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2021 Texas Offseason: Sark Attacks Austin


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3 hours ago, Eggo said:

JT is interesting. The NFL just passed a rule allowing TEs to wear single digits. Will make it harder for him to switch to defense though. 

He didnt play defense at all his senior season of high school. People need to give up the dream that he's Jevon Kearse or somebody 

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There are a lot of things that the university is capable of doing and has done historically, but contracts out now. Administrative IT systems are largely being bought off the shelf despite being developed in-house for decades. Sure, it standardizes you with everyone else and allows you to focus on more teaching and learning stuff, but it dilutes your identity and forces you to pay the ask. The legislature somehow finds it easier to approve contracting fees than FTE salaries.

UT’s been contracting out IP stuff for decades. It’s a specialized area. Why would you in-house global IP? If a Vietnamese Car Wash is using a fake tower, they’re being sent a cease and desist.
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8 minutes ago, cmontexas said:

Im nobody. Ive been around for 20 years but havent tried to cultivate any kind of online character. I post if I have thoughts that I havent seen posted. I dont care if you remember that the same guy has thoughts in the Fort Worth thread or wherever else on here

You are the worst poster on this site. You offer nothing but lame trolling attempts that sidetrack whichever thread the board is unlucky enough to have you follow.  EG this current attempt to "gotcha" me about Jatavion Sanders playing time, like the 12 total tackles he accumulated his senior year negate the point that the dude has shown zero interest in playing defense or being the dominant pass rusher people here have projected him to be.

Do you feel like your bringing real value to this discussion? No, you're just being a fucking cocksucker.  Unless you're like actually mentally slow or something in which case I apologize for engaging you.

Lulz

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Im nobody. Ive been around for 20 years but havent tried to cultivate any kind of online character. I post if I have thoughts that I havent seen posted. I dont care if you remember that the same guy has thoughts in the Fort Worth thread or wherever else on here
You are the worst poster on this site. You offer nothing but lame trolling attempts that sidetrack whichever thread the board is unlucky enough to have you follow.  EG this current attempt to "gotcha" me about Jatavion Sanders playing time, like the 12 total tackles he accumulated his senior year negate the point that the dude has shown zero interest in playing defense or being the dominant pass rusher people here have projected him to be.
Do you feel like your bringing real value to this discussion? No, you're just being a fucking cocksucker.  Unless you're like actually mentally slow or something in which case I apologize for engaging you.
You seem mad bro, how about some nice Chamolmile tea with honey?
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12 hours ago, Eggo said:

JT is interesting. The NFL just passed a rule allowing TEs to wear single digits. Will make it harder for him to switch to defense though. 

Egg man, the favorite to be the #1 overall NFL draft pick in April is a DE who wears #5: https://goducks.com/sports/football/roster/kayvon-thibodeaux/10601

Even cuddly Larry Dibbles wore #1 as a DT early in his career. There are other defensive linemen out there currently wearing single digits as well, so,that shouldn’t be a hinderance. Whether Sanders wants to play defense is an entirely different matter.

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13 hours ago, Eggo said:

JT is interesting. The NFL just passed a rule allowing TEs to wear single digits. Will make it harder for him to switch to defense though. 

he has made it quite clear he has less than zero interest in playing defense at this point

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8 hours ago, cmontexas said:

Do you feel like your bringing real value to this discussion? No, you're just being a fucking cocksucker.  Unless you're like actually mentally slow or something in which case I apologize for engaging you.

Preach Amy Poehler GIF by Sisters

 

 

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14 hours ago, Don Hornleone said:

I particularly found it funny that Ears Magoo referenced Mack Brown and the UNC program being more relevant than Texas, despite the fact that they finished last year one whole spot ahead of us in the final AP poll and one more loss. Yeah Paul, huge gap there bud.

And they lost to a shitty team in their bowl game- a team that didn’t beat any quality teams all season. 

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14 hours ago, Don Hornleone said:

I particularly found it funny that Ears Magoo referenced Mack Brown and the UNC program being more relevant than Texas, despite the fact that they finished last year one whole spot ahead of us in the final AP poll and one more loss. Yeah Paul, huge gap there bud.

