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2020 Texas Offseason Thread: Herman's Hail Mary


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Siap... Bobby Burton 's "Tuesday" post

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OSU’s Chuba Hubbard and OU’s Creed Humphrey both announced their return to their respective teams for 2020.

Meanwhile, Baylor’s James Lynch opted to turn pro.

The OSU offense should be extremely stout next year. They’re going to get into some barn burners.

Humphrey, the two-time all-conference center, is a key cog in OU’s run game success. He typically mitigates any interior threat a defense really has.

Meanwhile, the Bears will not only have to deal with the departure of their head coach but also the vast majority of their best defensive players as well as key players on offense, like a couple of OLs, their starting RB and two starting WRs.

OU and OSU are set up for good seasons next year. Baylor will be in a transitional phase in more ways than one.

**

One Big 12 head coach talked to a group of high school coaches about the Longhorns

His assessment was pretty glaring.

“We just didn’t think they were very fast,“ the coach said of Texas.

Since I wasn’t there when this was said, I don’t know the entire context of the conversation. And other teams were mentioned as well. But I could see it certainly being an issue on offense.

No starting receiver outside of Devin Duvernay had legit speed, and neither Sam Ehlinger nor either of the running backs this past season were big plays waiting to happen.

On defense, other than Ayodele Adeoye and Caden Sterns, every other position appears to have legit speed. Perhaps the Texas secondary was a tad slow when it was dealing with so many injuries this season, however.

**

Texas attempted to go after two LB coaches, Kevin Kane and Robb Smith. But both decided they preferred to keep calling plays.

Kane said he was staying at SMU as DC, whole early front-runner Smith was just hired by Rutgers to call their defense.

**

LSU’s spread attack was amazing last night. It showcased its inherent advantages over the power spread that Clemson, like Texas, runs.

Of course, what will that sort of offense look like without Joe Burrow running it?

That’s a fair question. And one I don’t have the answer to.

But the LSU receivers are excellent players and they will be a tough handle for the Horns no matter who the QB is in Baton Rouge next season.

***********************************************

F/U post by Burton on the speed comment:

  • Collin Johnson may be 4.7+.
  • The two RBs are 4.5+.
  • Malcolm Epps may be 4.7+.
  • Cade Brewer isn’t particularly fast for his position. Neither is Ehlinger.
  • Eagles has speed but may not always play like it.

 

Edited by LTtxfan
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the speed thing has been an issue for a decade, particularly on offense. we've looked slow against the likes OSU, OU, Baylor, Tech.  between that and the 10 year disaster that was our OL we've wandered around with our thumbs up our asses.  

Jamison looks like he is shot out of cannon compared to everyone else on our team.  sure he's fast but fuck he's like the only guy.  Why can't we get guys like pooka williams, Hubbard, etc that are quick as shit.

slow ass RB's, slow WR's, slow TE's, Sam is actually reasonably quick compared to our decade of futility at QB.

Its lazy ass recruiting, IMO.  I hope we get some Yurcich affect here.  get fast guys in space and profit....

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33 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

the speed thing has been an issue for a decade, particularly on offense. we've looked slow against the likes OSU, OU, Baylor, Tech.    Why can't we get guys like pooka williams, Hubbard, etc that are quick as shit.   slow ass RB's, slow WR's, slow TE's, Sam is actually reasonably quick compared to our decade of futility at QB.   Its lazy ass recruiting, IMO.  I hope we get some Yurcich affect here.  get fast guys in space and profit....

Have to agree with Burton's comments about slow Texas WRs not named Duvernay, slow RBs and slow TEs.

Agree with @dcar00 about "lazy ass recruiting" when it comes to the lack of speed at skill positions for Texas.  Rhule made it a point to recruit more athletes at Baylor that had speed and/or quickness... it has been a big part of his success with 3Star and below players.

Interesting article on Rhules's recruiting strategies (below)

"Behold the analytics revolution: If you’re gonna miss, miss fast"

https://247sports.com/Article/College-football-recruiting-testing-numbers-Tracking-Football-133192451/  

  • Rhule needed a way to scale the (recruiting) gap. Rhule’s long-time DC, Phil Snow, taught Rhule in the early 2000s at UCLA the importance of track times in recruiting. He wanted a verification of a player’s speed.
  • Over a decade later, Rhule took that philosophy a step further. Knowing could never land the type of polished standout Penn State did annually, Rhule stocked his roster with raw, high-upside athletes. They required development but many of the players shared traits the NFL desired: Speed, length, size, explosiveness.
  • “If they take a top 50 recruit, I need to take someone who isn’t as highly recruited,” Rhule, told 247Sports. “So, I better take somebody with these skills and develop them. When player after player left Temple for the NFL, they could all run. They were all big. It made sense taking that approach to survive at Temple. "
  • RC/CB Coach Evan Cooper:  “We’re a big, big believer in development. Sometimes you get kids who are maxed out whose ceiling might not be as high. We take the approach of what they’ll look like in five years. If he has the requisite size, speed and strength we feel like we can turn them into good football players.  In recruiting you miss. You’re going to miss. So, we figure: If you’re going to miss, miss fast.”

