JUST THIS MOMENT....got off the Charlie train....

Discussion in 'On The Field' started by TEXnSEATTLE, Oct 3, 2015.

  1. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Crockett,

    Is that the train that just ran over us, or is there yet another train(s) looming on th horizon? :whiteflag:
     
  2. The Apache

    The Apache 25+ Posts


    This
     
  3. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Here is a 247 update on recruiting
    Some troubling comments from some of our commits

    While the staff has a reputation for closing strong, contacting recruits early and often can only help. What is considered frequent contact is relative. From Andrew Fitzgerald to Eric Cuffee to Deontay Anderson to a number of 2017 targets, all have had said they've experienced contact issues related to Texas. There are two sides to every story, but it's clear some recruits feel more wanted by other schools. Being Texas will automatically put you in some kind of consideration with some of the prospects in the state, but it's the staff's job to go the extra mile. Chris Vaughn recently made some creative posts on Twitter, which was great to see, but that needs to be the norm not an anomaly. The name Texas will get you a foot in the door, but the staff needs to seal the deal. It did last year. But was that just a flash in the pan? We'll find out in February when Texas will have to overcome a not so impressive on-the-field product — assuming Texas falls to 1-5 and finishes at or below .500.

    As far as the class goes, Texas has a solid quarterback pledge, a great receiving corps and should be fine at linebacker and in the secondary. But this class will truly be defined by the trenches. There is some potential along the defensive line. At defensive tackle, Jordan Elliott will land at Texas, in my opinion. Stephon Taylor is a wild card — Texas sits in better position with him than most think — and committed targets like Michael Williams and Kendell Jones will make official visits after the season. If the staff can build a better relationship with Fitzgerald, he'll likely land at Texas and be the lone take at strong-side defensive end. At the Fox — technically you could consider this a linebacker spot — Texas is still very much alive with Erick Fowler and could garner a commitment from Shemar Smith in the near future. If I were a Texas fan, I would be more concerned with the offensive line. Patrick Hudson is already committed to Baylor and Denzel Okafor is leaning towards TCU. While Texas is still in the picture, it certainly isn't in a great position with those two. There is a great chance Jean Delance lands in Austin, but Texas A&M is making a strong push. Let's just say he does pick Texas, though. That's great and all, but it means Texas' 2016 offensive line class will consist of Delance, Tope Imade, who has great potential but still needs to develop, and some late offers/question marks. There just aren't many offensive line targets on the board interested in Texas.

    Both Joe Wickline and Brick Haley really need to step their games up.
     
  4. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    OB says the coaches called an "emergency" team meeting Sat night (back in Austin).
    Supposedly lasted ~ 1H and addressed many things (including Boyd's in-game tweeiting)
    One senior called out coaches on personnel decisions .....
     
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  5. blonthang

    blonthang 2,500+ Posts

    Strong does appear to use some old style methods that may or may not work.

    I think his direct comment that he will favor playing a freshman over a senior if "there is a tie" in practice performance IMHO causes dissention. I've never been a fan of a long-term member of a unit "owning" their position and just have to tread water to maintain it, neither do I think it helps to dump a senior for a "tie" in practice with a freshman. What a about the "dues" the senior has paid for 3-4 years of 2-a-days, suiting up every game day for 3-4 years, suffering injuries and pain, losing a lot of personal time for team practice, film study, etc., only to be told to step aside because a freshman has "tied" your practice performance. HUH???

    And his use of the "if a unit member can't run the drill in the required time, the entire unit will run it with him until he makes it, if he still can't do it, the unit coaches will run it with them, if they can't the coordinators will run it with them." I noticed Strong stopped at that level and didn't indicate he'd also run the drill.

    Some of the old style tactics may have worked in the past, and not to mean you have to be soft with these young men, but for some reason or reasons, his methods aren't working.

    These kids have great raw talent. And yeah, a lot of them are young. But they are NOT responding as a team with really good fundamental team play. This comes from the top. Apparently the approach and methods being directed from the top are not working, unless a 6-7 and 1-4 record and counting is considered acceptable.

    Ignoring the Old Testament possibility of Texas winning 5 or more of the last 7 games of this season, this year will end without a bowl game and a worse record than last year.