Finebaum is a poor man’s Stephen A Smith. Same shtick

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10 hours ago, cmontexas said:

Im nobody. Ive been around for 20 years but havent tried to cultivate any kind of online character. I post if I have thoughts that I havent seen posted. I dont care if you remember that the same guy has thoughts in the Fort Worth thread or wherever else on here

You are the worst poster on this site. You offer nothing but lame trolling attempts that sidetrack whichever thread the board is unlucky enough to have you follow.  EG this current attempt to "gotcha" me about Jatavion Sanders playing time, like the 12 total tackles he accumulated his senior year negate the point that the dude has shown zero interest in playing defense or being the dominant pass rusher people here have projected him to be.

Do you feel like your bringing real value to this discussion? No, you're just being a fucking cocksucker.  Unless you're like actually mentally slow or something in which case I apologize for engaging you.

tl;dr

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19 minutes ago, Machinator said:

(Scipio Tex) It's Kyle Flooding Down in Texas

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Like the unrelenting rains have washed over our great state like a young @Ian Boyd's tears whenever bullies threw his abacus to the ground in 2nd grade, first year Texas OL coach Kyle Flood has his work cut out for him as he seeks to patch leaks on an offensive line that has better raw talent than conventional wisdom holds, but is in dire need of some calculated calk in the cracks.

Be very careful reading that last sentence out loud.

I regret writing it even now...

We've done plenty of breakdowns of individual players (and we'll do more!), but over focus on the micro of positional battles and individual fits loses site of the macro that can bolster the performance of an entire unit. This is the classic Texas fan's over focus on "talent" - as if a football game is determined solely by a cumulative sum of star rankings. How the talent exists in a system with development is key. And if you're playing the Paul Wadlington Plentiful Platitudes drinking game, DRINK!

Some macro considerations:

1. This is an athletic unit on the whole. Whether talking about Christian Jones' Day 1 NFL Draft physical upside, Andrej Karic's terrific active feet in the run game, or Jake Majors' mobility at center that allows him to reach block nose tackles or get upfield on a covered inside linebacker, this unit moves better than most of its peers in college football. They can also do so without giving up size. Late in the season,Texas fans saw what unleashing that athleticism can look like in the outside stretch zone game in combination with the sweet feet of Bijan Robinson, some backfield eye candy and misdirection, and a viable downfield play action passing game. That it took Tom Herman an entire season to stumble into that approach in a focused manner when those traits were readily identifiable in August is why he's currently breaking down film for the Bears. If your retort is that Kansas State and Colorado didn't have world beating defense, congratulations and welcome to the Big 12. If you'd prefer to eke out 24 points in a tight loss against inferior competition, I know just the coach for you.

Flood knows what he has. And damn if he's not going to exploit it.

 

 

I still can't believe how long it took Hand/Tom to figure this out. Those last two games were a revelation. Hope Flood is the real deal and this isn't just offseason hype. 

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44 minutes ago, Machinator said:

(Scipio Tex) It's Kyle Flooding Down in Texas

  Hide contents

Like the unrelenting rains have washed over our great state like a young @Ian Boyd's tears whenever bullies threw his abacus to the ground in 2nd grade, first year Texas OL coach Kyle Flood has his work cut out for him as he seeks to patch leaks on an offensive line that has better raw talent than conventional wisdom holds, but is in dire need of some calculated calk in the cracks.

Be very careful reading that last sentence out loud.

I regret writing it even now...

We've done plenty of breakdowns of individual players (and we'll do more!), but over focus on the micro of positional battles and individual fits loses site of the macro that can bolster the performance of an entire unit. This is the classic Texas fan's over focus on "talent" - as if a football game is determined solely by a cumulative sum of star rankings. How the talent exists in a system with development is key. And if you're playing the Paul Wadlington Plentiful Platitudes drinking game, DRINK!

