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2020 Coaching Staff


DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt

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1 hour ago, Fud said:

Jai Valai seems like a potential recruiting ringer, which is fine in general, but this season Texas needs stud coaches on the field, especially at CB and LB, since if they don't win, how well they recruit won't matter much anyway, since they'll all be getting fired. Maybe he knows what he's doing, but one year as a field assistant is pretty shallow for this important spot. Or maybe Ash thinks he can help carry him where he's weak? 

What evidence can you offer in support of "recruiting ringer"? I see that he failed as a trainer/agent in DFW. That doesn't check a box. Some Georgia posters liked him. There are posters on this board right now that will defend Oscar Giles, Greg Davis, and Charlie Strong. Does that mean that they crushed it at Texas? 

Valai is, quite simply, an indefensible hire as an on-field assistant at this point at UT. There is not a single rational point to make supporting the hiring of this guy versus the nameless field. He was fired at Rutgers. Fired as an off-field assistant at Kansas City after one year. Apparently, Smart told him his role was his role, and he could feel free to look elsewhere, so Valai left. In doing so, Georgia immediately shit themselves on the recruiting front to the tune of 2 more top 3 classes. Prior to UGA, the guy tried to be the next Slick Willie Lyles and failed. So here's a coach with one year of on-field coaching experience that ended in termination, and nothing but ignominious outcomes in his career preceding that. That's possibly the next CB coach at Texas. Fuck everything about our lives as fans of this program if that happens.

 

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11 hours ago, gmr548 said:

Per teh Googlez:

Valai played under Ash in his SR year at Wisconsin. Is from DFW and opened a training business there for a few years after graduating. QC for Kirby Smart at UGA for two years, 2016-17. Found a thread about him as a possible position coach hire at UGA last off season. They thought highly of his time there and evidently was a difference maker as a recruiter when he was sent on the road to recruit (https://247sports.com/college/georgia/Board/19/Contents/Jay-Valai-and-Philip-Daniels-127598678/). 2018 QC with the KC Chiefs before spending this past season at Rutgers. And it appears he was a backup plan after the CB coach Ash had just hired at Rutgers took a DB coach job with the NY Giants almost immediately (https://www.onthebanks.com/2019/2/15/18226291/report-rutgers-football-set-to-hire-jay-valai-as-cornerbacks-coach-chris-ash-big-ten-wisconsin-nfl).

 

I thought NCAA rules allowed only bona-fide assistant coaches to recruit on the road. QC's were restricted to on-campus only. Did I miss something?

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10 hours ago, Getafix said:

Why do you think he is more accomplished than Okam?

Okam's resume isn't very strong. He coached 2 years at Baylor and 4 years at Rice (2 years as a defensive line coach). The reason we like him is because he is young and he played at Texas.

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3 minutes ago, Sock Drawer said:

I thought NCAA rules allowed only bona-fide assistant coaches to recruit on the road. QC's were restricted to on-campus only. Did I miss something?

You can have 10  so he’s that can recruit in the road and you can elevate a QC coach for a time while you’re being your other 10 assistants, like we’ve done with Carrington. 

3 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Okam's resume isn't very strong. He coached 2 years at Baylor and 4 years at Rice (2 years as a defensive line coach). The reason we like him is because he is young and he played at Texas.

That’s literally 5 more years of on-field coaching experience than Valai has. So no, Valai does not have more experience for accomplishments than Okam. 

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1 hour ago, Fud said:

Jai Valai seems like a potential recruiting ringer, which is fine in general, but this season Texas needs stud coaches on the field, especially at CB and LB, since if they don't win, how well they recruit won't matter much anyway, since they'll all be getting fired. Maybe he knows what he's doing, but one year as a field assistant is pretty shallow for this important spot. Or maybe Ash thinks he can help carry him where he's weak? 

The only reason you would hire a coach is that you think that he is the best available for the job. You want someone who can coach and who can recruit. Coaches don't think, "Right now I need to save my ass so I need to get someone who can coach. Next year, we can get a guy who can recruit and coach." I don't know if Valai is the guy and his resume doesn't give me a lot of confidence, but...