     

Edited by LTtxfan
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1 hour ago, LTtxfan said:

Siap... Bobby Burton 's "Tuesday" post

 

I think a big problem was the receivers not catching while in motion. The delayed handoffs also slow down the running backs which are not the fastest guys to begin with. Herman like throwing the ball to giant statues. 

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On 1/3/2020 at 8:54 PM, Newy25 said:

Oklahoma will be breaking in a new QB and Baylor loses a fuck ton of players next year. If we do not win the conference next year with a senior Ehlinger Herman needs to be fired. If it does not happen next year it will never happen for Herman. 

i agree with this take.  next year is our best shot.  herman better be game planning now.  how can we lose by 7 to the national champions, but look like dogshit against tcu and iowa state?  that inconsistency has plagued herman his whole career.  

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12 minutes ago, thrillhammer said:

i agree with this take.  next year is our best shot.  herman better be game planning now.  how can we lose by 7 to the national champions, but look like dogshit against tcu and iowa state?  that inconsistency has plagued herman his whole career.  

"Impose our will"

I think it may really be that simple. Against what Herman feels are lesser opponents his entire strategy is "IMPOSE OUR WILL SO WE CAN INSTILL OUR CULTURE!!!" instead of actually scouting and developing a specific gameplan for that opponent. Based on his personality I would think he would have read some Sun Tzu by now. Classic failure to heed the warning that "if you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat."

Herman doesn't bother getting to know the enemy if he thinks his team is enough of a favorite.

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30 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

"Impose our will"

I think it may really be that simple. Against what Herman feels are lesser opponents his entire strategy is "IMPOSE OUR WILL SO WE CAN INSTILL OUR CULTURE!!!" instead of actually scouting and developing a specific gameplan for that opponent. Based on his personality I would think he would have read some Sun Tzu by now. Classic failure to heed the warning that "if you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat."

Herman doesn't bother getting to know the enemy if he thinks his team is enough of a favorite.

Yeah. It’s hard to draw any other conclusion based on how shitty our game plans were for teams like ISU ans Baylor. 
 

I’m pretty confident Yurcich will provide a quality floor for our game plans. With Tim Beck, there was no floor. 

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4 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Yeah. It’s hard to draw any other conclusion based on how shitty our game plans were for teams like ISU ans Baylor. 
 

I’m pretty confident Yurcich will provide a quality floor for our game plans. With Tim Beck, there was no floor. 

This is my thought, too.  Herman can obviously draw up a spectacular game plan when he feels sufficiently motivated to do so.  How or why he apparently doesn't feel obligated to do so in 100% of our games is a mystery, but our gameplans against LSU, Utah, Oklahoma State, and even OU (although the gameplan against OU, which was super RB swingpass/screen heavy didn't work) were vastly different from the "base" offense that we ran against almost everyone else.

With Yurcich around, we should accomplish two improvements:  First, we ought to increase the potency of our base offense.  Second, we will add a mind capable/tasked with analyzing and coming up with gameplans for every opponent we face.  Couple that with Herman adding flavor against the best teams we face, I expect our offense will be significantly improved next year in all of our games.

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1 hour ago, Huckleberry said:

"Impose our will"

I think it may really be that simple. Against what Herman feels are lesser opponents his entire strategy is "IMPOSE OUR WILL SO WE CAN INSTILL OUR CULTURE!!!" instead of actually scouting and developing a specific gameplan for that opponent. Based on his personality I would think he would have read some Sun Tzu by now. Classic failure to heed the warning that "if you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat."

Herman doesn't bother getting to know the enemy if he thinks his team is enough of a favorite.

He doesn't even know who we play next.  I always thought that was some idiotic coach speak, but after this season I guess it must actually be true.  

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39 minutes ago, Katfid54 said:

With Yurcich around, we should accomplish two improvements:  First, we ought to increase the potency of our base offense.  Second, we will add a mind capable/tasked with analyzing and coming up with gameplans for every opponent we face.  Couple that with Herman adding flavor against the best teams we face, I expect our offense will be significantly improved next year in all of our games.

Do you (or anyone else who is excited about yurcich) also foresee a change in the "win by 1" offensive philosophy? Because if not, it don't make a shit in my humblest of opinions. 

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Just now, BigHorn'13 said:

Do you (or anyone else who is excited about yurcich) also foresee a change in the "win by 1" offensive philosophy? Because if not, it don't make a shit in my humblest of opinions. 

Assuming Herman doesn't wrest control of playcalling in games where we have a comfortable lead, Yurcich's addition should also positively affect our playcalling in those situations (also assuming Yurcich doesn't have a similar propensity for going uber conservative when up by more than one score).

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we have the speed. we just dont put it on the field. when your offense features 4 receivers but two of those are a TE and a 6'6 / 6'7' receiver, and your QB is a power runner, it really slows it down. Even more so when you dont throw to the TE. 