    You can bet the house that the big cigars, Perrin, and Fenves aren't just sitting back and watching. And you can believe that Strong has also been in a number of conversations of what may happen at the end of this year and what would be the least painful for all.

    Prediction: Strong is a good man, and he must be thinking at this point that he's just a square peg in a round hole. It happens, but reality is beginning to slap him HARD in the face that this is just not working out. Better to save face, fall on the sword, show grace on exit and leaving the possibility of another job, most likely a coordinator job or HC at a non-power 5 school, by resigning at year end.

    This isn't a piss-all-over Strong view. But the record is starkly clear.

    SOMETHING will need to change dramatically; unless UT-Austin has fallen to accept 6-7 and 5-7 in a row as okay head coaching performance.
     
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  6. ViperHorn

    ViperHorn 10,000+ Posts

    The meeting was explained at the presser. I am sure the the entire team (x-freshmen) do not like the "tie goes to the freshmen" atmosphere when the freshmen are making the number of mistakes in the games that they are (everyone is making mistakes including all of the coaches).

    The troubling part that I am having with all of this is there is a different problem in each of the three phases of the game. That points to coaching issues on the field; at practice; and in talent evaluation (both on the field and in recruiting). On offense Texas evidently has one player (Williams) and a bunch of want-a-be's. Losing Perk should not have caused the issues that it is causing. Can Wickline coach? If so he needs to start demonstrating the ability to at least get basic blocking schemes down to at least slow the defensive front down. Given consistent time the backs and receivers have shown they can handle their end of the deal.

    On defense no one in the back seven/eight has shown any ability to defend against the pass. Yes the pass rush is weak, but that does not explain how the middle in a zone coverage is always open and why corners/nickles are giving ground before the ball is snapped. Duke and Haines seem to be trying to cover all of the freshmen mistakes to the point that they are ignoring their jobs. This has happened in every game with no real visible sign of getting better.

    Finally nothing special about Special Teams. Even Gray is making stupid decisions.

    By now there should be some sign of improvement in each of these areas, but there is not. Strong will be back next year if he agrees to bring in new O and D staffs that can coach.
     
    Last edited: Oct 6, 2015
  7. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

     
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  8. FWHORN

    FWHORN 10,000+ Posts

    Blaming Mack Brown for the current state of the program is getting real old real quick. I was on board with it being time for Mack Brown to move on and I support strong but he needs to put up or shut up in terms of getting this team where it needs to be to win the games it can win (Cal and Okie State) and at least be competitive in the other games where they are overmatched (ND and TCU).
     
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  9. Brad Austin

    Brad Austin 2,500+ Posts

    Using Mack has been a lame duck excuse for a while, but now it's becoming a pathetic disease. Strong flat out rejected the massive failures having anything to do with Mack several times, and as recent as Monday.

    But his apologists seem to know better and believe these embarrassing losses are still to be expected and accepted with a supposedly bare cupboard. It's the Aggiest mindset I've ever seen from a sizable segment of Longhorn fans.

    First year, yeah I can see the transition being a reasonable excuse. But after a year and half (2 Springs and Summers)...real football players and coaches don't use that chickensh*t defeatist excuse for their own massive failures.

    Well coached competitors put in the time and work to be competitive and perform to the best of their ability. They may lose on talent, but not the way we lose. And they don't still blame 2013 and earlier for their own embarrassments of 2015.
     
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  10. Brad Austin

    Brad Austin 2,500+ Posts

    People seem to forget we're not just 1-4 now. We are 1-6 over our last 7 games. 4 of our last 7 games we lost by 38, 24, 35, and 43.

    Our scoring total over the last 7 games is 140-270. Avg score of 20-39. Yes, we have lost by an average of 19 points (almost 3 TD's) over the last 7 games.

    We got hammered by TCU last year and had a month to prepare for Arky...then got hammered again.

    Coming off the Arky raping, we had a whole Spring and Summer to prepare...we got violated again by ND.

    The point is there is nothing being improved (even by mindset and toughness) to avoid repeated maulings. Lesser teams lose to those guys by big margins, but nothing near as embarrassing of a complete throttling like we do.