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2 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

You can have 10  so he’s that can recruit in the road and you can elevate a QC coach for a time while you’re being your other 10 assistants, like we’ve done with Carrington. 

That’s literally 5 more years of on-field coaching experience than Valai has. So no, Valai does not have more experience for accomplishments than Okam. 

Literally 3 more years but no pro experience and his college experience is at Rice and Baylor.

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8 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

What evidence can you offer in support of "recruiting ringer"? I see that he failed as a trainer/agent in DFW. That doesn't check a box. Some Georgia posters liked him. There are posters on this board right now that will defend Oscar Giles, Greg Davis, and Charlie Strong. Does that mean that they crushed it at Texas? 

Valai is, quite simply, an indefensible hire as an on-field assistant at this point at UT. There is not a single rational point to make supporting the hiring of this guy versus the nameless field. He was fired at Rutgers. Fired as an off-field assistant at Kansas City after one year. Apparently, Smart told him his role was his role, and he could feel free to look elsewhere, so Valai left. In doing so, Georgia immediately shit themselves on the recruiting front to the tune of 2 more top 3 classes. Prior to UGA, the guy tried to be the next Slick Willie Lyles and failed. So here's a coach with one year of on-field coaching experience that ended in termination, and nothing but ignominious outcomes in his career preceding that. That's possibly the next CB coach at Texas. Fuck everything about our lives as fans of this program if that happens.

 

Hey at least we took our time with the hire.

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6 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

What evidence can you offer in support of "recruiting ringer"? I see that he failed as a trainer/agent in DFW. That doesn't check a box. Some Georgia posters liked him. There are posters on this board right now that will defend Oscar Giles, Greg Davis, and Charlie Strong. Does that mean that they crushed it at Texas? 

Valai is, quite simply, an indefensible hire as an on-field assistant at this point at UT. There is not a single rational point to make supporting the hiring of this guy versus the nameless field. He was fired at Rutgers. Fired as an off-field assistant at Kansas City after one year. Apparently, Smart told him his role was his role, and he could feel free to look elsewhere, so Valai left. In doing so, Georgia immediately shit themselves on the recruiting front to the tune of 2 more top 3 classes. Prior to UGA, the guy tried to be the next Slick Willie Lyles and failed. So here's a coach with one year of on-field coaching experience that ended in termination, and nothing but ignominious outcomes in his career preceding that. That's possibly the next CB coach at Texas. Fuck everything about our lives as fans of this program if that happens.

 

I admittedly haven't done a deep dive or asked around on Jai Alai. What I've seen on him from quick scrolls through what others have posted across the various sites are he's inexperienced and probably unqualified for this job, unless Ash plans on doing the heavy lifting on for all of the DB positions (he didn't do that at Ohio State, where he had his best success), and that he's very charismatic, relates to prospects, and Kirby liked having him on the road when he could. On the surface, he appears to be a guy who'd be an asset on recruiting, but he also doesn't exactly have a long track record. 

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I wish the people who are inclined to defend a hire of Valai would have the sac to actually post why they're so bullshit. Of course, there's list of bullet points that can process out other than "I trust the coaches" and "He's young and black" so they're just going to sit back and be stubbornly optimistic because their lizard brain cognitive dissonance demands it of them. 

Seriously, someone have the balls to list the positives on this guy as a hire. Then look at your list, and justify how it is a good hire at the University of Texas with our resources and expectations. 

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3 minutes ago, Bevo said:

The only reason you would hire a coach is that you think that he is the best available for the job. You want someone who can coach and who can recruit. Coaches don't think, "Right now I need to save my ass so I need to get someone who can coach. Next year, we can get a guy who can recruit and coach." I don't know if Valai is the guy and his resume doesn't give me a lot of confidence, but...

You don't think some coaches think "fuck I'm on the hot-seat and my linebackers suck, I better hire this long time linebackers coach who can coach them up quickly so I can live another day, rather than hire a charismatic bagman recruiter"? 

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2 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I wish the people who are inclined to defend a hire of Valai would have the sac to actually post why they're so bullshit. Of course, there's list of bullet points that can process out other than "I trust the coaches" and "He's young and black" so they're just going to sit back and be stubbornly optimistic because their lizard brain cognitive dissonance demands it of them. 

