longhorn legend and two dudes on the roster, and yet he chose tOSU. 

Maybe because he didn't want to get 2 carries for 20 yards then be benched hypothetically of course.

[RDCanecutter 26,561]

3 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

And it boiled down to recruiting....

And it seems like we are back there again, even if the outside talent poachers are now Bama and tOSU and even Stanford. Same scenario, different schools, same result for Texas. Mediocrity. 

Corch Maybe, I hear Texans lament about Texas players going elsewhere. I get the frustration, but the problem is, that line of thinking comes from living in a defensive crouch. It's how Mississippians think. Let's push it to the absurd-- suppose every Texas HS player decides to play somewhere else in the country?

It don't make a damn. Go steal every other state's best players.

It works both ways. Hell, just have recruiting teams comb Georgia and Florida, they combine to a Texas population in less space, and a higher percentage of the people, uh, resemble the athletes currently most successful at both passing and running games. Give O-Line slots to the first Slavic monstrosities who can walk from the shores of the Great Lakes to Austin, carrying a 300-pound rock. Find some blue-haired non-binary introvert who never watched football but who gets bored and throws car tires over the barn in New Hampshire, and make xe the LGBTQB.

What I'm sayin, Corch, if the child-molesting Pope-Domes or the Angry Dwarf of Bamaheim can recruit the whole country, like, what the hell, duuude.

[kopp0e 1,135]

9 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Corch Maybe, I hear Texans lament about Texas players going elsewhere. I get the frustration, but the problem is, that line of thinking comes from living in a defensive crouch. It's how Mississippians think. Let's push it to the absurd-- suppose every Texas HS player decides to play somewhere else in the country?

It don't make a damn. Go steal every other state's best players.

It works both ways. Hell, just have recruiting teams comb Georgia and Florida, they combine to a Texas population in less space, and a higher percentage of the people, uh, resemble the athletes currently most successful at both passing and running games. Give O-Line slots to the first Slavic monstrosities who can walk from the shores of the Great Lakes to Austin, carrying a 300-pound rock. Find some blue-haired non-binary introvert who never watched football but who gets bored and throws car tires over the barn in New Hampshire, and make xe the LGBTQB.

What I'm sayin, Corch, if the child-molesting Pope-Domes or the Angry Dwarf of Bamaheim can recruit the whole country, like, what the hell, duuude.

Sometimes the best defensive strategy, is to in fact, be aggressively offensive... 

[suddenly shaggy 929]

14 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

I've yet to see a better option put forward. People on these boards are seriously envying aggy and Jimbo right now. Others are holding on to the delusion that we will be able to money-whip and airlift Gary Patterson out of FW, while still others are saying he is too fat to represent our university. 

What the fuck is wrong with you people? Why is hiring a HS coaching legend from the very heart of our state's most fertile recruiting ground such a regarded idea? Again, Traylor is just as experienced at the college level as Briles was when UH gave him the keys, and there is no indication that Traylor is a scumbag like him. And it's a fact that coming from Gilmer instead of out of Stephenville would bring in better recruits. 

Again, I think it's akin to some people's objection to Patterson. Y'all don't want a redneck coach and y'all don't want a fat coach. You want some Axe Body Spray douche with a fake ice grill and a hot wife. So be it. I'd prefer wins. 

There is a fat, bald man inside of Tom Herman and it's only about 2 extra cheeseburgers and a few missed Rogaine doses away. 

[Miskatonic ‘01 2]

18 hours ago, Surly Bevo said:

Worse. He's probably a current or former HS coach.  You know.....the one who's asses our coaching staff apparently have to kiss.  

Clearly it’s Jeff Traylor .

[Watashi 7]

Ask Notre Dame how that high school-to-big time college football transition worked out for them in 1981 with Jerry Faust.  

[MaybeACoordinator 8,350]

17 minutes ago, Watashi said:

Ask Notre Dame how that high school-to-big time college football transition worked out for them in 1981 with Jerry Faust.  

Faust had zero college experience. (I knew this would come up.)

[F250 28,959]

22 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Eh, still the only somewhat valid criticism I've seen from any of y'all is "Todd Dodge failed at UNT, therefore all Texas HS coaches are doomed to failure."

(I think half of Dodge's legend was built on Brent Duhon -- dude wasn't elite, but he could ball.)

Mike Jinks, former head coach at Steele H.S, has been struggling over at Bowling Green. Jinks had a successful career at Steele then did a brief stint at TTU before jumping into the role of a college head coach.

[kopp0e 1,135]

9 hours ago, suddenly shaggy said:

There is a fat, bald man inside of Tom Herman and it's only about 2 extra cheeseburgers and a few missed Rogaine doses away. 

What I wonder, if Jimbo is actually a success at A&M, while Herman continues UT at the current trajectory, and Kansas waits for basketball practice, what happens in 2025..?

With schools like the Jayhawks & Red Raiders programs actually regressing since 2010, & Kansas State relying on a senior citizen, that's more of a burden on both Oklahoma & Texas in respectability...

[Watashi 7]

1 hour ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Faust had zero college experience. (I knew this would come up.)

My comprehension level is pegged at 0 today.  I thought you were advocating yanking someone from the high school ranks.  You aren't.  

[MaybeACoordinator 8,350]

3 minutes ago, Watashi said:

My comprehension level is pegged at 0 today.  I thought you were advocating yanking someone from the high school ranks.  You aren't.  

Traylor now has three or four years' collegiate experience. 

[F250 28,959]

Hiring a former unproven G5 head coach was a mistake. Hiring a college position coach whose only head coaching experience is at the high school level would be fucking insanely stupid. As was mentioned above, Bowling Green is unsuccessfully trying this experiment. It's a bad idea for even a small G5 program to try this, why would anyone think it's a good idea for Texas to try it?

 

[WhatTheBuck 28,842]

On September 3, 2018 at 10:27 AM, David Dennison said:

Why is this only affecting Texas? Oklahoma doesn't seem to have this problem. Nor does TCU, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, or even West Virginia.

Our recruiting classes are every bit as good or better than theirs.

Based on what? Rankings by the recruiting services? It's a real phenomenon that a player rated at 2 stars when recruited by Maryland might get rated at 4 stars if recruited by Texas. It seemed like Mack's classes were always highly rated. The story I always heard was that he had the pick of all the top talent in Texas. Then after his last season there wasn't a single Longhorn selected in the NFL draft.

There haven't been many offensive players drafted since then and none in the first round. Is it a lack of development or is it poor talent evaluation? The recruiting services can't evaluate every player and they have a financial incentive to tell the biggest fanbases exactly what they want to hear. That sells magazines/generates clicks. It makes it hard to know for sure.