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Texas Football 2021 In-Season Thread: Can we get a redo?


BurntOrange&White

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the year before we lost to Kansas and were coming off 3 straight losing seasons and 5-7 record.  last year we were an ISU win from making the Big 12 champ game.
no one is defending Tom Herman but the expectations are going to be higher when the previous season could have easily been 9-4 or 10-3.  
I'm shocked you don't understand that but then again...
Sark knew the deal he was getting into I'm sure.  he knows 6 or 7 wins is going to be deemed a failure and its going to hurt recruiting.  Right now he sucks and his DC sucks.  maybe he can fix it.  he's gonna get a fair shot(4 years) to do that so I'm not sure what you are worried about.

We also had no business beating Texas Tech or Oklahoma State either in Herman’s last year.
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36 minutes ago, WinningIsHard said:

We were an iowa state win away, we could have…we should have…listen to yourself. We lost a 4 year starter at qb, a LT who is currently a bad ass in the nfl and our only receivers who were worth a single shred of a scholarship. Your expectations are bullshit and you should re-evaluate them. Show me who thought Texas was a 9 or 10 win team this year, I’ll wait. You and a few other unreasonable assholes are blaming sark for inheriting a dumpster fire of a roster. We were ok with herman struggling because strong fucked him? Strong gave herman all his good players. Herman left a roster completely fucked up from top to bottom. No rhyme or reason for the depth chart. Different athletes with different skills playing the same position everywhere you look. I’m pretty sure we were pegged for 7.5 wins lol. Pretty fuckin accurate. Transfer portal lights up in a good way and we play like dog shit next year with better talent…then I’m with you man. 

yep ISU win away, could have should have.  you are what your record says you are.  we've already lost more games this year than all of last year.

you and a few other stupid assholes are going with the dumpster fire roster excuse again.  dude is a 7 win a year HC in the PAC12 and chose a PAC12 DC on top of that

Strong's roster was a dumpster fire just like Mack's was a dumpster fire.  Its such a tired excuse.

why do people make excuses for shitty coaching with 10 years of top 10 to 15 recruiting classes winning us on average 7 to 7.5 wins a year.

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17 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

but we did...could have should have, right? and we lost less games last year than we have this year and this year isn't even over yet.

What point do you think you’re making? Our team’s talent is significantly worse this year. Herman would have taken a massive step back this year if he were still the coach. 

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17 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

yep ISU win away, could have should have.  you are what your record says you are.  we've already lost more games this year than all of last year.

you and a few other stupid assholes are going with the dumpster fire roster excuse again.  dude is a 7 win a year HC in the PAC12 and chose a PAC12 DC on top of that

Strong's roster was a dumpster fire just like Mack's was a dumpster fire.  Its such a tired excuse.

why do people make excuses for shitty coaching with 10 years of top 10 to 15 recruiting classes winning us on average 7 to 7.5 wins a year.

The talent strong handed herman is littered in the nfl god damn it, the talent herman left sark is piss poor at best. Sark has made some bad decisions and PK needs to get his shit together but the reason we are in the games up by 21 points in the first place is because the fucking schemes are pretty damn good. Couple tweaks here and there, some infusion of talent and we win 9-10 games next year I’ll be a happy bastard. 

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10 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

What point do you think you’re making? Our team’s talent is significantly worse this year. Herman would have taken a massive step back this year if he were still the coach. 

we'll never know will we.  all we know is what Sark is doing. and my point is we keep making excuses for shitty coaches and fire them in year 4(or 3 in Chuck's case).

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6 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

we'll never know will we.  all we know is what Sark is doing. and my point is we keep making excuses for shitty coaches and fire them in year 4(or 3 in Chuck's case).

He lost Ehlinger, Ossai, Cosmi, Graham, Brown, Sterns, and Eagles. Anyone with half a brain knew he would be taking a step back this year if he came back. 

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2 hours ago, PencilPusher said:

I usually wait until a regular season is fully wrapped to reflect on where we are as a program, but fuck it...after 8 games I've seen enough to know that regardless of what happens the rest of the way (even if we blew out our remaining opponents 222-0 in each game), my thoughts would be unchanged.

Success in any organization is a confluence of Execution, Talent, and Coaching/Leadership. Best teams/orgs excel at all 3, good teams/orgs excel at 1-2 frequently, and shit orgs are mediocre to poor at all of them. How is 2021 Texas?

Execution - A generous C- at best. Just "B" level execution results in 1 or 2 more wins and things wouldn't appear as dismal as they do now. Do Your Job, It is so simple and yet seems to be overtly complicated for these athletes. Can cover up a lot of ills if you are just in the right place at the right time and do the basics like attempt to block someone, catch the ball, tackle the runner...you know things that kids can do if you just focus on it...

Talent - We have B+ level ability but are C-/D+ football players. Which makes the talent C level at best. There are some A players, but too many C and D players which brings everything down. What is frustrating is the natural ability is there but the football ability is not. Which segues to...