    There's way more responsibility for the losses than lack of talent. Getting your balls stomped in 4 of the last 7 games is on the coaches.
     
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  11. GAS_Horn

    GAS_Horn 100+ Posts

    100% agree. And if Daje's punt return and Malik's fumble return don't happen versus Rice, could be Ohfer last seven.
    Seriously, is it common to be on offense 25% of a game, get out-gained by almost 200 yards and win by 14??? Still unbelievable.
    I realize Cal and OSU could have been Ws, but watching Horns fall behind Cal by 21 and having four 4th quarter 3 & outs in OSU game doesn't give me much confidence that Texas wins either of these in OT.
     
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  12. shaggy refuge

    shaggy refuge 500+ Posts

    How can anyone with half a brain want to keep this staff. I knew this racist ******** would start the instant we hired Strong. Can't fire him, he black. Well, what he is a failure! Any color!
     
  13. Al V

    Al V Guest

    I will say this about the schedule ... 7 of the last 8 teams have been legitimately ranked ... as we start 20 freshmen with a new staff.

    I expect improvement, too, & I like to think whatever circumstances exist, Texas never gets mudholed ... but that's not reality either. Parity has closed the gap on being able to out Texas anyone even with a broken arm.

    I still support Charlie's being our HC. Need to see marked improvement even with the freshmen ... as they'll be closer to 1 year vets than freshmen at the KSU game.

    Don't have any pearls of wisdom except to look at DKR ... while there is much which has changed outside the LOS ... gotta win the battle in the trenches or you can forget about it. The only temporary exception I see to this is the run/shoot offenses from the 10-20 yard line ... but anyway.

    Press ON, Charlie. make it happen.

    \m/
     
  14. Bill in Sinton

    Bill in Sinton 5,000+ Posts

    Let's not be hasty.
     
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  15. Aces_Full

    Aces_Full 500+ Posts

    We start 20 freshmen??? Name the 20 fresh starters. Too many excuses here. Are we lacking in talent? Most definitely. But we are making some inexcusable mistakes. And we do not look very well coached. The staff has to start accepting some responsibility...before its too late for them.
     
  16. ShAArk92

    ShAArk92 1,000+ Posts

    from my other login:

    "
    I will say this about the schedule ... 7 of the last 8 teams have been legitimately ranked ... as we start 20 freshmen with a new staff.


    I expect improvement, too, & I like to think whatever circumstances exist, Texas never gets mudholed ... but that's not reality either. Parity has closed the gap on being able to out Texas anyone even with a broken arm.


    I still support Charlie's being our HC. Need to see marked improvement even with the freshmen ... as they'll be closer to 1 year vets than freshmen at the KSU game.


    Don't have any pearls of wisdom except to look at DKR ... while there is much which has changed outside the LOS ... gotta win the battle in the trenches or you can forget about it. The only temporary exception I see to this is the run/shoot offenses from the 10-20 yard line ... but anyway.


    Press ON, Charlie. make it happen.


    \m/"


    Mea Culpa ... I've repeated that number from elsewhere ... but a review of the current roster shows 47 freshmen. I went to public school, but that's over 1/2 of the scholarship players. I'd ask you to correct the 20. Maybe it's 17 who've started or had significant play time. quibble if ya insist.

    The youth makes a difference. So does the schedule. I'd put our last 8 games against anyone's ... esp any in the SEC ... 9 to include zero u this week. Factor that virtually NO ONE lets-down for Texas ... here we are.

    I'll add ... WRT to the coaching issue ... a causal reason we do not have 4 or 5 MNCs since '98 is because Mack was far too slow in dismissing/replacing Greg Davis with his sideways ball (we still have that, btw). Coach Strong, in barely a year, has made significant changes in his staff.

    The first step to that change was admitting his own mistake. THEN he had to effect the change w/o substantively compromising the team's unity ... & especially among the coaching staff! IDK if we've had enough time to determine if that's been "accomplished" or not, but having at least two major egos to defeat is not an insignificant act.

    Short of criminal activity ... I'm supporting Charlie through 2017 at least.
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2015
  17. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

  18. Statalyzer

    Statalyzer 10,000+ Posts

    Texas just beat Oklahoma, let's fire Charlie's ***!
     