Seriously, someone have the balls to list the positives on this guy as a hire. Then look at your list, and justify how it is a good hire at the University of Texas with our resources and expectations. 

If you're talking about me, my posts have hardly been in defense of hiring Valai. I think he might be a good recruiter, but we'll see. If you're not talking about me, I'm not seeing a bunch of posters defending the hire, although I'm mostly skimming the thread. This mostly seems like yelling at clouds. 

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1 minute ago, Fud said:

If you're talking about me, my posts have hardly been in defense of hiring Valai. I think he might be a good recruiter, but we'll see. If you're not talking about me, I'm not seeing a bunch of posters defending the hire, although I'm mostly skimming the thread. This mostly seems like yelling at clouds. 

I'm absolutely not talking about you. 

There have been a couple hints, however, and this is more of a preemptive effort because if this is the hire, it's a definitely line in the sand between fans with different opinions on things, and I figured I'd go ahead and draw that line now. 

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If Baylor doesn't promote McGuire to full time head coach, I doubt he'd want to stick around after getting passed up even though they'd likely really want to keep him. Texas should consider looking at him for TE coach if that comes to pass. 

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6 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I'm absolutely not talking about you. 

There have been a couple hints, however, and this is more of a preemptive effort because if this is the hire, it's a definitely line in the sand between fans with different opinions on things, and I figured I'd go ahead and draw that line now. 

I’m an advocate of waiting to complain until something bad happens. If this happens, I’m fully supportive of complaining.

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5 minutes ago, Fud said:

You don't think some coaches think "fuck I'm on the hot-seat and my linebackers suck, I better hire this long time linebackers coach who can coach them up quickly so I can live another day, rather than hire a charismatic bagman recruiter"? 

The first part I agree with. However, the second part I don't. What I am saying is that coaches are looking for someone to fulfill both rolls. I don't think Ash would hire him because he is a bagman. I think Ash believes he is the best person for the job. This doesn't mean that we should just trust the coaches. We can disagree with him for whatever that is worth.

But, my problem is that we are begging for Okam to be hired and Okam has the exact same deficiencies as Valai. If we believe that Valai shouldn't be hired because his coaching experience sucks then we should feel the same way about Okam.

And just to clarify, I too would like to see Okam on this staff and think we can do better than Valai. But logically, those two are very similar hires.

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1 minute ago, Bevo said:

The first part I agree with. However, the second part I don't. What I am saying is that coaches are looking for someone to fulfill both rolls. I don't think Ash would hire him because he is a bagman. I think Ash believes he is the best person for the job. This doesn't mean that we should just trust the coaches. We can disagree with him for whatever that is worth.

But, my problem is that we are begging for Okam to be hired and Okam has the exact same deficiencies as Valai. If we believe that Valai shouldn't be hired because his coaching experience sucks then we should feel the same way about Okam.

And just to clarify, I too would like to see Okam on this staff and think we can do better than Valai. But logically, those two are very similar hires.

Okam just coached up the best defensive line in the Big XII. That seems to be a little more of a track record than one year of coaching for a single year at Rutgers. 

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9 hours ago, Rimbo said:

Oh, right, I remember when we did this under Strong and how well it worked out.

😐

I think there's a pretty big fucking difference between supporting Strong's band of over-promoted incompetents, many of whom happened to be black, and thinking that it's probably better in today's cfb to not have an entire staff of square-headed white guys.

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10 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

Hiring someone wholly unqualified to be a coach at Texas gets a neutral rating from you until it gets a bad rating?

No, thats bad. I’m saying complain once they’ve actually been hired. 
 

For example, you complained about the potentially bad OC hire for two weeks and then it turned out to be a good hire.

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3 minutes ago, Ricky Butler said:

No, thats bad. I’m saying complain once they’ve actually been hired. 
 

For example, you complained about the potentially bad OC hire for two weeks and then it turned out to be a good hire.

I’ve been complaining about this hypothetical Hail Mary staff since early October.

