http://www.campusrush.com/charlie-strong-texas-longhorns-struggles-1394976670.html Not sure how legit the anonymous sources are, but they arent holding any punches against Mack Brown and what he left in the cupboard for Strong to deal with.
Heard was a Mack Brown recruit. They averaged 8 wins in the four post-Colt McCoy "Dark Years." They did that despite having to play Case half the time due to Ash's injuries. From a statistical probability standpoint, that anonymous coach likely was butt f^&$ed by Mack, Vince, Colt, JC, Shipley, the Triplets, DBU, Rak, DT, GDGD, Major, Muschamp, Akina, and Co. to multiple double digit blowouts. And editorial Southern college football hit pieces with anonymous sources aren't usually equated with journalistic integrity or any kind of integrity for that matter. For the record, I thought Mack should have been fired. I thought he was losing his edge. That doesn't change the fact he was terrific and handed over a team that won 8 games in his last year. If you're wondering why I'm so critical of Strong, it's because I believe 8 wins isn't our standard...yeah. Blaming Mack, whatever merit there may or may not be to that, does absolutely nothing to make the team better. In fact, blaming Mack only clouds management decisions with specious and irrelevant noise. The reason many people: fans, alumni, former players, local writers, national media say that Strong should go - probably a majority of people with an opinion in the matter, is because the team is not prepared to play. Not preparing your team to play has absolutely zero to do with the guy you replaced. But if you're so inclined, go ahead gulp down that confirmation bias. It might make you feel better, but it's not going to make this team better.
How would an opposing coach supporting Strong help that opposing coach's team stay better than Strong's and keep Texas down? Wouldn't it help their program to diss Strong and keep the program in disarray? I think it is more likely that the coaches are being honest than it is they are just pissy at Mack for beating them over the years. Most of the Big 12 coaches beat Mack the last few times they played him.
Thayer Evans is racist, Texas-hating hack! Of course he's going to write horse **** like this. But he's right to believe all Big 12 coaches want Strong to stay! They should. Bahahahahaha!!!!!!!!
1st - You're assuming these anonymous "sources" are real people. That's ridiculous. That's not the standard we use in evaluating decisions in the real world. 2nd - Let's forego real judgement and assume these sources aren't just clipboard pastes from ShaggyBevo. We're 1-4...you're suggesting the best way to "help their program" is to "diss Strong," encourage his termination, and lead the program into disarray? Dude...bird in the hand. The obvious, elegant, and dominant strategy for an opposing program is to keep playing the 1-4 coach. Hell, if this ain't disarray, God have mercy on us when we get there. 3rd - That's rich. In my lifetime, I've watched teams coached by Buddy Ryan, Barry Switzer, Jeff Fisher, Art Briles, Bob Stoops, Tom Penders, and etc. and etc.
Plain and simple I do not think it is any more reasonable to blame our current situation all on Mack than it is to continue blaming Bush.....facts are facts and the facts show we are NOT getting better, and that is on the current staff. I am not in the dump Strong now camp but I definitely believe if we show the same grit (or lack) at the end of this season we appear to have v TCU then something drastic must happen end of season. I would be all for a complete staff redo by Strong.
ex2000, I don't buy it either. Just because someone publishes something or says something on TV doesn't make it fact, or reliable. Has anyone ever watched MSNBC? No one from this team will make an NFL roster? Bullcorn. I'll bet that Thomas, Daje Johnson and Ridgeway will (if he comes out). I wouldn't rule Marus Johnson out either. With regard to the article, I'm in the "I'm jealous of Mack Brown so I think I will trash him" camp, even though I was an aggressive critic of his and wanted him gone. Did he get lazy and also make some terrible decisions the last several years? Absolutely. But to place blame for this dumpster fire we are witnessing anywhere but at the feet of the current coach is to live in delusion, IMHO.
Just saw this thread so same post from another thread: How would other coaches know our players' attitude and whether they have a sense of entitlement? Do they have a personal relationship with our players or talk to them on a regular basis? The whole "sense of entitlement" has been the most unprovable assertion thrown around for years. After 6-7, and now 1-4, i doubt there is anyone in our progam with a sense if entitlement anymore if anyone had one in the first place. Entitlement is not at issue at 1-4. My guess is opposing coaches are defending Strong so he will stick around longer and they can continue to beat him on the field and so far this cycle in recruiting. Remember "Keep RC!".