Coaching - Hard to give this anything other than a failing grade. The strategy preparation is good on offense (except Ark) otherwise we wouldn't be building these leads but the in game strategy overall is lacking and the development of the talent has been mediocre. Tells you all you need to know when people are pointing out that under the Herman regime, we've never had a stretch like what the team is going through now and using it as a weird flex to suggest that Herman would have been better this year.

So...to no ones surprise...we are a shit org.

If I were consulting the school on how to turn the ship, here is what I would say...

1. To Hartzell/Eltife - Football is the straw that stirs the drink. You could win national championships in every other sport in the same year and if football sucks, the alumni engagement and ultimately the money will start to flow away. Football is culturally important in this state like few others and you can not afford to let that continue to be a wasteland. I think they (Hartzell/Eltife) get it, but that is a small part of the battle. Either ruthlessly commit to success in the sport and remove all impediments to success or bow out of moving to the SEC, stay in the Big 12, continue to collect LHN checks and watch the program recede into Michigan/Nebraska territory permanently. College football is a different game and if you don't want to play to win, say so and lets all move of with our lives (which for me would mean tangentially being involved with UT football and perhaps the school overall). As Yoda said..."Do or Do not...there is no try". And fire Chris Plonsky...without hesitation.

2. To Steve Sarkisian:

  • Your first order of business is to get your defensive house in order. That means at the conclusion of the KState game, you either fire Pete Kwiatkowski and move in a different direction or you sit down with him and map out what the defense should be and who should be part of that team. The current staff does not work well together and either they all go or the leader on defense changes personnel to better match. Frankly, only Bo Davis deserves to stay because he has been recruiting well enough to start to fix the talent issue but everyone else should be on notice. If Pete K stays, the expectations should be delivered to the entire defensive staff that any defensive performance approximating this season is grounds for everyone's termination next year...period
  • On offense, Andre Coleman should be relieved of duties and do not hire anyone that can't recruit their ass off
  • Ruthless purging of bad fits, malcontents, lazy players, and bad culture carriers. I would expect at least a 25% roster churn in the offseason. Anything less means you aren't being ruthless. Portal makes it easier to be ruthless so this isn't a hard call.
  • Let me reiterate this again. Ruthless purging...If you need ideas, let me suggest walking down the hall and chatting with Chris Beard - he might know something about reconstructing rosters using the portal.

Failing all of the above, we will be back to this past offseason in 2 years hiring the next coaching victim. This isn't that hard and it is actually easier to win in Austin than most places...except that we make it too hard and complicated as humans are wont to do. Unfortunately the fact that I am writing this before year 1 is complete means that I know how this ends and so I am already building a coaching watch list for 2023. Do I need to start watching Michigan State games?? Or even UTSA??

 

 

Username checks out. Corporate buzzword game strong to quite strong.

You're expecting the guy that can't close silent commits or hold double digit Q4 leads to be ruthless. Well, I guess I don't know if you're expecting it. But if that's the solution to the problem, we all know how that will turn out.

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1 hour ago, WinningIsHard said:

We were an iowa state win away, we could have…we should have…listen to yourself. We lost a 4 year starter at qb, a LT who is currently a bad ass in the nfl and our only receivers who were worth a single shred of a scholarship. Your expectations are bullshit and you should re-evaluate them. Show me who thought Texas was a 9 or 10 win team this year, I’ll wait. You and a few other unreasonable assholes are blaming sark for inheriting a dumpster fire of a roster. We were ok with herman struggling because strong fucked him? Strong gave herman all his good players. Herman left a roster completely fucked up from top to bottom. No rhyme or reason for the depth chart. Different athletes with different skills playing the same position everywhere you look. I’m pretty sure we were pegged for 7.5 wins lol. Pretty fuckin accurate. Transfer portal lights up in a good way and we play like dog shit next year with better talent…then I’m with you man. 

This bullshit isn’t going to cut it. People are not going to give much slack. No one feels sorry for Sarkisian. We’re 10+ years in and we’ve made lots of failed men into millionaires. Right or wrong, that’s our reality. Patience is thin. Better get used to it. 

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2 hours ago, PencilPusher said:

I usually wait until a regular season is fully wrapped to reflect on where we are as a program, but fuck it...after 8 games I've seen enough to know that regardless of what happens the rest of the way (even if we blew out our remaining opponents 222-0 in each game), my thoughts would be unchanged.

Success in any organization is a confluence of Execution, Talent, and Coaching/Leadership. Best teams/orgs excel at all 3, good teams/orgs excel at 1-2 frequently, and shit orgs are mediocre to poor at all of them. How is 2021 Texas?

Execution - A generous C- at best. Just "B" level execution results in 1 or 2 more wins and things wouldn't appear as dismal as they do now. Do Your Job, It is so simple and yet seems to be overtly complicated for these athletes. Can cover up a lot of ills if you are just in the right place at the right time and do the basics like attempt to block someone, catch the ball, tackle the runner...you know things that kids can do if you just focus on it...

Talent - We have B+ level ability but are C-/D+ football players. Which makes the talent C level at best. There are some A players, but too many C and D players which brings everything down. What is frustrating is the natural ability is there but the football ability is not. Which segues to...