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I thought NCAA rules allowed only bona-fide assistant coaches to recruit on the road. QC's were restricted to on-campus only. Did I miss something?

I believe they had him out recruiting when they were going through coaching transition, similar to how Texas elevated Carrington and Coleman temporarily this year.

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Literally 3 more years but no pro experience and his college experience is at Rice and Baylor.

Position coaching at Baylor or another B12 school is the best way to prepare for doing the same at Texas given your schedule contains seven of the same opponents in conference and you're going after the same recruits. I don't know how you'd try to turn that into a negative given the job he's done.

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49 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Literally 3 more years but no pro experience and his college experience is at Rice and Baylor.

lulz.4 years of actually being a  position coach and 1 year is a world of difference. Stop it with your NFL nonsense. He was the equivalent of a GA for the Chiefs for a year. 

Okam doing well enough at Rice for two years to get hired by Rhule, a guy who has a pretty killer record of identifying good coaches, at a P5 job where he then coached the best DL in the Big 12 (including getting a 3 man rush to be a killer pass rush, which almost no other team in the country could do) and Valai coaching the CBs in a shitty Rutgers defense for a single year is a world of difference in experience and qualifications.

Just admit your statement about Okam being less qualified than Valai was wrong and uninformed and move on. 

25 minutes ago, Bevo said:

The first part I agree with. However, the second part I don't. What I am saying is that coaches are looking for someone to fulfill both rolls. I don't think Ash would hire him because he is a bagman. I think Ash believes he is the best person for the job. This doesn't mean that we should just trust the coaches. We can disagree with him for whatever that is worth.

But, my problem is that we are begging for Okam to be hired and Okam has the exact same deficiencies as Valai. If we believe that Valai shouldn't be hired because his coaching experience sucks then we should feel the same way about Okam.

And just to clarify, I too would like to see Okam on this staff and think we can do better than Valai. But logically, those two are very similar hires.

Jesus, man. They are not similar hires.

 

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I wish the people who are inclined to defend a hire of Valai would have the sac to actually post why they're so bullshit. Of course, there's list of bullet points that can process out other than "I trust the coaches" and "He's young and black" so they're just going to sit back and be stubbornly optimistic because their lizard brain cognitive dissonance demands it of them. 
Seriously, someone have the balls to list the positives on this guy as a hire. Then look at your list, and justify how it is a good hire at the University of Texas with our resources and expectations. 

I don't think anyone is openly saying it's a good hire or excited about it. The spectrum on here appears to range from "shut the program down" to "see the potential but Texas should be able to do better." Keep on with the drama queen bit though.

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51 minutes ago, Fud said:

If Baylor doesn't promote McGuire to full time head coach, I doubt he'd want to stick around after getting passed up even though they'd likely really want to keep him. Texas should consider looking at him for TE coach if that comes to pass. 

In this same thought process, is there a High School coach that makes sense to pull in as TE coach if McGuire is retained by Baylor?

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1 hour ago, Fud said:

I admittedly haven't done a deep dive or asked around on Jai Alai. What I've seen on him from quick scrolls through what others have posted across the various sites are he's inexperienced and probably unqualified for this job, unless Ash plans on doing the heavy lifting on for all of the DB positions (he didn't do that at Ohio State, where he had his best success), and that he's very charismatic, relates to prospects, and Kirby liked having him on the road when he could. On the surface, he appears to be a guy who'd be an asset on recruiting, but he also doesn't exactly have a long track record. 

A big problem with the Ash hire is that both places where he had success, UW and tOSU, he was elevated to DC with established staffs that already had very good, or in tOSU’s case, elite, position coaches in place. His results at those two stops aren’t going to be very predictive of his performance at Texas if he comes in and hires a bunch of unqualified position coaches, like Valai, at Texas. 
 

 

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14 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

The spectrum on here appears to range from "shut the program down" to "see the potential but Texas should be able to do better."