Ingram, Whittington, Bijon all have plenty of speed at RB.

Eagles, Smith, Lewis, Moore, Washington, etc all have plenty of speed at WR. 

I hope Yurcich employs a 2x2 with Eagles and Smith on one side and Washington/Lewis and Whittington on the other, with Ingram/Bijon in the backfield.

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1 hour ago, Longhorn94 said:

we have the speed. we just dont put it on the field. when your offense features 4 receivers but two of those are a TE and a 6'6 / 6'7' receiver, and your QB is a power runner, it really slows it down. Even more so when you dont throw to the TE. 

Ingram, Whittington, Bijon all have plenty of speed at RB.

Eagles, Smith, Lewis, Moore, Washington, etc all have plenty of speed at WR. 

I hope Yurcich employs a 2x2 with Eagles and Smith on one side and Washington/Lewis and Whittington on the other, with Ingram/Bijon in the backfield.

Lining up Andrew Beck at WR was the dumbest shit. 

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24 minutes ago, thepop said:

Lining up Andrew Beck at WR was the dumbest shit. 

At least Andrew Beck was sometimes a receiving threat. Constantly employing TEs that can't block and aren't used in the passing game is a complete waste of a player on the field. It is maddeningly stupid.

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We will still be running 11 personnel 97% of the time anyway next season. So all the talk about which person will replace the TE to deploy utilizing the best speed on the roster is a moot point.

Epps apparently has had a moment of clarity, so that's nice. Moving Boyce to reciever seems like delaying the inevitable. Eagles doesn't have to deal with coach rooster fuckface, which is neat. Smith being a given to start at slot makes too much sense so that'll be fucked in some sort of way. Ditto Washington at X.

I don't know what to make of the offensive line because I'm still scratching my head over what I witnessed this past year. 

RB position will be the best it's been since who the fuck knows. Let's see how much we actually utilize this instead of...

Sam. I sweatergawd another wasted season, his last, will result in a restraining order against me from mensa. He received a lot of shit last season for his performance and I don't know how much of that blame he should've shared. I do know he didn't have the autonomy one would expect a 3rd year starting QB to have and that's something I would hope changes. 

Ultimately, people can say whatever they want about the defense this past season and next's, but ultimately it's what happens on the offensive side that (will) determines our fate. If Tommy boy comes out again with this "win by 1" mantra and the attitude that scoring 30 points a game will win this conference, it'll be a long fall. 

 

Oh and if that report about the team's speed is true, I don't see it. We're fast (not elite by any stretch) but we suck at explosive plays. Remember the stat before the beginning of the season about plays over 30 yards? How often post OSU were we breaking those off? Maybe once or twice a game if we were lucky? This offense lacks (among many others) explosiveness, not speed./ rant

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Ultimately, people can say whatever they want about the defense this past season and next's, but ultimately it's what happens on the offensive side that (will) determines our fate. If Tommy boy comes out again with this "win by 1" mantra and the attitude that scoring 30 points a game will win this conference, it'll be a long fall. 

You're a consistent poster, I'll give you that.

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5 minutes ago, Katfid54 said:

I don't agree with this.  I expect Yurcich will have us in 10 personnel a lot.  He'll also have us in 20 personnel quite a bit.

While I sure as fuck hope you are correct, I cannot feel confident in this take until we see it play out, at least in the spring. I've seen too much in this life to trust much of anything to be a certainty beyond death, taxes, and disappointment from the teams that I follow. I need to see dry ink on dotted lines and such before I trust anything as a given. Herman's shown a proclivity for imitating a pet raccoon - whatever he doesn't fuck up or eat, he shits on. I'm not ready to concede that he won't meddle with and fuck up Yurcich's plans. 

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29 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

Saahdiq Charles just declared. Now replacing 4/5 OL. I don't think they were expecting to lose Cushenberry or Charles. 

This can't be true. It was reported here (by 6th Street I think) that LSU's entire OL is coming back.

Shit, it was Bevo VIII. Sorry, 6th Street.

Edited by Huckleberry
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1 hour ago, Huckleberry said:

This can't be true. It was reported here (by 6th Street I think) that LSU's entire OL is coming back.

Shit, it was Bevo VIII. Sorry, 6th Street.

I mean, I don’t think you should apologize to him either on general fucking principle. 

Edited by SydneyCarton
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4 hours ago, closetojumping said:

While I sure as fuck hope you are correct, I cannot feel confident in this take until we see it play out, at least in the spring. I've seen too much in this life to trust much of anything to be a certainty beyond death, taxes, and disappointment from the teams that I follow. I need to see dry ink on dotted lines and such before I trust anything as a given. Herman's shown a proclivity for imitating a pet raccoon - whatever he doesn't fuck up or eat, he shits on. I'm not ready to concede that he won't meddle with and fuck up Yurcich's plans. 

Don't forget about what he snorts as well.

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