We went from Gary Gibbs (no charisma / lifetime DC) to Howard Schnellenberger (got worse), to John Blake (rock bottom). Our athletic director was new, and took a good look at Bob Stoops, who was recommended by a network of people. When Stoops essentially quit on the job in the 2014 season, he went to Mike Leach. Leach recommended Lincoln Riley. Stoops, for all intents and purposes, handed the head coaching job over to Lincoln Riley before officially doing so. I was happy about the decision when the news broke. OU's trajectory from 2010-2014 was going down as each season progressed, with the exception of 2013, when Oklahoma State was the better team and Gundy shit the bed in Stillwater vs. OU and 'Bama didn't care about the 2013 season's Sugar Bowl. I've read the responses to my comments, and I definitely would like to reply that my posts were in no way meant to "show pity", that I do think Herman will be fired, but I didn't say it was going to be this year. I want to emphasise that I do think its the "powers that be" at UT that will keep a snake like Meyer from ever coaching at UT, and that I got the hell out of Oklahoma for Boulder, CO twelve years ago. I grew up in Tulsa (suburb) and moved back to OK when I graduated from college (which is why I chose Boulder- the opposite of Tulsa.) My advice would be: use that network you guys have, which includes Mack Brown. Do what OU did with both Stoops and Riley when choosing your head coach.
I agree with youdunnf'dup about the talent there now. Not having Collin Johnson out there for Ehlinger is a bad, bad loss to injury. It seems that he's a game changer while out there with Duvernay. From an outsider's perspective, Devin Duvernay is getting blanketed due to Johnson's absence (yet, Duvernay's still making plays.) Remember, Bob Stoops came in to a program loaded with talent and a complete idiot as their coach (Blake) and turned the OL and DL into National Champions with his choices in position coaches and attitude.
If you agree with me that UT would never agree to hire Urban Meyer, and you don't want Wittingham, you next coach is probably going to be a guy you might have to look up on the internet, and that'll likely end up being a good thing for y'all.
On the "blue bloods" thing, holy shit, you'd have to throw Miami in there with their flash-in-the-pan stuff if you're going to lump Clemson in. I will always hold there are eight until another one gets enough clout. Notre Dame, USC, Michigan, tOSU, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, and Alabama. As far as "who gives a shit about being a blue blood?" Damn, y'all. Its very important. The comparisons to Nebraska and their almost 20-year absence aren't really useful or relevant to the conversation. Texas is the flagship football program in the State of Texas. Texas is football. Your divided "powers that be" are a problem when re-ascending towards being a national title contender at the end of each season, but they were (for all practical purposes) the same people who hired Mack Brown. Texas is not Nebraska. ( I don't know WTF is going on over there, and I probably don't want to know.)
I honestly thought Tom Herman would be the next great coach at Texas, though, so everything with a grain of salt.
FUKM