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satyanash

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Posts posted by satyanash

  1. Ian Boyd: What does Tiaoalii Savea bring to the Texas defense?

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    Johnny Nansen had an interesting challenge waiting for him in Austin as the new co-defensive coordinator for the Texas Longhorns. The team was losing an extremely valuable duo in the middle of the defense with T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy heading to the NFL Draft while their position coach Bo Davis left for the same role with the LSU Tigers.

    The nose tackle position in particular is an area of concern. The two main figures at the position in 2023 were Murphy and Trill Carter, the latter of whom exited via the transfer portal. Likely replacement Ja’Maree Caldwell opted to head out to Oregon after Davis was poached, leaving Texas without a position coach or a transfer option to stabilize the interior.

    No matter, Nansen had a solution in Tiaoalii Savea, a former blue chip recruit from Nevada who’d joined him at UCLA and followed him to Arizona. Now Savea comes to Texas with just the skill set to help the Horns solve for losing their impact contributors up the middle.

    Scouting Savea

    Savea’s stats on the year tell an intriguing story. He had 22 tackles on the year with six tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, which is solid but not overwhelmingly dominant. The Wildcat defensive front last season had two lines and Savea typically played on the second unit and often as a 4i-technique in a 3-down front. Those are good numbers for a back-up who’d play 30 or so snaps every game but don’t necessarily convey his part in the Arizona defense.

    He was rated 90.86 out of Las Vegas (Nev.) Desert Pines and was 6-foot-3, 265 pounds but now is listed at 6-foot-4, 308 after three years of college strength and conditioning. Savea doesn’t have amazing length or many pass-rush moves to speak of although he has some real burst when allowed to shoot gaps in the run game. For Arizona he was useful as a point of attack defender or slanting on blitzes who could either be hard to move or hard to keep out of the backfield as the situation might dictate. Here’s a few of his highlights against Oklahoma.

    Savea is solid against a double team unless it’s pass protection in which case he’s largely a non-factor save for in the fact he’s occupying two people. It’s a win if a defense can get the protection scheme to dedicate two men to blocking Savea, he’s not particularly dangerous in the pass rush. He is very familiar with the art of slanting to deny angles and occupy blockers who are then unable to pick up blitzers. Arizona Mike linebacker Jacob Manu had 6.5 sacks on the year on those blitzes.

    As Savea’s higher rate of tackles for loss indicates, he’s at his best playing 1-on-1 or (better still) on the move generating penetration into the backfield. Savea caused real problems for the Oklahoma run game and was spilling runs with penetration on a remarkably high percentage of his snaps. He’s a very stout presence when working upfield because of his combination of initial quickness and raw power.

    How does he fit into the Texas defense?

    Texas is in need of nose tackle to play next to Alfred Collins, Vernon Broughton, and Jaray Bledsoe. The scheme Texas has been playing actually makes use of penetration and quickness at nose tackle. Murphy was routinely freed up to get after teams in the A-gap and blow up schemes before they could get started by burrowing under guards and getting into the backfield.

    Savea could have a similar impact although he’s not the same sort of player. As a 2i nose tackle he could command a lot of double teams with his ability to blow by guards and some of his snaps at 4i as a Wildcat suggest he won’t be totally washed away when the double team comes. He’s not terribly easy to move. It will be an adjustment for him but not totally dissimilar from what he’s done in the past and he certainly doesn’t lack the physicality or doggedness to perform in a sacrificial role.

    If Savea can hold down 30 or more snaps a game as a nose it sets Texas up to continue to play and develop Aaron Bryant and Sydir Mitchell alongside him without asking them to lead the way just yet. This might also open up opportunities for Texas to explore the possibilities of slants and stunts from their tackles in the coming season. Collins is one of the better looping defensive tackles in the game and would do well coming around the edge of a Savea slant.

    Inside-Texas-diagrams.jpg

    If the guard chases the nose inside the protection is cooked against Collins coming around. Texas has yet to show much in the movement game up front under Pete Kwiatkowski but are likely to evolve in this direction with Davis gone and Nansen on board. Texas’ 2024 defense continues to take shape.

