Assuming it is Strong, what are your expectations? What in your eyes would be a successful first year for him?
1. Toughness and discipline 2. Accountability by players and coaches 3. Game plan to maximize the talent on hand
Same as if Mack stayed or we hired Saban, beat OU, compete for conf championship, 9 wins in regular season.
I will put it out there; I think that it is highly likely that our September 2014 record is worse than our September 2013 record. Reasons: 1) the 2014 lineup is tougher, and 2) I don't think that our talent level is where it needs to be. I'm really worried about the QB situation - if Ash is back, great, but everyone will try to put a hit on him knowing his concussion history, so I will be highly surprised if he lasts very long. Also, admit it, Swoopes is extremely green and still hasn't done anything other than fill out a uniform well. What I expect out of next year is some growing pains and a team that looks much better in November than they do in September.
Based on your expectations. Mack shd have stayed because we beat ou, competed for conference championship, and won 8 regular season games. If we had won 9 (vs baylor) we would have won the big 12. Not sure if that was what you were alluding to or not. I think the win streak up until the osu game was great. We were simply outclassed by osu, Baylor and Oregon and our offense just could not keep up with those teams. Maybe all we needed was an offensive coordinator like chad Morris.
Probably a 7-5 or 8-4 season, minor bowl appearance. I expect to see improved defensive play, so losses hopefully won't be blowouts. I don't believe there will be significant improvements until 2016. Heard is our only big recruit for this year and QB is definitely a concern.
Aug. 30: NORTH TEXAS Sept. 6: BYU Sept. 13: vs. UCLA (Arlington) Sept. 27: at Kansas* Oct. 4: BAYLOR* Oct. 11: vs. Oklahoma* (Dallas) Oct. 18: IOWA STATE* Oct. 25: at K-State* Nov. 1: at Texas Tech* Nov. 8: WEST VIRGINIA* Nov. 15: at Oklahoma State* Nov. 27: TCU* Call me delusional but I am expecting a 10 win season.
Win the 6th game of the season. Use the first 5 to figure out the kinks and get it right. Lose all 5 if we have to but win number 6. I'll be ecstatic. For the first year. Second year? One loss, conference championship and playoff... just saying.
I think we are about to see a strong increase in performance and excitement from guys we are used to being mediocre. The program and coaching leaders were stale to them. A change in coaching, passion, and confidence can do wonders...seen it before firsthand. IMHO, most of the talent we have was playing below their capabilities.
It is impossible to predict. There could easily be a period of time where the new coach does not mesh well with the current players. Or he could mesh well with them. He could not retain the recruits who committed to Mack Brown. Or he could. He easily could fail to recruit as well overall as Mack Brown. He might or might not mesh well with the fans, the press, or a dozen other UT cultural facets. I don't have any expectations one way or the other. It could go downhill as easily as it could improve. Looks like it will be Strong-how long before he gets a good staff together, and how well will they recruit? Other schools are trying to poach all our recruits during this time of uncertainty, I guarantee you that. I suppose a successful first year would be to retain most of the recruits already committed, convince a couple of juniors not to turn pro, not screw up the season too badly, and learn what it is to play OU in Dallas without crawling under a piece of furniture in a fetal position. Then all he has to do is establish relationships with all the high school coaches of Texas, be able to convince fish that living on dry land is a good idea, ingratiate himself to the press, curry favor with the fans, recruit players who not only rank in the top 100 nationally but also are pre-med and pre-law majors who sing in their church choirs while working on their eagle scout projects. Shouldn't be too tough for the right man.
I expect a defense that flies to the ball like we haven't seen in a long time and a Freshman QB named Jerrod Heard starting on offense. In my opinion on day one when that kid arrives on campus, he will be the best QB to put on a Texas uniform since Colt left.
Let's see...since Bridgewater was freshman all-american in 2011 as a true frosh. I'd say Heard is now definitely a possibility. The best QB will lead this team, that's for sure. Since L'ville lead the nation this year in fewest total yards and 2nd in points...and Strong has 2 natl titles as DC at Florida and many top 10 defenses...I expect our defense to look like cute puppies that got rabies over the summer and now are enraged, deadly pitbulls. I expect no more than 2 losses and I'm dead serious on that. Defense and turning strong talent into physical players who go all out for their coaches. The transformation will be shocking. Our team morale and attitude was soft as hot butter. Even KSU called us quitters when we go down. No longer. Get ready for hell Horns players...things bout to change on the 40 acres. No "Fat Dog" around anymore to coddle you.
I'm sure i'm sounding like a broken record...But this all depends on who the OC is. If we get Watson... his OC from Lousville. Then I'm thinking 7-6 type year. If we get an up and coming OC then I'm thinking like 10-3 type year.
No worse than what Mack would have done with the same uncertainty at quarterback. But I'm hoping at least one more win due to toughness and a head coach who is totally engaged with the product on the field.