Coaching - Hard to give this anything other than a failing grade. The strategy preparation is good on offense (except Ark) otherwise we wouldn't be building these leads but the in game strategy overall is lacking and the development of the talent has been mediocre. Tells you all you need to know when people are pointing out that under the Herman regime, we've never had a stretch like what the team is going through now and using it as a weird flex to suggest that Herman would have been better this year.

So...to no ones surprise...we are a shit org.

If I were consulting the school on how to turn the ship, here is what I would say...

1. To Hartzell/Eltife - Football is the straw that stirs the drink. You could win national championships in every other sport in the same year and if football sucks, the alumni engagement and ultimately the money will start to flow away. Football is culturally important in this state like few others and you can not afford to let that continue to be a wasteland. I think they (Hartzell/Eltife) get it, but that is a small part of the battle. Either ruthlessly commit to success in the sport and remove all impediments to success or bow out of moving to the SEC, stay in the Big 12, continue to collect LHN checks and watch the program recede into Michigan/Nebraska territory permanently. College football is a different game and if you don't want to play to win, say so and lets all move of with our lives (which for me would mean tangentially being involved with UT football and perhaps the school overall). As Yoda said..."Do or Do not...there is no try". And fire Chris Plonsky...without hesitation.

2. To Steve Sarkisian:

  • Your first order of business is to get your defensive house in order. That means at the conclusion of the KState game, you either fire Pete Kwiatkowski and move in a different direction or you sit down with him and map out what the defense should be and who should be part of that team. The current staff does not work well together and either they all go or the leader on defense changes personnel to better match. Frankly, only Bo Davis deserves to stay because he has been recruiting well enough to start to fix the talent issue but everyone else should be on notice. If Pete K stays, the expectations should be delivered to the entire defensive staff that any defensive performance approximating this season is grounds for everyone's termination next year...period
  • On offense, Andre Coleman should be relieved of duties and do not hire anyone that can't recruit their ass off
  • Ruthless purging of bad fits, malcontents, lazy players, and bad culture carriers. I would expect at least a 25% roster churn in the offseason. Anything less means you aren't being ruthless. Portal makes it easier to be ruthless so this isn't a hard call.
  • Let me reiterate this again. Ruthless purging...If you need ideas, let me suggest walking down the hall and chatting with Chris Beard - he might know something about reconstructing rosters using the portal.

Failing all of the above, we will be back to this past offseason in 2 years hiring the next coaching victim. This isn't that hard and it is actually easier to win in Austin than most places...except that we make it too hard and complicated as humans are wont to do. Unfortunately the fact that I am writing this before year 1 is complete means that I know how this ends and so I am already building a coaching watch list for 2023. Do I need to start watching Michigan State games?? Or even UTSA??

 

 

Man... I want to agree, but can't...

We have no LBs. We have one of the worst OL ever. 

I see flashes of play from everywhere... Even the OL... But they cannot stay on it. 

We already did the purge thing under Strong. it doesn't help. You can't backfill enough. You just dump bodies. Ok. Fine.  But it's not a fix. This isn't the NBA.

I agree with the Bo Davis assessment. He is good and he recruits. 

Choate is an inc. I have no idea if he can coach because he doesn't have the Joes.

Same with Flood.

WR Coach is done. Gone. There is no way we don't have 3 - 4 WRs that can compete. I bet Kai Money can make a play.

S&C is on the bubble, but really no way to know how much S&C is involved in our failures.

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38 minutes ago, GreenspointTexas said:

This was a 10 win team last year tho

Yes, with an NFL QB, LT, DE, DT and S (with another safety who should have been drafted in Chris Brown). We replaced that NFL talent with guys like Casey Thompson, Christian Jones, Jacoby Jones, Brenden Schooler and BJ Foster. LT and QB might be the two most important important positions in this conference and we replaced two NFL guys with two absolute jags.

We may have returned our best overall player in the program in Bijan but we lost our next 5-6 best players.

We have some talent to work with in certain areas but anyone who tries to point to all these recruiting classes Herman brought in and their rankings is just blowing smoke up your ass. The 2019 class was worse than a transition class and the 2020 class is trending towards being awful as well outside of Bijan.

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9 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Yes, with an NFL QB, LT, DE, DT and S (with another safety who should have been drafted in Chris Brown). We replaced that NFL talent with guys like Casey Thompson, Christian Jones, Jacoby Jones, Brenden Schooler and BJ Foster. LT and QB might be the two most important important positions in this conference and we replaced two NFL guys with two absolute jags.

We may have returned our best overall player in the program in Bijan but we lost our next 5-6 best players.

We have some talent to work with in certain areas but anyone who tries to point to all these recruiting classes Herman brought in and their rankings is just blowing smoke up your ass. The 2019 class was worse than a transition class and the 2020 class is trending towards being awful as well outside of Bijan.

I have looked some classes over recently. I can say Charlie Strong actually left more talent to Herman. He wasnt a good coach, but he did evaluate well. Herman was a better coach, but his overall evaluations were pretty poor. 

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Sark's recruits playing this year = 4 or 5 portal guys?