     

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  2. Bobby Burton: Sunday

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    The first Junior Day of the year occurred yesterday. And it was considered “successful”. So how many commitments did the Longhorns grab? Five? Seven? Ten? Nope. Just one emerged. And it really should be no surprise to close onlookers of the program. That’s how Steve Sarkisian plays it. When it comes to recruiting and Sark, patience isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a way of life. Yet there are different ways to look at his patience. Sark and running back coach Tashard Choice took that one commitment not from a player in the upcoming 2025 class, but a running back in 2026, Aledo’s speedy Raycine Guillory Jr.

    Perhaps that’s how the Horns want to play it. Take a player who wants to sign two years from now, yet a pledge from a 2025 player is just too soon. How does that jibe with Sark’s “patient”recruiting style? Here’s how: The immediate class needs more detailed introspection. While we all know a commitment two years from now doesn’t always stick, one in the ‘25 class is very likely to. So Sark is actually playing the long game yet again. Better to be thorough on the front end, especially on decisions that will impact your program sooner. It’s a simple, proven concept. And Sark’s not changing, not until he has truly surveyed the landscape, met with a multitude of recruits and is ready to pull the trigger.

    Sark and recruiting, I just never get the feeling that he pushes the panic button. He’s willing to play the long game. Always.

    **

    New scholarship offers for class of 2025:

    • ATH, Michael Terry Jr., San Antonio Alamo Heights
    • RB, Rickey Wright, Tyler Chapel Hill
    • OL Ryan Frodje, Cypress Bridgeland
    • OL, Connor Carry, Prosper
    • DL, Gustavo Cordova, Lake Travis

    **

    We’ll have more from junior day later today.

     

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  3. Caption: TCU back Kyle Gillespie is wrestled down by two Longhorns defenders during a 1940 home game. The Frogs would suffer a 14-21 defeat.

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    Caption: Texas end Wally Scott blocks the punt of A&M's Derace Moser during third-quarter action at Kyle Field. The Longhorns would go on to upset the second-ranked Aggies, 23-0.

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    Caption: Texas head coach Dana X. Bible squats on the sidelines as the Longhorns roll to a 24-7 victory over Texas A&M on Thanksgiving Day, 1946. It would be the final game of Bible's coaching career.

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    Caption: Texas' Bobby Layne (22) shakes hands with Alabama's Harry Gilmer (52) before the 1948 Sugar Bowl in Tulane Stadium. Layne would receive the Sugar Bowl's very first MVP award after the Longhorns' 27-7 victory, and was reportedly seen drinking hurricanes out of the trophy in the French Quarter that night.

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  4. 20 hours ago, Reese Bennett said:

    si has been dead to me since they put a soccer guy on the cover the week the Rockets won their first championship--and we all know the Knicks would have been on the cover if they had won. I had been waiting my whole life--including the first year I got a subscription for Christmas at age 9--to have a Houston championship team on the cover and they fucked me.  Just look at this shit. Rockets championship below soccer and on par with an old-ass Ted Williams fishing. Since then, I haven't even picked up an issue in a doctor's office waiting room. Fuck them. And good riddance. 

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  5. Quote

    The Florida Gators’ football program is under NCAA investigation. The investigation has been underway since at least the summer. On June 9, the NCAA sent UF President Ben Sasse a notice of inquiry. That’s a formal document enforcement staff sends to schools alerting them of the investigation before interviewing any school employees or athletes. The Tampa Bay Times requested the letter in October. The request was initially denied but fulfilled Friday after inquiries from the Times’ legal counsel at Thomas & LoCicero.

    “We have been and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA,” Gators spokesperson Steve McClain said. “We hold ourselves to high standards of excellence and integrity on and off the field. Because we follow NCAA policies about maintaining confidentiality, we are unable to offer additional comments.” The specific nature of the investigation and potential violations are not specified in the document.

    The Gators were last sanctioned by the NCAA in a separate case in December 2020. They received a one-year probation for recruiting violations under then-coach Dan Mullen. A Level II infraction involved Mullen and an assistant meeting with a recruit who hadn’t finished his junior year of high school. A Level III infraction centered on impermissible contact between coaches and recruits who were on their way to a tournament in Tampa.

