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DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt

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3 minutes ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

Jfc, we are not stealing Larry Johnson away from Ohio St. This reminds me of the Mack reset when posters seriously thought we could snag Moffitt. Don't do this to yourselves. 

Of course we aren’t - but I want them to at least fucking try. Who knows - maybe Larry is tired of those shitty winters and is looking to retire down south. 

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I also don't buy that Larry Johnson would come here. It was mentioned in context with addressing Anwar's report that Ash was the guy. More than anything, I thought it was interesting that TFB is basically reporting/addressing two different things by talking about that and then segwaying into "it's not a done deal." Here's the link to the open post, btw: https://texas.thefootballbrainiacs.com/2019/12/open-post-tuesday-december-3rd/

31 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

And Larry Johnson? Can we hire anymore people from the Penn State/ Baylor rape schools?

At first I thought you were confused with the RB. I did not know he was there under Paterno for so long. Do not want.

 

 

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Okay, so I finally got around to reading TFB's open post. SuperK has my interest piqued:

Quote

***I do not believe it is at all a foregone conclusion that Chris Ash will be the next DC. In fact, I was told that with that blank check Herman is looking at major program defensive coordinators. I’m talking Alabama, Georgia, Washington, Utah, etc.

I don’t get the sense that a decision about who the DC will be has been made at all.

***I don’t know who Herman can land or who he will decide on and I’m not saying Ash isn’t a candidate. Again, I don’t believe Herman has made that decision and I don’t think he will until he’s taken a thorough look at who is out there. And, money won’t be an issue.

The stuff about Larry Johnson is also interesting, with a caveat -- sure, it's unlikely, but suppose... just suppose... that we hire the dreaded Ash, but he manages to get Johnson and Coombs on board (obviously that would require some serious money whipping)... does that assuage the Surly beast? Or no?

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For all of Beck's unpopularity with fans, I think his resume is way too good to be able to retain him as a position coach. Look at all the terrible offenses out there, someone's going to take a chance on him. Someone gave Shawn Watson a P5 OC job like a year after he got fired here. Beck was nominated for the Broyles Award twice at Nebraska, Ohio State went 23-3 while he was there, we beat OU and Georgia last year and Sam was setting records, even this year I think we had a top 25-ish offense on paper. I'm not saying we should keep him as OC, we absolutely should not, but he's easily good enough to land a P5 OC gig somewhere.

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2 hours ago, Loather said:

Maybe someone could explain this, but it seems like there have been reports of us going with a spread offense many times over the last few years

Harsin-White has been our only non-spread offense going back about two decades.  People just don't know what spread means or are using the term wrong.

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2 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

Okay, so I finally got around to reading TFB's open post. SuperK has my interest piqued:

The stuff about Larry Johnson is also interesting, with a caveat -- sure, it's unlikely, but suppose... just suppose... that we hire the dreaded Ash, but he manages to get Johnson and Coombs on board (obviously that would require some serious money whipping)... does that assuage the Surly beast? Or no?

It probably would be enough to get people sipping kool aid. I don't want anything to do with anyone who worked under Paterno for almost 20 years.

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1 minute ago, Walden Ponderer said:

The stuff about Larry Johnson is also interesting, with a caveat -- sure, it's unlikely, but suppose... just suppose... that we hire the dreaded Ash, but he manages to get Johnson and Coombs on board (obviously that would require some serious money whipping)... does that assuage the Surly beast? Or no?

I don't like the idea of Ash in charge. He can be a position coach or Co-DC to give him a little more money. That's fine. Tom should spend big and hand the defense over to someone with a track record of developing NFL defenders. Who is that.... I don't know.

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2 hours ago, Casual Encounter said:

Tom’s scheme is not inept. Tom and his staff have been inept. Sam has always struggled throwing over the middle and so did Shane when Giblets was here.

The Veer and Shoot doesn’t throw over the middle. It doesn’t have any routes between the hashes. 

I watched 5 seasons worth of that offense when we hired the Giblet to see what was coming. I saw a true crossing route run a handful of times. It was out of 21 personnel with the QB under center, and the pass was ALWAYS thrown to and completed into the flat to the back on that play. 

The middle of the field is reserved for the rushing attack and occasional TE silver bullets in the V/S. Shane didn’t struggle to throw there. There was no there, there. 

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Jfc, we are not stealing Larry Johnson away from Ohio St. This reminds me of the Mack reset when posters seriously thought we could snag Moffitt. Don't do this to yourselves. 