Yeah I'd pump the brakes on saying he's a failure. We are also playing a lame duck year in the most "poorly officiated" conference. 

Going to take 2 years of recruiting to see what Sark can really do, in the meantime he could get some O linemen in the portal, have Flood coach them up, and produce a Heisman for BR next year. 

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2 minutes ago, Zeus said:

Sark's recruits playing this year = 4 or 5 portal guys?

Yeah I'd pump the brakes on saying he's a failure. We are also playing a lame duck year in the most "poorly officiated" conference. 

Going to take 2 years of recruiting to see what Sark can really do, in the meantime he could get some O linemen in the portal, have Flood coach them up, and produce a Heisman for BR next year. 

He brought in Worthy. That is his first real recruit. Its a ridiculously small sample size, but that is a hell of a start. 

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7 minutes ago, Zeus said:

Sark's recruits playing this year = 4 or 5 portal guys?

Yeah I'd pump the brakes on saying he's a failure. We are also playing a lame duck year in the most "poorly officiated" conference. 

Going to take 2 years of recruiting to see what Sark can really do, in the meantime he could get some O linemen in the portal, have Flood coach them up, and produce a Heisman for BR next year. 

I agree. There isn’t much he can do until the off-season. Hit recruiting and the portal like there is no tomorrow. He also needs to re-evaluate the defensive coordinator/assistant positions.

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4 minutes ago, USNALonghorn said:

I agree. There isn’t much he can do until the off-season. Hit recruiting and the portal like there is no tomorrow. He also needs to re-evaluate the defensive coordinator/assistant positions.

If Dave Aranda can fire his OC after 1 year so can we.  Hopefully Sark can figure it out.

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33 minutes ago, westexhorn said:

If Dave Aranda can fire his OC after 1 year so can we.  Hopefully Sark can figure it out.

I think it's easy to see positive playcalling and scheming on offense.  The execution isn't there yet but development and recruiting probably need to happen first.

The defense is a mess and the Dave Aranda narrative of a Year 1 change is a reasonable comparison.

PK might be a great coach and just a bad fit.  I don't know.

I expect to see defensive staff changes after the season.

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Just saw this sobering post -- Thx for info @Codaxx

Quote

Codaxx:  "Damn.. I shouldn’t have done it, but I looked at the 2019 #3 ranked class Texas had. 5 of top 7 players are not on the roster, the other 2 are JWhit and T Johnson. 13 players are no longer on the roster from that class. This has to be one of the worst recruiting classes Texas has signed in decades. Can’t believe a class went from #3 to damaging the program so quickly "

No fuckin' upperclassmen leadership on this 2021 Texas football team -- gonna take a helluva off-season of transfers in + quality 2022 Texas Recruiting Class to begin the change in a positive direction of this shitty "Texas Football Aircraft Carrier"

 

Edited by LTtxfan
typo
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1 hour ago, Codaxx said:

I have looked some classes over recently. I can say Charlie Strong actually left more talent to Herman. He wasnt a good coach, but he did evaluate well. Herman was a better coach, but his overall evaluations were pretty poor. 

WR might be the easiest position to recruit in this state, and Herman somehow still managed to leave a load of absolute crap at the position.

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19 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Just saw this sobering post -- Thx for info @Codaxx

No fuckin' upperclassmen leadership on this 2021 Texas football team -- gonna take a helluva off-season of transfers in + quality 2022 Texas Recruiting Class to begin the change in a positive direction of this shitty "Texas Football Aircraft Carrier"

 

I know this is not a term used in recruiting very often, but Herman had a knack for recruiting shitheads. 

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On 11/3/2021 at 6:43 PM, LTtxfan said:

 

Anwar:  Hey, this isn’t credible at all, maybe I should just blast it out to the masses? I don’t think opposing coaches would use it against the program or anything.

Is this a passive aggressive shot at Sark for trashing his Joshua Moore story?

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54 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Just saw this sobering post -- Thx for info @Codaxx

No fuckin' upperclassmen leadership on this 2021 Texas football team -- gonna take a helluva off-season of transfers in + quality 2022 Texas Recruiting Class to begin the change in a positive direction of this shitty "Texas Football Aircraft Carrier"

 

(Posting older 2-deep since easier to read -- and yes Alfred Collins should have been a starter from Day 1 )

 

WHAT A FUCKIN' SHITTY ROSTER... 

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EMBRACE THE HATE -- TEXAS IS THE VILLAIN !!!   🤘

 

you-either-die-a-hero-or-live-long-enoug

 

Iowa State article about Texas

Quote

WILLIAMS: Good riddance, big brother

USATSI_16685940-scaled.jpg

We all can look back on our lives and recall somebody we idolized during our childhood.

This person, in your not-yet mature mind, was larger than life. They looked cool when they walked. They exuded confidence, smiled with a swagger and captured the attention of all upon walking into a room. 

Did you get your person in your mind? Think back to an elementary school version of yourself. Who was it for you?

….

Then you grow up a little bit. You’re a sophomore in high school now. This person is still “cool” in the sense of the word but the larger-than-life aspect is starting to wear off. You admire them a little less and start to view them eye-to-eye a bit more. 