    The investigation comes as enforcement tries to keep up with the quickly evolving spaces of recruiting and name, image and likeness. Last week, Florida State was sanctioned after offensive coordinator Alex Atkins drove a transfer prospect to a meeting with a booster who led an NIL collective. That booster offered the prospect $15,000 as a recruiting inducement, according to the negotiated resolution between the NCAA and the Seminoles.

     

  6. 8 hours ago, Juke_Em said:

    Yeah Terry is done and he knows it. But this was always going to be the ending - the interim is never the right guy. It's too hard to recover from losing Chris Beard within only a year...Terry will have to be the patsy for this program for a year or two.

     

  7. Eric Nahlin: Wednesday night Texas notes on coaching search and high profile portal targets

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    I’ve been working the phones and this is what I’ve come up with today. There isn’t much earth shattering but there are some positive trend lines in UT’s favor.

    D-Tackle coach, by way of NFL 

    It’s an NFL guy. Which NFL guy? That I’m not sure. There isn’t a list of candidates; there is a hire that Sark has either made or is just waiting until after that coach’s season is over to finalize. As we suspected, Sark has his man.  Many fans are simply naming the best guys they can think of even if they don’t make logical sense. Since I don’t know who it is, maybe it is one of those guys but I doubt it.  I don’t care who it is because I trust Sark. 

    If it is Rodrique Wright, that works for me. That wouldn’t be close to the same thing as randomly naming a former Longhorn great with zero coaching background. If it was Mack Brown making that sort of hire, then I’d have some concerns. Sark wouldn’t hire a guy to “bring him home.” He’d hire him because he’s a good coach, good fit, and, oh yeah, being at home is a good recruiting pitch. How many times do you think Freddie Roach has used that angle at Alabama?

    TE Amari Niblack, by way of Alabama

     The Alabama transfer will visit soon. I don’t know the exact day and time. I still feel strongly Texas will land one of Niblack or Benjamin Yurosek and I lean towards Niblack being more likely. He’d be in the program for Spring ball which is an obvious benefit. While Yurosek went to Stanford, he’s also from Bakersfield, which is like California’s Abilene. He might struggle to learn the offense.  I kid. Niblack having multiple Alabama teammates committed to Texas is a plus. Those guys are working on him.

    So, if I think they get one of the two, and I think Niblack is more likely, why not put in an RPM? I’m just not quite there yet. In the event Texas goes hard after Yurosek I could have egg on my face. We’ll keep investigating this one but I like UT’s chances of landing Niblack at this time.

    CB Jabbar Muhammad, by way of Washington, by way of Oklahoma StateaI

    If you recall his cousin Malik Muhammad‘s recruitment I mentioned there was a lot of slack in it. A slack recruitment is one where ground can be made up very quickly. I have heard Muhammad’s visit is going well after Oregon probably held a slight lead coming in. He arrived today and will also visit tomorrow. I think there’s a slight chance Texas can shut this one down on the visit, but it’s more likely he’ll visit Alabama and Oregon. He’s not a kid, he’s a man making a business decision so he’s not going to get caught up in an emotional decision.  Texas does have the same tailwinds with Jabbar that it had with Malik, namely proximity and extensive family ties to the school.

    Bottomline, I feel good here, better than I did a couple of days ago. However, between Oregon’s NIL and Alabama’s desperation (including Jabbar’s familiarity with Kalen DeBoer) as it acclimates to its new normal, I’m not ready to rev up the RPM’s just yet.

     

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  8. 22 minutes ago, Hornmatic said:

    If all goes well guys like Bond won’t be here next year. So it’s important to point out to the Moore/Nibblets of the world that they’re on the same path as Arch and there’s no reason to be impatient. Work your ass off, learn/master your craft, you can probably be worked in a little this year, and be ready to ball out with Arch in 2025. 

    Yeah the coaches will likely emphasize that we're only in this situation because of Andre Coleman's incompetent WR recruiting. Because of his failures we were denied a competent group of upperclassmen WRs.

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  9. Ian Boyd: What will Duane Akina bring to Texas?