Some macro considerations:

1. This is an athletic unit on the whole. Whether talking about Christian Jones' Day 1 NFL Draft physical upside, Andrej Karic's terrific active feet in the run game, or Jake Majors' mobility at center that allows him to reach block nose tackles or get upfield on a covered inside linebacker, this unit moves better than most of its peers in college football. They can also do so without giving up size. Late in the season,Texas fans saw what unleashing that athleticism can look like in the outside stretch zone game in combination with the sweet feet of Bijan Robinson, some backfield eye candy and misdirection, and a viable downfield play action passing game. That it took Tom Herman an entire season to stumble into that approach in a focused manner when those traits were readily identifiable in August is why he's currently breaking down film for the Bears. If your retort is that Kansas State and Colorado didn't have world beating defense, congratulations and welcome to the Big 12. If you'd prefer to eke out 24 points in a tight loss against inferior competition, I know just the coach for you.

Flood knows what he has. And damn if he's not going to exploit it.

2. Good design and good play calling abets offensive line play. Good offensive line play supports and bolsters good play calling and design. This chicken-egg proposition is a fun debate in cause and effect and you can count me with Team OL all day, but if you've ever wondered why Team Scheme Clemson can play big boy football without stocking the NFL draft with OL talent, then you know this stuff can be schemed up just enough for your skill stars to shine. The Longhorn unit is going to have some more schematic help than it has had over the last decade. We don't know how good Sark is as a head coach, but I think we can reasonably infer that his play calling and design are on point. He's at the apex of his career in that regard - the perfect confluence of experience and youthful experimentation. Schematic help is on the way and it will start with mastery of the run game, particularly outside zone. The spring told us all we need to know about that.

3. Offensive lines are units, not just an amalgam of discrete athletes patched together. Herb Hand struggled to develop individual skills, but also unit play and cohesion. My postmortems documented some fairly idiotic protections last year that were blamed on individual players, but if you break them down, they were often being asked to do something very difficult or assigned to some nebulous task. On the other hands, good offensive design creates doubt and indecision in a defense. You know when it's easy to block a defensive end? When its 2nd and 5 and he's been getting exploited in outside zone by running too far up the field, creating a massive cutback lane for Bijan. The exuberant conversations (read: ass-chewing) on the enemy sideline have created a hesitant overthinking athlete. That guy will just stand and watch for a full two count locking down his run fit while Starting Longhorn QB To Be Named Later play actions and looks downfield.

4. Game planning. It's legal. And it's a great aid to OL play. Know that your opponent likes to stunt, twist, loop, and blitz? Cough cough...OU. We can put in some stuff to help the OL. Really. It's perfectly legal. I checked the rules and everything. Know that your opponent likes to go light front, protect against the deep ball, and hope offensive patience wanes? The running game and short passing game don't require much patience if it's schemed up to exploit that defense at 8-12 yards a pop instead of 3-5. Yeah, you've gotta execute it, but it all starts with opponent specific game planning and design.

So consider some of that macro when you get too caught up in the micro, bemoaning the fact that Orlando Pace and Jonathan Ogden aren't our bookend tackles. Right now, Kyle Flood is looking for the right individual starters and building unit cohesion. It will take time. They will see some struggles. But this Texas coaching staff comprehends that helping this unit falls on the shoulders of every offensive coach and every offensive player. And it begins with the man wearing the headset. Just as this offensive line understands that their play will determine the upside of the skill players around them.

 

I still get ragey when thinking about how little we ran quick run plays up the A and B gaps against OU in 2019. We didn’t make them pay for all their stunts until RoJo busted that 50 yarder in the second half and even then we hardly ever went back to it. Just complete and utter stupidity form Herman and Hand especially considering KSU had already modeled the game plan for us weeks before. 

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FCB

Spoiler

As Texas football begins summer conditioning, let’s do a quick check-in on a bunch of odds and ends involving the program.

For those wondering when the new turf is going in at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, I’m told it will happen in “the next couple weeks.”

Texas had 11 early-enrollee freshmen go through spring ball, in addition to LSU graduate transfer outside linebacker Ray Thornton and McNeese State grad transfer cornerback Darion Dunn.

Over the past 10 days, Texas welcomed in its June arrivals - 12 more freshmen and three more graduate transfers. More on all of them in a second.

It’s super early to evaluate the newcomers, but I’m told one player who has already stood out in terms of player-led workouts is receiver Xavier Worthy, a former Michigan signee considered one of the fastest members of the 2021 recruiting class.