Exactly! Why would we settle for Johnson when Belichick will bring his own guy.
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16 minutes ago, Ricky Butler said:

I don't like the idea of Ash in charge. He can be a position coach or Co-DC to give him a little more money. That's fine. Tom should spend big and hand the defense over to someone with a track record of developing NFL defenders. Who is that.... I don't know.

Ash coached his share of all conference/NFL DBs at Wisconsin and Ohio State. Also, position coaches are really more responsible for individual talent development than are coordinators. Coordinators have to make sure they're utilized properly.

Honestly, if he weren't so connected to Herman, most people (myself included) would probably feel okay or even good about his hire. It's really hard to shake the Herman comfort hire red flag though. He's earned skepticism on anything that could be interpreted as such, even if there are merits to it.

Edited by gmr548
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24 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

Okay, so I finally got around to reading TFB's open post. SuperK has my interest piqued:

The stuff about Larry Johnson is also interesting, with a caveat -- sure, it's unlikely, but suppose... just suppose... that we hire the dreaded Ash, but he manages to get Johnson and Coombs on board (obviously that would require some serious money whipping)... does that assuage the Surly beast? Or no?

You can cross Washington & Utah off the list after Scalley declines and Lake was promoted to HC. The other two teams SuperK mentioned (Alabama & Georgia) have 1st year DCs under defensive Head Coaches (Golding was co-DC w/ Lupoi last year - but this is his first year running the defense solo). 

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4 minutes ago, bigup2dahorns said:

 

Since all that's been announced publicly is that some coaches are leaving (and some temp reassignments), does this amount to Fenves just saying he's glad we got rid of those guys?  

It's possible he doesn't follow the asst coach stuff closely and is just making what he thinks is a general, positive statement, or that he know more about the targets/likely hires.

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Just now, Michael Knight said:

Tell me again why we wouldn't want Chris Ash?

Surly mostly hates Ash because he’s friends with Herman and he would be a ‘comfort’ hire. Also they question his judgement as he hired Mehringwr as his OC when Ash got the Rutgers HC job  

Resume-wise Ash is as qualified as any of the realistic candidates out there. 

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2 minutes ago, Michael Knight said:

Tell me again why we wouldn't want Chris Ash?

Herman clone, said to be quite dickish, hated over a very horrible 3 year stretch at Rutgers, where he only won 3 games and sewed discord and contempt. Fired mid-season. Never was a full DC at Ohio State and otherwise only coached at Arky and Wisconsin. 

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1 minute ago, Nowhichski said:

Herman clone, said to be quite dickish, hated over a very horrible 3 year stretch at Rutgers, where he only won 3 games and sewed discord and contempt. Fired mid-season. Never was a full DC at Ohio State and otherwise only coached at Arky and Wisconsin. 

No one has won at Rutgers, hes a defensive coach so he probably can't recognize good offensive coaches. Track record as a head coach has 0 to do with being a coordinator, Muschamp was an amazing DC and a terrible fucking head coach. The one knock against Ash is hes not a great recruiter, but he was credited with turning around Ohio States defense and fixing their secondary issues on the way to a championship.

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5 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

Surly mostly hates Ash because he’s friends with Herman and he would be a ‘comfort’ hire. Also they question his judgement as he hired Mehringwr as his OC when Ash got the Rutgers HC job  

Resume-wise Ash is as qualified as any of the realistic candidates out there. 

Who said they were friends? The have worked together and won a NC together, not bad IMHO. So he is a shitty head coach. We aren't asking him to be a shitty head coach, we already have one of those. Kevin Steele was a shitty head coach too.

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No one has won at Rutgers, hes a defensive coach so he probably can't recognize good offensive coaches. Track record as a head coach has 0 to do with being a coordinator, Muschamp was an amazing DC and a terrible fucking head coach. The one knock against Ash is hes not a great recruiter, but he was credited with turning around Ohio States defense and fixing their secondary issues on the way to a championship.
Anything unique about his defense, 3 or 4 DLine, blitz vs zone, can they tackle?
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27 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

Surly mostly hates Ash because he’s friends with Herman and he would be a ‘comfort’ hire. Also they question his judgement as he hired Mehringwr as his OC when Ash got the Rutgers HC job  

Resume-wise Ash is as qualified as any of the realistic candidates out there. 

He probably hired him based on Herman’s recommendation.

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43 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

Honestly, if he weren't so connected to Herman, most people (myself included) would probably feel okay or even good about his hire. It's really hard to shake the Herman comfort hire red flag though. He's earned skepticism on anything that could be interpreted as such, even if there are merits to it.

I think in my head, it is an older guy with more skins on the wall. Perhaps that's dumb or maybe you pair Ash with that guy.