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    Johnny Nansen will be bringing a familiar character with him when he joins the Texas football staff under Steve Sarkisian for the 2024 season. Arizona’s “senior defensive analyst” in charge of the secondary, Duane Akina, is going to take on the same role with the Texas Longhorns. Since exiting the Texas program when Mack Brown resigned, Akina has worked in the Pac-12. From 2014 to 2022 he was the defensive backs coach for Stanford and then at 66 years old took on a lighter “Gary Patterson at Texas” sort of analyst role at Arizona in 2023.

    As Longhorn fans who recall the 2000s will relay, Akina knows defensive back play and was an important fixture in the Mack Brown era while crafting two of the best secondaries in program history in 2005 and 2009. Now he returns to lend his expertise to a Texas staff which is overflowing with young talent in the secondary but has yet to see it materialize into an elite unit.

    Akina’s Texas secondaries

    Akina was known for three main features at Texas back in the 2000s.

    •     A “four corners” recruiting philosophy
    •     Excellent man coverage
    •     Building NFL pipeline and developing “DBU”

    The “four corners” philosophy meant Texas primarily recruited defensive backs who projected to play cornerback and moved some of them inside to safety as needed. The 2005 secondary is a terrific reflection of this approach. This unit started the following defenders:

    •     Right cornerback: Cedric Griffin, 2nd round pick and 7-year NFL veteran.
    •     Free safety: Michael Griffin, 1st round pick, 10-year NFL veteran, two-time Pro Bowler.
    •     Strong safety: Michael Huff, 1st round pick, 8-year NFL veteran.
    •     Left cornerback: Tarell Brown, 5th round pick, 7-year NFL veteran.
    •     Nickel (not a starter back then): Aaron Ross, 1st round pick, 7-year NFL veteran.

    Michael Griffin was an elite athlete despite eventually checking in at 215 pounds. Michael Huff was a track star who could be a dominant box safety or erase a slot in man coverage as the situation dictated. Everyone in the lineup could run and cover and Akina made sure they all know how to play man, which created flexibility across the unit. If you hadn’t heard, this unit won the National Championship.

    Between Texas recruiting some of the best skills athletes within the state and Akina teaching them how to play defensive back and man coverage, the school began to claim status as “Defensive Back University” due to the volume of players sent to the NFL and their success after arriving. From 2001 to 2013 while Akina was the defensive backs coach, Texas had 13 defensive backs drafted including five 1st round picks.

    The approach evolved some over time. Akina was made co-defensive coordinator for the 2007 season and the Longhorns had some issues in pass defense, leading to the hire of Will Muschamp for 2008. Muschamp brought a base nickel and quarters coverage philosophy which was maintained by his successor Manny Diaz. This approach was scrapped before the end, in part due to Akina’s preference for playing single-high coverage. The Mack Brown Longhorns went out in 2013 blending Cover 1 (single-high man coverage) and Cover 3 (single-high zone coverage) under Akina’s direction.

    After arriving at Stanford, Akina continued in that direction of teaching single-high defense with an emphasis on man coverage. Over his nine seasons in Palo Alto the Cardinal sent six defensive backs to the NFL, most notably safety Justin Reid who played a lot of nickel (man coverage on the slot) for Akina. The Arizona Wildcats had a similar philosophy.

    Akina as a defensive analyst at Texas

    Nansen is the new co-defensive coordinator at Texas and he’s coming from a background of utilizing single-high safety coverage on the back end. He’s bringing back Akina to serve in the same role at Texas he held at Arizona, as an analyst overseeing the secondary. This simply begs the question of what sort of input Akina is likely to have on the Texas secondary.

    The Wildcats intended for Akina to be able to be hands on with their players and even moved him to an on-field role for a spell when the NCAA didn’t approve rules allowing analysts to coach players directly. A an analyst he can be a resource but obviously isn’t allowed to be an extra position coach, which means he’ll likely have more of a role in overseeing the vision and coaching of the secondary.

    In that regard, he’s certainly not coming to update or upgrade their command of the quarters coverages which have defined their approach for the last few seasons. It’s possible Akina could supplement their overall approach to coverage and man coverage in general with the focus remaining on a base, two-high coverage system. He could work within that scheme as he did under Muschamp or Diaz but he’s not going to be offering fresh vision for a two-high defense and certainly not vision better than what Patterson brought in 2022. Given some of the issues Texas had with that approach this season, the historical preference for single-high coverage shown by an increasing number of coaches on staff (including both coordinators), and Akina’s hire it seems likely they may adapt a new approach.