While I directly correllate Mack with our upperclassmen talent issue, I still don't think there's a lot of logic to losing 6 out of 7 and getting blown out in a handful of those. An FBS school like Texas State can stay within 30 of a ranked team. There's no excuse for bending over and taking it in the ***. We need Wickline (or his replacement) and Haley (or his replacement) to do the dirty work with the trenches first. Teams begin and end with their ability to protect or destroy QBs. It's the fastest way to turn a team around. There are plenty of teams (heck, at least three or four in this state) who didn't do much in terms of changing schemes or illegally paying players or whatever it took to fix their line. And it works. It might take a season or two, but it works. I've heard that Wickline sends GAs and staffers to HS games to look at OL guys. That explains why our OL is ****. Who would want to commit to Texas up front if they can't even get publicity on the night stage? I can't really speak about Haley. I think the young DEs like him but I don't know if that's enough to turn around the pile of **** they've been putting out there, particularly in run stopping and pass rushing.
Everything said about Mack may be true, but this is now 1.5 seasons into the Strong era, and the locker room is more dysfunctional than ever. All we heard through the off-season is how this team was finally coming together as a team, buying in, becoming a unit. Not true, its a mess, and the team is actually less than the sum of its parts. That is on Strong.
What we think means nothing compared to what Strong thinks about this subject. I've heard him say 3 times this season "we have the players, we just need to coach them better". Just last week he said none of this is Mack's fault. In your second season you have to own it. CS even said 6-7 was unacceptable and will never happen here again. He owned it after last season, why can't we hold him accountable when it not only happened again, but even worse? Hell, if he went 6-7 this year and stayed even, I'd say okay maybe we can excuse it to youth and remaining talent gaps. But 4-8 and 3-6 in conference? Nah, not happening. Mack left at 8-5 and 7-2 in conference. Two years later...we're 3 games worse overall and 4 games worse in conference...that's all on Strong.
I have another take on the article and the source of the perspective. Let's just suppose that the contentions made by the author are in fact accurate. And let's suppose that the anonymous coach is Art Briles, just as an example. Given the current state of the Texas program and the lack of success Strong has achieved, it may well be in Briles' best interests to have the administration stick with Strong for another two years. If the current, on-field trend were to continue, that would only enhance the ability of schools like Baylor, TCU, WVA and others to load up on talent at the expense of Texas. So perhaps the article and the observations are genuine, but not for the reasons many of us would have anticipated.
I kind of agree with you guys about Evans. He's "broken" a lot of stories that turned out to be sensationalized. From the outside looking in here's what I see. Scholarship limits hurt. You can only get so many OL/DL/etc so you have to make good choices as far as "raw materials" go and also their ability to grow (physically and mentally). The UT OL/DL is not what it was since 2000. Anytime a program is starting a true freshman on the line you've made an error in your recruiting. If I'm right you guys are starting two. OU had some poor recruiting results and that has resulted in two RS freshmen starting. it makes things difficult. The "rise" of Baylor and TCU has hurt both of us in recruiting. We all used to live off of UT scraps. You got the 25 you wanted and then Aggy and OU scooped up the leftovers who were really good. Now we're all competing for those recruits. There are only so many future NFL players to pick from. There is so much talent in Texas with the 7/7 programs that it's hard to not throw a dart and hit a good QB. I don't know where Case McCoy/Ash/Gilbert/etc. were in the recruiting world but they weren't top level QB's. I'd say the same thing about T. Knight. He should be good. He's a leader, he's got speed and a strong arm but he can't find the open receiver and doesn't thrive under pressure. There's a certain je ne sais quoi that none of those guys have. Colt had it in spades as did Applewhite, White, Bradford and Heupel. I think it's too early for Heard. He's got talent but he'll need to be able to prove that he can find the open man regardless of his ability to use his feet. Vince Young's are once in a generation type of players and I think trying to find the next one of those is akin to looking for fool's gold. Best of luck to you guys. I want you good (top 10) but not great.