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5 minutes ago, MoJames said:
23 minutes ago, Michael Knight said:
No one has won at Rutgers, hes a defensive coach so he probably can't recognize good offensive coaches. Track record as a head coach has 0 to do with being a coordinator, Muschamp was an amazing DC and a terrible fucking head coach. The one knock against Ash is hes not a great recruiter, but he was credited with turning around Ohio States defense and fixing their secondary issues on the way to a championship.

Read more  

Anything unique about his defense, 3 or 4 DLine, blitz vs zone, can they tackle?

Front: Over-nickel (2 high)

Back: Quarters

Blitz: Zone

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Scipio Tex: Coordinator Hires And Comfort Zones

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"Fear often does the work of reason." - Winston Churchill.

While Tom Herman and Chris del Conte ponder their next moves in a massive turnover of Tom Herman's failed staff, it's worth discussing how a few of Herman's predecessors have handled being tasked with key new coordinator hires. There may be some underlying lessons.

DKR Bets His Career

Between 1965-1967, the great Darrell Royal, a young ambitious hire who had built a Texas juggernaut from the dung heap (the 32 year old Royal inherited a 1-9 team in 1957; they went 6-4-1 in his first year) was slipping. Over that three year period, the Horns amassed a 19-12 record (6-4, 7-4, 6-4). And Longhorn fans were restless. Particularly when Texas A&M saw its fortunes rising and capped their 1967 season by beating Alabama in the Cotton Bowl. The Longhorns sat at home and watched, irrelevant on the college football landscape. There were whispers of making a change.

Those three middling seasons came on the heels of a heady four year run that saw Texas go 40-3-1 with a national title and four Top 5 finishes. Royal seemed destined to be the victim of the expectations he had created. His conservative offense had grown stale and young talent was not being well served. DKR turned to a first-year LB assistant coach named Emory Bellard to retool the entire Longhorn approach. Bellard had tinkered with a 3-back offense at San Angelo that led him to HS acclaim. Royal brought him to Texas as a defensive coach to get his attributes and forward-thinking innovation on the staff. He'd figure out his best use later. That he did.

Royal named Bellard offensive coordinator in 1968. Remember, the second year college assistant's previous offensive coordination had come against Odessa Permian and Midland Lee. Imagine how that would go over today. Still, Royal respected Bellard deeply as an innovative mind and knew he had to make a dramatic change. Bellard installed an offense called the "wishbone" that changed football. Over the next three years, Texas went 30-2-1 with two national titles and a #3 ranking. DKR would go on to win 7 of the next 8 SWC titles.

DKR saw his program slipping, acknowledged his own role in that, made a bold bet that bucked his natural conservatism, focused on steak over sizzle, empowered an 2nd year assistant that lacked "credentials", stuck to that commitment after an initially rocky start (Texas started 1968 0-1-1) and then rattled off 30 straight wins. That's how you write your name into legend.

The Blank Check

In 1996, Texas head coach John Mackovic had established some offensive bona fides after some awful initial struggles and even won three consecutive conference titles (2 SWC, 1 Big 12) between 1994-1996 while going 26-11-1. Texas fans dreamed of pairing Mackovic's pro style offense with a physical Longhorn defense of yore. The primary obstacle was the soft defense of perennial retread DC Gary Darnell. Mackovic was instructed (or heavily encouraged, depending on who you ask) to let Darnell go.

To soothe Mackovic and show further administration support -- they'd already foolishly awarded Mackovic a five year extension in 1995, bidding against itself isn't new for Texas, so CDC can take solace in his honoring of Longhorn tradition -- he was informed that he had a blank check to hire any DC in America. Texas meant that offer and those were the words used. Texas was willing to redefine the market for college assistants and demonstrate their commitment to bringing Texas football back to its glory days after a decade of uneven results. The amount they were willing to fill in on that check made NFL coordinators a legitimate consideration as well. John Mackovic had his pick.

Mackovic, whether by virtue of arrogance, resentment at being instructed on how to run his team, or fear of bringing in a strong assistant who might threaten his control, promoted Longhorn assistant Bobby Jack Wright to be his defensive coordinator. His national search had extended ten feet past his office. Wright was known primarily as a fine recruiter who could relate to players. Scheme was not his forte. Texas fans were stunned and the administration felt betrayed by Mackovic's foolishness, but Texas went into the 1997 season with lofty preseason rankings and high expectations. The Longhorns were defending Big 12 champions after all.

Then Texas went on to a soul-crushing 4-7 record. John Mackovic was done. Texas AD DeLoss Dodds held on to his job. Which was something of a minor miracle if you knew the mood of the average Texas fan. Mackovic had hired in his own narrow sphere and his ego had crafted his demise. Insecurity, paranoia, and hubris - the stuff of Greek tragedy. It's not surprising that he later unraveled completely at Arizona, where a player revolt led to his firing. A blank check can't save a head man too arrogant or small-minded to be fearful or reasonable.