    So this role may serve to help change the schemes on the back end of the Longhorn defense to something more akin(a) to what co-coordinators Nansen and Kwiatkowski ran at previous stops. This coming spring should be an interesting and important one for a talented and retooling Longhorn secondary.

     

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  10. Scipio Tex: On A Barcalounger Watching Musical Chairs

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    Texas is currently in the enviable position of reclining comfortably with its feet up, behind a velvet rope, holding a pitcher of margaritas, watching the music play and the portalers dance. The Longhorns have already invited some quality players to join them at their table and not all will accept, but the ripple effects of coaching hires and how they impact the portal has still not yet been fully felt.

    The unscheduled 30 day transfer window triggered by a head coach leaving their job has further energized the dance floor and it’s an element with impacts that could last until the Longhorn Spring game. Nick Saban was the giant GOAT thrown into the koi pond. The fish are still stirring and the waves haven’t stopped. That’s how Texas landed future NFL receiver Isaiah Bond from Alabama.

    Saban’s ripple effect to Seattle is why Texas is in the Final Two for standout cornerback Jabbar Muhammad. Two players Texas coaches know well, both up for contract seasons and guaranteed potential starters. Those are the known impacts so far. The unknown are still being sorted. The vacated Washington position could have its own impacts beyond a cornerback prospect. Let’s get nuts for a moment.

    The Huskies have circled Arizona’s Jedd Fisch as their top candidate. The two schools were once PAC brethren and somewhat comparable jobs (though Washington has always had a much richer history and had better overall commitment), but Washington’s entrance to The Only Other Conference That Matters and Arizona’s accounting department misplacing a zero or three over the last fiscal decade means that the future earning potential of each job (and the ability to build out winning resources) is now distinct.

    The question is how Fisch sees it. Here’s where it gets really fun, stupid and speculative.

    Arizona opening up would start the portal clock on standout QB Noah Fifita (not a Texas target, see current QB room) and Tetairoa McMillan (very much a Texas target, my favorite WR in the country). Not to mention a handful of other decent Wildcat players that a certain Duane Akina and Johnny Nansen just might have good internal scouting reports on.

    McMillan stands above them all. Like, really. He’s 6-5 and had 90 catches for 1402 yards last year. McMillan is my #1 receiver I want Texas to tamper with. McMillan and Fifita are former high school teammates and might be attached at the hip, but following Fisch to Washington may not be in the cards for both. McMillan might have a strong interest in a high level college offense with a proven QB, a quality OL, familiar Wildcat coaches on staff and the requisite national spotlight to guarantee his NFL draft stock.

    Would you like to know more? OK. Let’s speculate even more wildly and irresponsibly. Arizona would need to hire someone and who better than fellow desert denizen Barry Odom, fresh off of a rejuvenating 9-5 campaign at UNLV. UNLV just lost their starting QB Jayden Maiava to USC and the best player on the roster – returning senior wide receiver Ricky White (#2 on my national tampering favorite receivers list) would be without both a QB and a coach.

    If you’re not familiar with his game, White finished the season with 88 catches for 1483 yards last year and was one of the best half dozen WRs I saw last year. Think of a 185 pound Xavier Worthy clone with ball-winning traits. So should the music end just right, he’s potentially in play. While UNLV feverishly passes the hat in the Circa poker room.

    What of Michigan if Harbaugh leaves? What ripple effects could that set off? The Wolverines are expected to promote OC Sherrone Moore – if he’ll stop sobbing uncontrollably and cursing on national television – and their most likely pivot – DeBoer -was just taken off of the game board by Bama.

    Michigan probably wouldn’t have obvious impacts that Texas might benefit from, but as I outlined above, impacts aren’t obvious until they are and the music doesn’t stop. Until it does. None us know the impact that will trigger the next ripple that is relevant. Meanwhile, this lounger is comfy and a pleasant buzz makes the wait bearable and the speculation even more fun.

     

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