“The kid is as fast as advertised,” said one team source. “He’s competitive, not backing down. Good sign.”

While Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays of summer workouts will be led by Torre Becton and his performance staff, I’m told Tuesdays and Thursdays will basically be player-led practices without helmets and pads.

Casey Thompson has been put in charge of organizing the offense, while Josh Thompson has been put in charge of organizing the defense for the Tuesday and Thursday sessions.

I’m told Hudson Card is out sick right now.

Speaking of Casey Thompson, I’m sure most of you have seen some of the videos of Thompson working out in Miami with NFL players such as Jarvis Landry and Stefon Diggs.

Thompson used his two-week break after finals to go to Los Angeles to do some workouts with a trainer and then flew back to Austin to graduate before flying to Miami to work out with players at Brandon Marshall’s House of Athletes, including throwing to NFL receivers such as Landry and Diggs.


Thompson made these connections through relationships he has with players he grew up with who are already in the NFL.

Now Thompson finds himself as a graduate student with no classes to take this summer and only six hours of online classes to take come August. And the way the six hours of class will be broken up this fall, Thompson will take one class for nine weeks and then a second class for nine weeks - all online.

Undergraduate members of the football team are required to take at least 12 hours of class during the season.

Thompson’s fall class load is very similar to the one Alabama quarterback Mac Jones had last fall as a graduate student, leaving lots of time for extra football film study and brain-picking with his then-offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.

Jones, an unheralded, 2017 three-star recruit out of the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla., when he signed with Alabama, graduated in three years and then played in 2020 as a graduate student.

This is the path Thompson is also taking.

“It leaves a lot of time for football, which is not bad, when you’re learning a new offense,” said a team source.

One quick note on early enrollee quarterback Charles Wright, who went largely unnoticed during spring football with all the attention and reps dedicated to Thompson and Card:

I’m told while Wright was given a ton to learn in a short period of time during the spring, “He wasn’t overwhelmed,” a team source said. “And the kid has arm talent. He’ll need time, but it’s going to be fun watching him develop.”

Not much has changed from an offensive standpoint since the spring - other than the latest arrivals of freshmen and graduate transfers.

Of the offensive arrivals, the most anticipation revolves around Worthy and five-star recruit Ja'Tavion Sanders, who can play tight end/big receiver or defensive end - but will start on offense.

Not much is expected from an instant-impact standpoint on offense for June-arriving freshmen RB Jonathon Brooks, WR Casey Cain, WR Keithron Lee and OL Max Merrill.

But there is potential, instant impact from Worthy and Sanders. It will take time for the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Sanders to acclimate to Sarkisian’s offense and all it will demand from him. Early enrollee freshmen Gunnar Helm and Juan Davis are ahead of Sanders from a tight end standpoint right now.

If Worthy can pick up the offense quickly and gain separation with his speed, he’ll have a chance to contribute in his first year. Steve Sarkisian craves speed on the outside for deep shots in the passing game as well as to pull coverage downfield and open things up underneath.

Right now, Kelvontay Dixon fits that role, but you can never have enough speed at receiver.

On defense, there’s a lot to sort through in terms of the June-arriving newcomers and freshmen.

Let’s start with the transfers: linebacker Devin Richardson of New Mexico State as well as outside linebackers/defensive ends Ben Davis of Alabama and Oghoufo of Notre Dame.

Combine those three with the decision of middle linebacker Ayodele Adeoye to withdraw from the transfer portal and return to the team, and there’s a handful of potential impact players right there.

Davis and Oghoufo are now competing with LSU graduate transfer Ray Thornton and defensive end Jacoby Jones as edge rushers.

Richardson is expected to get a look at middle linebacker, where Adeoye is also trying to reclaim the starting job he held for 10 games in 2019. Currently, Jaylan Ford and Luke Brockermeyer are atop the depth chart at middle linebacker.

Steve Sarkisian mentioned sophomore weakside linebacker David Gbenda as a possible solution in the middle coming out of the spring, but sources told me they’d like Gbenda to remain at weakside and push senior DeMarvion Overshown (before likely taking over for Overshown next season in 2022).