Perspective is an amazing thing. 

Now you’re an adult. You’ve gone off to college, seen more of the world and experienced new people. You run into this person the night before Thanksgiving at your hometown bar. 

“Wow,” you think to yourself after catching up a bit. “This person I once admired is really just a narcissistic asshole.”

….

When Texas and its brethren from the Southwestern Conference joined up with the Big 8 in 1996, Iowa State was a shell of what you all see these days walking around the corridor of Jack Trice Stadium. 

To stick with the above analogy, back then, Cyclone athletics were maybe in third or fourth grade. Jack Trice wasn’t a power five stadium. The football team practiced in front of random coeds at the Lied Rec Center (imagine that in 2021) while hoops prepared for the conference slate in State Gym. I’ve heard stories from those days about certain times during the week when the athletic department would shut off electricity in the Jacobson Building to save money. 

The great Dan McCarney tells stories of visiting frat houses to beg ag business majors to attend next Saturday’s game. 

Texas, on the other hand, waltzed into our crumbling house and immediately took the place over. The Longhorns, under the leadership of head coach John Mackovic, stunned Nebraska in the new league’s first championship game, eliminating Tom Osborne’s powerhouse program from national title contention. It was a stunning upset. One of those games where you remember where you were watching (at the ripe age of 11, I was at a birthday party at Frontier Lanes in beautiful Clarinda).

As my late grandmother would have said, Texas was the “belle of the ball.” The iconic burnt orange jerseys carried great meaning and watching the new kid on the block beat the hell out of the longtime Big 8 bully Nebraska was a thrill for all!

Texas was that guy to look up to. 

Oct 26, 2013; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns athletic director DeLoss Dodds signals the alma mater after the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Amon G. Carter Stadium. The Texas Longhorns beat the TCU Horned Frogs 30-7.Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

….

It wasn’t until the turn of the millennium when you started to see real growth out of Iowa State, specifically on the football field. The Cyclones won their first bowl game in program history on Dec. 28, 2000, over Pittsburgh. After decades of pain, Iowa State was finally escaping the shadow of in-state rival Iowa. Add to that some major success on the basketball floor and the Cyclone Nation was experiencing serious growth and momentum. 

Let’s call this Iowa State’s puberty era. Nothing major, but the Cyclones had muscles of their own now and like many adolescents was attempting to grow a bad beard.

Playing Iowa State was no longer a complete and total pushover, to most at least. That was definitely the case in the North where the Cyclones were very competitive. 

Cyclone football wasn’t a polished product by any means. The epic collapse of 2002 and all of 2003 come to mind. That’s when Iowa State’s voice was changing, which led to some uncomfortable moments along the way.

The mighty Longhorns still owned Iowa State though and it wasn’t close. 

We still looked up to them.

Hell, there was a bad Tommy Lee Jones movie created about Texas Longhorn cheerleaders for crying out loud!

Iowa State went as far as to hire Texas’ rising star defensive coordinator (Gene Chizik, which at the time was considered to be an out-of-this-world move by Jamie Pollard) at the end of the 2006 season in an attempt to capture some of that winning Longhorn culture. 

Didn’t matter.

The memory of watching Colt McCoy account for five touchdowns as Texas out-gained Iowa State 514-228 in a 56-3 rout of Chizik’s squad in 2007 still makes me dry heave to this day.

Nov 17, 2007; Lawrence, KS, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach Gene Chizik on the sideline against the Kansas Jayhawks in the second half at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, KS. Kansas won the game 45-7. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports Copyright (c) 2007 John Rieger

Mercifully, Iowa State did not play the undefeated, national championship 2005 Longhorn squad that beat Big 12 North champs Colorado 70-3 in the league’s championship game. 

It took until the year 2010 for Cyclone Football to notch its first-ever victory against the Longhorns. Hundreds of Iowa State fans showed up to a university-sponsored welcome home party for the team upon its arrival back in Ames. Texas went 5-7 that year.

However, since 2015, the series is even, with both programs amassing three wins apiece. Iowa State has won two in a row.

Texas hasn’t won a Big 12 championship since 2009 and is on its fourth head coach in the last decade. 

Oct 31, 2020; Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman looks on during the second quarter of the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Texas won 41-34. Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Sports

….

My thoughts on Texas exiting the Big 12 are complicated. 

For well over a decade now, the power brokers in Austin have swung their swords selfishly without caring who it hurt along that way.

That’s really my problem with Texas and its entitled fan base. This isn’t about football to me. It’s all about decency. 

I am thankful for Texas’ presence over the years because Iowa State benefited from it greatly. I fully admit that.

But don’t forget that in the mid-’90s, the geeks from the north saved their asses too.

…. 

In order for a relationship to work, it cannot be one-sided. If one side is constantly trying to appease the other – while that party is only looking out for itself – the partnership is destined for dysfunction. 

That has been the story in the Big 12 for far too long. 

When the Big 12 was created, the north and the south both desperately needed one another for the sake of expanded geography and television revenue. 