Course Correction vs Culture

Mack Brown rebuilt Texas football after Mackovic. By 2007, he was 93-22 and already had a national title. But the Texas defense declined after the departure of DC Gene Chizik. Brown turned defensive play calling duties to DB coach and stalwart assistant Duane Akina. An easy, comfortable hire, but not the right one. The charismatic Akina was rightfully beloved by his defensive back pupils, but he struggled to coordinate an effective defense against increasingly creative Big 12 offenses. His Co-DC was Larry MacDuff, a former NFL special teams coordinator. An odd grab-bag pairing. It didn't work.

Despite the risk of alienating Akina and possibly losing him, Brown knew he had to make an immediate change. The administration offered a blank check again. Brown cashed the check on an energetic young DC named Will Muschamp, a rising star at Auburn. Despite a program already feeling the effects of cultural decay, Muschamp whipped the talented young Longhorn defense into shape in 2008, created an absolutely dominant unit in 2009, and still fielded a quality group in 2010 despite the headwinds of a truly putrid Texas offense. Still, the program culture had become untenable.

Texas head-coach-in-waiting Muschamp saw the writing on the wall at Texas and bolted for Florida. Just like that, the dominant Texas run of the 2000s was over. Brown made a great decision after the 2007 season admitting his mistake and not letting loyalty cloud his judgement. He also understood, at some instinctive level, that Texas needed a strong outside influence. He just didn't go far enough and consider how his own habits were creating program failure.

After Muschamp bolted, Mack tried to right the ship with an influx of new blood (Harsin, Diaz, Applewhite), but it was too late. Brown needed to make more sweeping changes, beginning with himself. He had kept on offensive coordinator Greg Davis for too long and tolerated subpar assistants at key developmental jobs. Texas had grown complacent and self-satisfied.

In the end, all programs reflect the decisions and personality of the head coach. If you don't have the right man in charge or one unwilling to grow on the job, unable to think outside of their own narrow experience, incapable of pushing their comfort zone beyond their limited circle, who can cast ego aside, or contemplate their own role in crafting subpar results, new hires will not long disguise a program's fundamental deficiency. That's the lesson. Who is willing to learn it?

 

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41 minutes ago, markstanco said:

Quick google, and johnson is getting 900k as a DL coach. You'd have to money whip him to the tune of 1.2 or 1.3 for a position on a sinking ship. Nothappening.gif

this sinking ship is a matter of context. it's our context because we've rinse and repeated and we've sat through some awful coordinators.  Johnson on the other hand if he's on a conference call with Herman and Ash and Coombs and they're all talking about getting the gang together again, then their context is a national championship. his context for herman is the guy who kicked bama's ass with a 3rd team qb.

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The Chris Ash hire reminds me of the Shawn Watson hire. 
 

The conversation went something like:

No it’s not going to be Shawn Watson, he’s a candidate , but we have all these other candidates who are higher on the board. Watson is not a bad candidate, though. 

Top candidate X says no. Candidate Y says no. So there are a couple names left. Shawn Watson is a possibility, but we don’t think it will go in that direction, but he’s had success with player XY. 
 

It’s down to Dick and Shawn. My sources think it’s Dick, but Shawn could come on as a QB coach. He’s a great QB coach. 
 

Looks like Dick said no. Shawn will be QB coach. 
 

It’s Shawn Watson. It was him the whole time because that’s who the coach wants to hire 

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1 hour ago, Michael Knight said:

Tell me again why we wouldn't want Chris Ash?

His defensive reputation is based on shutting down offenses that run this twice, throw an incompletion on third down, and punt:

spacer.png

He was a co-defensive coordinator for a year at Ohio State (his scheme, Fickell's playcalls), and shut down the one spread offense of any real quality he faced that year in Oregon. He was also a great coach of DBs in a conference that rarely tests them. Before that, he was at Arkansas and Wisconsin, doing much the same thing. His subsequent head coaching tenure at Rutgers was a disaster not worth mentioning.

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this sinking ship is a matter of context. it's our context because we've rinse and repeated and we've sat through some awful coordinators.  Johnson on the other hand if he's on a conference call with Herman and Ash and Coombs and they're all talking about getting the gang together again, then their context is a national championship. his context for herman is the guy who kicked bama's ass with a 3rd team qb.
Man that was a long time ago in football coaching years to get the band back together. Maybe ed warner and urban are available? Does braxton have any eligibility left for a portal transfer?
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