I think when some people #onhere see the latter, what their brain ends up receiving is "this is the best thing I've ever seen bring me Tom's dick!" (though I'll admit some seem to be forever in the "lean positive" group. But I get it. We all see things differently. Kumbaya)

Edited by UncleBuck
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I don't see how anyone can defend a Valai hire given his resume.   Texas shouldn't be a training ground although we've damn sure tried to make it one for the last 6 years.  He's a guy that needs to go prove he's either an elite recruiter or coach somewhere else for 5 years before even getting a look.   I mean firing a bunch of underqualified coaches and potentially replacing them with someone LESS qualified?   If that aint peak #MENSA I don't know what is.

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8 minutes ago, gmr548 said:


I don't think anyone is openly saying it's a good hire or excited about it. The spectrum on here appears to range from "shut the program down" to "see the potential but Texas should be able to do better." Keep on with the drama queen bit though.

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there's a third group:

"Texas, in its current state, shouldn't be able to do better."

we're a mess right now with a prick of a coach on the hot seat. we're doing about as well as one could expect given the circumstances, which is to say 'not real good.'

that's why i'm hoping if we are hiring this failed trainer it's to hand out bags of cash to elite prospects across the country. that sounds entertaining to me.

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3 minutes ago, Skipper said:

I don't see how anyone can defend a Valai hire given his resume.   Texas shouldn't be a training ground although we've damn sure tried to make it one for the last 6 years.  He's a guy that needs to go prove he's either an elite recruiter or coach somewhere else for 5 years before even getting a look.   I mean firing a bunch of underqualified coaches and potentially replacing them with someone LESS qualified?   If that aint peak #MENSA I don't know what is.

The last point is key - why not just retain Jason Washington rather than bring in another scrub from the shittiest D1 program in the nation in Rutgers.

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3 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

there's a third group:

"Texas, in its current state, shouldn't be able to do better."

we're a mess right now with a prick of a coach on the hot seat. we're doing about as well as one could expect given the circumstances, which is to say 'not real good.'

that's why i'm hoping if we are hiring this failed trainer it's to hand out bags of cash to elite prospects across the country. that sounds entertaining to me.

Texas can give a raise to probably 95% of the DB coaches out there and probably at least half of those schools won't match.   The difference between making $250K and $450K is pretty damn significant.   It's one thing to be cautious as a coordinator if you think you are close to getting a HC job but it doesn't matter NEAR as much for a position coach.  If you are an elite position coach it won't be difficult at all to find your next job if Herman fails.   Seriously, there is a very large pool of candidates at every position that would say "yes" to Texas.  The hire would be indefensible, period.

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Just now, 6th Street said:

The last point is key - why not just retain Jason Washington rather than bring in another scrub from the shittiest D1 program in the nation in Rutgers.

Someone else already answered this - we know Jason Washington is shitty, he's proven it.  Its too late for him - he's already drenched in the stench.

Valai hasn't had a chance to show out shitty he is yet.  There is always a chance - albeit a very small chance - that Valai turns out not shitty. 

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12 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

there's a third group:

"Texas, in its current state, shouldn't be able to do better."

we're a mess right now with a prick of a coach on the hot seat. we're doing about as well as one could expect given the circumstances, which is to say 'not real good.'

that's why i'm hoping if we are hiring this failed trainer it's to hand out bags of cash to elite prospects across the country. that sounds entertaining to me.

You’re on your A game this morning. If Valai is hired, it will not be because he’s the best Texas can do. It will be because we have a HC who has no clue how to run a hiring process, a DC who’s just as incompetent and clueless on that front, and an AD who is hopefully nowhere near as competent but isn’t stepping in on the CB coach process.  

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1 minute ago, Burt Macklin said:

You’re on your A game this morning. If Valai is hired, it will not be because he’s the best Texas can do. It will be because we have a HC who has no clue how to run a hiring process and a DC who’s just as incompetent and clueless on that front. 

a) i want to punch you in the face.

b) it's the best texas can do GIVEN THE REALITY OF THE SITUATION WHICH YOU OUTLINED!!WDIUHGWOFIH

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I'm trying to channel my inner Red McCombs: Valai would make a good quality control coach. 

But there is no way to spin this hire as a position coach here. None. The only positive on this guy's resume is that he seemed like a plus on the recruiting front at Georgia during a time when they were buying players at a rate that would make Hugh Freeze blush. 

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