But the union was a shotgun affair. Think of it as more of an arranged marriage than a story of childhood sweethearts who were destined to raise and love a family together.

Unlike Ohio State in the Big Ten or USC in the Pac-12, Texas never had any ambition to build anything special the Big 12. This was evident by the league’s lack of television revenue sharing until the Longhorn Network saga hit us all upside the head in 2010.

Texas has been and always will be a terrible partner.

And Oklahoma … You are nothing but a convenient pawn in their game.

I am not at all sad that Saturday night (6:30 p.m., FS1) will probably be the last time these schools ever play in Ames. 

Texas is your spoiled brat cousin who was born on third, thinks he hit a triple and never stops complaining. They say you can’t pick your family, but eventually you get old enough where you can just ignore the ones you don’t like.

Since 1996, the Big 12 has been a group of schools that was trying to build a great future. One arrogant member, the Uncle Rico of college football, was constantly a pain in the ass. 

Iowa State and the rest of the new Big 12 might not make as much money going forward. It’s unfortunate but not only have I come to peace with the current situation, I am greatly looking forward to this divorce being final. 

I am ready to get the constant drama and dysfunction out of our lives once and for all.

This marriage is unhealthy.

It was once fun being in a league with the mighty Longhorns. We learned a lot and looked up to them for a good portion of our lives. But there is nothing mighty about Texas anymore.

Texas is pompous, past its prime, tired and ungrateful.

Good riddance, big brother. You will not be missed.

 

FUCK 'EM ALL !!!     🤘

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On 11/1/2021 at 7:12 PM, Snacks said:

Print this shit out. Make copies of it and put it all over town... your business, your house, your dog, your car, your neighbor's wife... hell, go to sark's house and put the shit on his driveway... have matthew mcconaughey read it on tiktok or on a lincoln commercial or make it his platform for his run for governor...

this is the answer.  players.  height / weight / speed matters in football. one could argue it is the only thing that matters over time.

This was posted on the tweeter earlier:

RICO'S TIME IS NOW!!!

We are *FAR AS Ffffffffff* away from having the OL (and DL) we need. It started in 2006 & 2007 when we actually had some decent recruits, but a lot of transfers and injuries... then 2008 on was... terrible, as you will see. Why, because we've recruited and/or developed terribly.  If Sark is going to win, he's going to have to do what that tweet says...  for the next 5 years.

Pour yourself a water and get on down with the "analysis" of our OL signees for the last 15 years, and notice what it takes to build a good OL.

2006 - THREE. two good takes and one bad take... but all left the program within a year.

  • J'Marcus Webb - started as a freshman, then transferred to Navarro JC. Can't recall - grades or weed? NFL Player
  • Buck Burnett - kicked off the team for being an overt racist. Sells windows
  • Roy Watts - transferred to UH after his freshman year as a redshirt.  NFL Player.

2007 - FOUR: good takes. one transfer. one bust. two NFL picks.

  • Tray Allen - 5 star. No 11 high school prospect in the nation. Always injured and considered one of the biggest busts of all time for it.
  • Michael Huey - 4 year OG. Captain. NFL Draft.
  • Aundre McGaskey - played a few games in 2008. Transferred.
  • Kyle Hix - 4 year player.  NFL Draft.

2008 - TWO: piccardwtfisthisshit.jpg - two good kids who graduated. this was the beginning of the end.  how is this your OL recruiting class?!?!

  • Mark Buchanan - barely saw the field.
  • Luke Poehlmann - 275 pound OT? Sure.  OK. He played. JAG

2009 - FOUR: One player. 3 career backups.

  • Mason Walters - 3 year starter.  Very good.
  • Thomas Ashcraft - backup. grad xfer to SMU. meh.
  • Paden Kelley - (RIP) good kid who graduated. backup/rotational. JAG
  • Garrett Porter - good kid who graduated. backup/rotational. JAG

2010 - TWO: We got an OG and a C and that's it?!?!? At least they were good at playing football.

  • Trey Hopkins - #1 ranked OG in the nation. Was a very good player. UFA. Still in the league.
  • Dominic Espinosa - Very good player.  3 year starter... blew his ankle out as a Sr... first game in Strong's first season.

So... Let's take a look.... in the 5 seasons starting 2006, we took 15 OL and got:

  • 5 starters on the OL.
  • 5 Xfers
  • 5 guys that were "guys"

This is why Mack Brown started struggling... only good OL we had were Walters, Hopkins, Espi.. and Hopkins and Espi in 2010... they were young guys. That (and "POWER RUN GAME!!!!) is how you go 5-7 after going to the BCS championship the prior year... 

2011 - FIVE: 1 Good OG.  2 Average at best. 1 injury bust. 1 injury ending career. No depth from 2008, 2009... the tsunami is pulling back...

  • Sedrick Flowers - High 4 star... 5 years in program / 2 year starter.  Above average to good player. 
  • Garrett Greenlea - injured after one game or something or other... done.
  • Josh Cochran - was a starter at OT for 2 season... shoulder injuries ended his career as a Junior.
  • Marcus Hutchins - 5 year player that started his Jr season, but not his Sr season...  contributor, but JAG.
  • Taylor Doyle - 5 year player / 2 year starter at C.  Average. Acceptable until Espinosa was ready to take over.