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  19. texas_ex2000

    texas_ex2000 2,500+ Posts

    I had a volunteer shift this afternoon and did not see the game. I'm going to watch the DVR. This is a good win for Strong. Let's see if he can build on it and turn around the season. At the very lest, he'll always have this victory.
     
  20. 4th_floor

    4th_floor Dude, where's my laptop?

    Great win for Charlie. If we can avoid a blowout loss to Baylor and win 2 of the remaining games, he should get one final season. I am not confident and am not yet back on the Strong bandwagon. But I am following it close enough so I can hop back on in December.
     
  21. 2003TexasGrad

    2003TexasGrad Son of a Motherless Goat

    Huge win. This is only the second loss total for Texas' opponents up to this point in the season. The 2nd, and it was to Texas. We have a killer schedule so far, arguably the toughest in the country. Lets see how the rest of the year goes. We dominated OU today. Dominated them. Dont be surprised if the only loss we suffer here on out is to Baylor.
     
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  22. blonthang

    blonthang 2,500+ Posts

    Texas just beat Oklahoma. Let's give him a 5-year extension.
     
  23. Detective Shilala

    Detective Shilala 2,500+ Posts

    Hahah. What a bunch of weak willed, no nothing, polly-annas we are as fans.
    Myself included. I hopped off, but I am back on!
    I still think Charlie has made some mistakes that have cost us some wins, but most importantly the foundation is there, and he can and is correcting the mistakes.
     
  24. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

     
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  25. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    Wow, that’s pretty cool. Nice to see folks own up to it.
     
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  26. harry_horns

    harry_horns 250+ Posts

    I'll take my crow, fried please!

    Man, did not see that coming. I'm hopping back on the train praying that this isn't a repeat of 2010 Nebraska. But the way our players celebrated, by lifting up Strong and understanding all the **** he's gone through in the past couple of weeks, that really spoke to what kind of team we have.

    All heart yesterday
     
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  27. Sangre Naranjada

    Sangre Naranjada 10,000+ Posts

    Anybody on this thread care to be at least as big a man as Fienbaum?
     
  28. Htown77

    Htown77 5,000+ Posts

    I am happy and will post a thank you strong thread later when I am not on the way back from Dallas, but we are still 2-4 and I would not go crazy demanding apologies from posters yet. I am hopeful now it can be turned around (and will go into detail on positives on the other thread when I have time) but a lot of us were hopeful when we beat tech, okie state and knocked off a ranked west virginia last year (calling it a turn around signature win) so I would wait and see if we can continue the momentum. I am cautiously hopeful now! Following this up with win over kansas state that shut us out last year would be huge. If we win, then we build momentum against Kansas and Iowa State going into WVU, Tech and Baylor.
     
  29. 2003TexasGrad

    2003TexasGrad Son of a Motherless Goat

    Gotta come out prepared to face a motivated KState team that just blew two fourth quarter leads against two teams we lost to. They will not be happy. But our current opponents only have 3 losses so far the entire season. OU to us, Cal to #4 Utah, and ND to #5 Clemson. All the while we have played 5 out of 6 currently ranked teams, three of which are in the top 15.
     
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  30. Sangre Naranjada

    Sangre Naranjada 10,000+ Posts

    I'm not asking for apologies from the skeptics like you Htown. You've been bringing facts (harsh ones, no doubt) to the discussion, yet you have repeatedly said you hope Charlie can turn it around. That's fair.
    I'm not asking for people who were upset and massively disappointed in the team to pass along a mea culpa. But I am going to ask it from those who let their disappointment, anger, or whatever other negative feelings they had lead them to say stupid **** like the stuff quoted above. I will call out people who make idiotic predictions for the rest of the season because they are mad about one horrific game. I will call out people who know absolutely nothing about the mindset of the team, coaching staff, or the locker room atmosphere, yet who have no compunction against pronouncing in no uncertain terms what that mindset or locker room mentality is. All of that is a bunch of whiny ******** from a portion of the fanbase that brings an attitude of greater entitlement than the team ever had. Those are the fans who don't deserve to enjoy the victory with the team, because they failed so miserably to handle the angst of the teams defeats and struggles.
     
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