Wow! This guy with the winner, but I do want to add that there is a common thread among most of the coaches we hired. They have a strong streak of hard-headedness, to the extreme. Fred lucked into his decision to put Earl in the I, and went 11-1 the first year. That decision went to his head, because from then on Fred thought he knew enough to run the offense. Fred did not tolerate the idea of having an OC take control of the offense. Fred was a defensive guy, so much that he put the best athletes on defense, to the detriment of the offense. Another example of arrogance, the famous QB draw call against, Alabama, January 1, 1982. There was an argument about who took credit for the call. Fred took the credit. We were #2 in the final poll because Robert Brewer went to the line on 4th down and called timeout. Sideline conversation ensued and the call came from nowhere. Not one Texas fan had seen anything like that call-probably ever. Best call since Street to Peschel. So, by the time we got to January 1, 1984 Fred had the best defense in college football in probably 5 years, but didn't have a RB who could hit the hole and didn't have a QB consistent enough to rely on. Fred essentially flipped the coin and decided on Rick McIvor because of one game, the 45-13 beatdown of aggy, and we lost 10-9. If Moerschell had been the QB, we would have easily scored three TDs, because Moerschell was a running threat as a well as a decent passer. The punt return fumble should have never mattered.
At the exact time Fred was flaming out, in 1986, the ags came to town with signs on their cars, "keep Fred". -and of course aggy was cheating fEd ex style.
Mackovic- hard-headed- just like Herman -only coach offense-just like Herman.
Mack Brown did the unthinkable-he decided to coach less. "Let Vince be Vince" was more powerful than any detailed coaching advice ever. It didn't matter that we had 30 future NFL prospects . We needed a once in a lifetime QB with the confidence that his coach had his back.
Hire a coach who has a little less arrogance that it is his way or the highway, and maybe we can get an improvement.