2012 - FOUR: CHARLIE WICKLINE IN DA HOUSE!!!!  3 dudes played a handful of games and got Wicklined when he got here...  One solid Juco transfer starter.  At this point, we didn't know we were really in trouble down the road... but that's how it goes.

  • Kennedy Estelle - Started 8 games as a Soph. Smoked weed every day. Suspended as a Junior. Strong/Wickline Xfer.
  • Curtis Riser - redshirted. one year as backup. xfer
  • Camrhon Hughes - Tore his ACL in HS.  Played 6 games as a RS-SO, then xfer.
  • Donald Hawkins - juco transfer.  started 2 seasons.  All Big 12.  NFL then CFL.

2013 - FIVE: 4 out of 5 players xfer'd. Thanks, Perk. But now we are in a world of hurt. Depth is non-existent...

  • Darius James - played 6 games. Xfer.
  • Kent Perkins - 4 year player. 3 year starter. 2nd team all Big 12. NFL then CFL
  • Jake Raulerson - in the words of Luka, "YOU'RE TOO SMALL!!!" xfer.
  • Rami Hammad - never played a snap.  Xfer to BU and became a stalker.
  • Desmond Harrison - big Juco xfer... barely played in his one season. xfer. NFL

2014 - THREE: Let's only take 3 OL that will probably never play...

  • Terrell Cuney - Played in 12 games in 3 seasons. JAG. Good kid Shoplifter who graduated...
  • Alex Anderson - barely saw the field. JAG. Good kid who graduated.
  • Elijah Rodriguez - 5 year... contributor. injured. one year starter. All Big 12 HM.  Average.

2015 - SIX: OK! Somebody recognized and at least tried to start building some depth, but when you have to start 2 FR-HS, that means you're not good... and the rest of the dudes were non-factors. 2 starters. 

  • Patrick Vahe - 4 year starter. All Big 12 HM (3x). Freshman AA. Very good, but not great.
  • Connor Williams - All Big 12 2T (injured), All American, All Big 12 HM, Freshman AA.  2nd round pick (coming off injury). NFL Starter (still).
  • Brandon Hodges - Juco transfer in... started 9 games.... grad transfer out (after academic struggles)
  • Buck Major - never played.  medical retirment.
  • Garrett Thomas - Played in one game. Quit.
  • Tristan Nickelson - JUCO xfer. Depth. Played 3 years. Average to JAG.

2016 - SIX... Let's try again... six recruits and one is just now starting make any impact in 2021!!! 2 starters, 1 depth, 2 xfers, 1 medical

  • Patrick Hudson - played 2 games. injured. medical retirement. 
  • Jean Delance - played 2 games. xfer to UF where he is a 3 year starter as a Sr. and their 'most athletic blocker'. (dammit.)
  • JP Urquidez - 3 year JAG. Xfer to Texas State.
  • Denzel Okafor - 6 seasons in program. Starter last season and this season... until he blew out his knee (dammit). Above average... maybe.
  • Tope Imade - 6 seasons in program. Depth. starter only because Okafor is down. Average.
  • Zach Shackelford - 4 year / 40 game starter...  Pre-Season AA, All Big 12 1T, All Big 12 2T, All Big 12 HM & Freshman AA. Very good player.

So... in the 2nd six seasons of recruiting since 2006, we've had eight full-time starters.  The rest were xfers or JAGs... that's six years of wandering the desert at OL. What do you notice? I'll tell you what I notice: on average, it takes us SIX OL to get TWO decent starters. Most guys will become JAG/depth/xfer. If you only get a couple of JAGs out of each class, and nothing else, you CAN NOT WIN FOOTBALL GAMES in the future.  We're in the future now.  Let's return to the program.

2017 - TWO: Two craps. But wait...  Ah-Ha!... something worked.  We DEVELOPED two (3 star!) guys into starters! Maybe there is hope!

  • Samuel Cosmi - 4 years in program. Freshman AA, Big 12 Offensive FOY HM, All Big 12 2T, Big 12 OL of the year HM, All Big 12 1T, Current NFL 
  • Derek Kerstetter - 5 years in program. 5 year Covid starter. All Big 12 HM (Sr).  Current starter.  Very Good player.

2018 -  FIVE: players again... Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. We did get two starters out of this group... but did we really get two starters out of this group? Angilau can stay.

  • Junior Angilau - 4 years in program. 3 seasons as a starter. Current Starter. Has 3 more years of eligibility. 
  • Reese Moore - never saw the field. xfer to Abilene for this season
  • Rafiti Ghirmai - 4 years in program. depth/ST. JAG. Currently 3rd on depth chart at C.
  • Mikey Grandy - JUCO - medically retired in 2018.
  • Christian Jones - pisses me off. 4 years in program. 2 year starter(!?!?) Current starting LT. PROVE ME WRONG MFER!!!!

2019 - FOUR: players (3 HS + 1 JUCO) - 2 transfers, 1 injury, 1 illness... no contributions. ZERO.