The June-arriving freshmen on defense include cornerback Ishmael Ibraheem (6-1, 175), linebacker Morice Blackwell Jr. (6-1, 200), defensive linemen David Abiara (6-4, 245), Byron Murphy II (6-1, 295), Barryn Sorrell (6-3, 250) and Jordon Thomas (6-3, 240). None of them are expected to crack the two-deep in Year 1. If they do, it’s a pleasant surprise.

 

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1 minute ago, Burt Macklin said:

I still get ragey when thinking about how little we ran quick run plays up the A and B gaps against OU in 2019. We didn’t make them pay for all their stunts until RoJo busted that 50 yarder in the second half and even then we hardly ever went back to it. Just complete and utter stupidity form Herman and Hand especially considering KSU had already modeled the game plan for us weeks before. 

Tom Herman consistently would go away from what would work.  Remember when we played Iowa State and couldn't move the ball running it.  Then we decided to air it out and closed a 2 score ISU lead and went ahead on the scoreboard in like half a quarter.  Only to then go back to running the ball and going back to doing what was not working... we proceeded to lose that game.   Maybe he should read himself the definition of insanity rather than trying to explain it to the fans.  

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4 hours ago, NoName said:

he has made it quite clear he has less than zero interest in playing defense at this point

Has he? That seems like his preference but I thought he was a bit more open than that. Maybe it was mostly coach speak but Sark talked playing him both ways and I thought Sanders was pitched on his experience doing that with guys: 

Quote

“We’re going to look at him at both, quite frankly,” Sarkisian said during his National Signing Day Zoom call with reporters.

“Know that once we get him comfortable on whichever side of the ball that is, we’re gonna find a role for him to do what he does well on the other side of the ball,”

I guess if you want to overanalyze things (fuck it-it's the offseason) number 3 gives him the option to come into the game in pass rushing situations while being primarily a TE (without having to do the awkward jersey change thing on the sideline). Surprisingly we don't have a '3' on defense after Green left. Of course it's pretty unlikely that he'll be effective enough in that role as a true freshman while spending the majority of practice in the TE room. 

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2 hours ago, Machinator said:

 

I love the fact that A&M is experiencing their 3rd renaissance under Dumbo after RC and Johnny Football and are still considered equal to our "no longer relevant" football team that hasn't done anything aside from win a Sugar Bowl in over a decade.

Aggy will always be aggy no matter how hard Finebaum sucks them off.

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1 hour ago, UDontKnow said:

If what FCB is reporting is actually true, then you can pretty much pencil in Casey as the starter.

I don't see how Casey doesn't get first bite at the apple to open the season unless Card comes in and just vastly outplays him in fall camp. With the advantage on film prep, that seems unlikely. That also makes me think that Casey could easily be a one and done with a really good season. I would guess close to 80%, because with a good season he goes pro. If he doesnt win the job, or he has a bad year and gets benched, he will grad transfer out. 

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4 hours ago, victory88 said:

Tom Herman consistently would go away from what would work.

This is the defining statement on Herman. I've paid attention to football longer than I would like to admit, and I've never seen a coach who was at war against their own success more than Tom. 

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I don't see how Casey doesn't get first bite at the apple to open the season unless Card comes in and just vastly outplays him in fall camp. With the advantage on film prep, that seems unlikely. That also makes me think that Casey could easily be a one and done with a really good season. I would guess close to 80%, because with a good season he goes pro. If he doesnt win the job, or he has a bad year and gets benched, he will grad transfer out. 

Casey Thompson is not leaving for the NFL after one good season. It would require a historically great year for the NFL to consider him a first round pick after one year at the helm. Like Heisman finalist, put his name in the ring of honor great.
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12 minutes ago, gmr548 said:


Casey Thompson is not leaving for the NFL after one good season. It would require a historically great year for the NFL to consider him a first round pick after one year at the helm. Like Heisman finalist, put his name in the ring of honor great.

Players have left for much lower than first round grades.

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40 minutes ago, JFKFC said:

This is the defining statement on Herman. I've paid attention to football longer than I would like to admit, and I've never seen a coach who was at war against their own success more than Tom. 

John Mackovic did it seemingly every game, but at least he won a conference championship. Tom Herman would never allow his team to score enough points every week to win a championship.

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