  • Tyler Johnson - started Alamo Bowl... but not on the depth chart. "Mystery illness". Please develop, former elite OL prospect.
  • Isaiah Hookfin - has played 1 game.  Shoulder surgery... Please recover and develop.
  • Javonne Shepherd - xfer to JUCO
  • Willie Tyler - juco xfer in... Syracus xfer out.

2020 - FOUR players. One starter and some depth... TBD

  • Jake Majors - Current starting C. Above average so far.  Should develop well.
  • Jaylen Garth - project. not on depth chart. TBD.
  • Logan Parr - Currently backup C. TBD.
  • Andrej Karic - Currently backup LT. Needs to get bigger stronger faster. TBD.

2021 - TWO players. transitional. nothing to see here.

  • Hayden Conner - Current backup RG. Has good size and (apparent) temperament for development.
  • Max Merril - I will be pleasantly surprised or really sad if he ever plays.

And there you have it.  The last five years produced another five starters so far... We're still way behind.

This is why we don't win. You can't recruit / develop / produce FIVE STARTERS EVERY FIVE YEARS and win.  At a minimum, we need two guys every year to develop into GOOD starters over time, and the depth guys to be guys who are on their way to becoming starters. We cannot have placeholders, because injuries, transfers, lack of judgment, whatever will zap a guy or two every year.

I don't know who has the NIL deal for the OL, but if we want to win, we might want to put a machine in place to get some guys into the portal (coming and going) and get the best OL in the NATION - not just Texas - from teams that are balanced on offense.

 

Thank you for attending my SnacksTalk.

Damn. Didn't know Paden Kelly passed away. RIP, dude. Goodness, he's too young. 

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Texas has been outscored 103-27 in the second halves of its last four games. The roster is dogshit, but it doesn't speak well for what Sark is capable of if he has to have a roster that is just better than everyone else. By the time he's able to build that in the Big 12 we'll be gone from the Big 12. Del Conte got cucked by the boosters, failed to land Urban, at least realized that he had to fire Herman at that point, but made a shitty hire. Del Conte has no experience hiring a head coach at this level and was in over his head and we're stuck in the same shitty cycle again.

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OK, my "We're Cal" thing was kind of a bit but I actually think Sark and our University can get us there.  Gonna need to raise the academics just a little and start to care about football a little less.  give us 4 years and then we can hire our next coach for about 3M and give him a honda and about 800K to hire the staff.

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33 minutes ago, ATLLonghorn said:

Texas has been outscored 103-27 in the second halves of its last four games. The roster is dogshit, but it doesn't speak well for what Sark is capable of if he has to have a roster that is just better than everyone else. By the time he's able to build that in the Big 12 we'll be gone from the Big 12. Del Conte got cucked by the boosters, failed to land Urban, at least realized that he had to fire Herman at that point, but made a shitty hire. Del Conte has no experience hiring a head coach at this level and was in over his head and we're stuck in the same shitty cycle again.

But at least Del Conte swung for the fences with the Meyer pursuit, something his predecessor’s felt was “beneath” Texas (remember all the “The coach doesn’t make Texas, Texas makes the coach” BS?).  So I at least can respect CDC for correctly identifying and pursuing the solution

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1 minute ago, Steelers Roll Left said:

But at least Del Conte swung for the fences with the Meyer pursuit, something his predecessor’s felt was “beneath” Texas (remember all the “The coach doesn’t make Texas, Texas makes the coach” BS?).  So I at least can respect CDC for correctly identifying and pursuing the solution

I’m guessing meyer said something like “I’ll take the job but it’s my program (meaning we are paying for players) and UT balked.” We are headed to the SEC. we’ve been surrounded by some of the biggest cheaters in CFB history and now we are adding the biggest of them all in the SEC it and we think our pretty little faces are good enough to entice top talent. Bwahahahahaha.

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But at least Del Conte swung for the fences with the Meyer pursuit, something his predecessor’s felt was “beneath” Texas (remember all the “The coach doesn’t make Texas, Texas makes the coach” BS?).  So I at least can respect CDC for correctly identifying and pursuing the solution
Pursuing Urban wasn't his idea. That was pressure from boosters. If it was CDC's idea it wouldn't have leaked to the media.

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Per a poster on IT, Bijan and Roschon are both far from 100% and Keilan Robinson is out right now due to Covid protocol, so Jonathan Brooks has been getting the first team reps at RB. Sounds like Roschon might be available Saturday but Bijan is probably out.

Fun. 

Edited by Hookem2147
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45 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Per a poster on IT, Bijan and Roschon are both far from 100% and Keilan Robinson is out right now due to Covid protocol, so Jonathan Brooks has been getting the first team reps at RB. Sounds like Roschon might be available Saturday but Bijan is probably out.

Fun. 

I hope Bijan sits if he's still banged up.  Still can't believe Bijan was allowed back in the game vs Iowa State after he got hurt in the 3rd quarter...  

Roschon was battling Turf Toe going into Iowa State game...

 

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  • BurntOrange&White changed the title to Texas Football 2021 In-Season Thread: Can we get a redo?

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