I just don't understand what took so long with Heard...

I understand that he is a redshirt freshman, but so what? After seeing what we've seen on the field these last two weeks and comparing it to the previous four, does the kid just practice like ****? I hold no ill will towards Swoopes, he's a kid doing what he can, but he had opportunity after opportunity and couldn't get it done. Then Heard comes in and leads us back from 3 TDs down, and but for a flubbed kick, probably wins it in OT as their QB was hurting.

What could have possibly been going on that Heard wasn't getting significant time from the opening kick of game one at least?

 

I believe Watson sees himself as a QB whisperer and he saw in Swoopes the big body and rifle arm that the NFL looks for. He was going to transform TS into Bret Favre. If Heard was starting and Tyrone was a project, then fine, work away. But Tyrone does not have the vision and quick decision making necessary, especially when your Oline is a question. I cannot imagine how Watson can be retained on staff after the season.

 

Part of me (not all, but part) is glad Heard didn’t play much against the stout Notre Dame defense. He probably wouldn’t have been much of anything against them, and it is hard to say what that would’ve done to his confidence. I’m much more concerned about how he does against Notre Dame next year, and that’s looking really good at the moment.

 

I think someone on the staff had a serious hard on for swoops. Swoops is running in mud, Heard skates on ice.

 

Watson and Wickline thought that Swoopes was the answer and didn't want to use up that redshirt year for Heard. As it turned out, they were wrong. So now Heard brings the spark that we needed to see. Hurray!

 

2014 and the 2015 ND game are like a bad dream. Rarely did anything go well and if we didn't have the good D we did, it would have been the worst season in nearly 60 years. Heard is now playing with guys, the RS and True Frosh that have a whole different attitude toward football and winning. They will grow together and get Texas football back on track. Heard had played in big games winning 2 back to back State Titles. Swoopes was just a big kid in 2A ball, he was it for the O. But he only went 1-9 his Senior season and really doesn't know how to win. Heard does, and Heard is a leader. Now, if Malik can take over the D, which appears he can, then dammit boys, we're in bid'ness!!

 

I agree with this. I'm glad he didn't start against ND, although I wish he would have played a little bit more than he did, maybe toward the end of the game.

It's good that the coaches stuck to the redshirt year for him, it will pay off in the long run.

 

Judging only how he did against Cal, while the ND game may still have been ugly, I believe that Heard might have at least made us look like we had a pulse.

I have a thought about Swoopes starting and playing the whole game with the exception of Heard's few plays. I think Strong let Watson and to some extent Wick, make the call and run the game, with the idea that if the same results were seen as in the TCU and Arky games, then he would definitely make a change. The "New Look O" that we heard about for 8 months failed miserably with Swoopes, and the outcome was about the same. So, Strong could say, "you had 8 months to get this thing in gear and back on track, and there has been no progress. So you're out." Strong turned it over to Norvell/Traylor, Heard started, we won a game and came close to knocking off a ranked team. The O stats were WAY higher with Heard. And seeing the O playing hard, the D picked up on it, a little too late, but they dug in and got stops when needed. I believe that Strong will evaluate Norvell the rest of the season and give him the nod or hire an OC. He'll probably send Watson packing at season's end.

 

To me Watson's style would fit more at a school like Michigan or Stanford where they run that pro-style offense with the big QB drop-back passer type. He is incapable of adapting to the spread, running-QB type offense.

Watson's idea of a spread offense is just running his west coast offense plays at a faster clip. And obviously that was a disaster.

 

Hope the lesson has been learned that from now on Texas only plays quarterbacks with #TheJuice. It can be a carve-you-up passer with nerves of steel in the pocket, or it can be a VY-Heard catch-me-if-you-can. But notice... Heard is a damn good passer, and without that much experience at game speed. And can throw to all parts of the field.

 

Some great points on this thread.

I am not sure if anyone mentioned it but I had read several times here or somewhere else that Heard did not practice particularly well either in HS, at UT or both. BUT in HS when the lights came on in the stadium, it was game time and show time, he stepped way up. Example - Heard led his HS team to 2 state championships.

In 2014 the coaches may have felt Heard was just not ready and they had an investment in Swoopes. Forget the ND game. Charlie threw Heard the keys vs. Rice and he stepped up and did it again bigger the next week versus Cal.

I think he is only going to get better and gain more confidence each week. The team will also gain confidence in him.

 

I Heard OU sucks.

 

UT and the Thundering Heard

 

All true.

 

This game with Ok-State is maybe the most important and highly anticipated game since Charlie got here.

- What will that last quarter on offense -- and in particular that final touchdown drive of 82 yards in all of 42 seconds, capped off by a dazzling "I got this" burst between two defenders. I mean he covered the last 20 yards in about 1.5 seconds. What will that do to the entire DEFENSE, not to mention the rest of the team.

- Was it a Kenny The Thrill Trill 59-0 Gamecocks game only? Or is it going to keep improving?

- I was impressed by what I have heard of Norvell and Traylor working together. The possibility looms that they may be a magic combo that can do wonders.

- For Norvell, I see him as a guy who never really got his chance to show what he can do. If you think about it, he was handed the keys to save a program that certainly needs solid defense, but that in this era will be branded and stay on center stage with just the kind of juice shown last Sat night. Ala, Jan 2006 Rose Bowl.

I'm looking forward to this game. Norvell said it will require adjustments to get through the Big 12. This is now for all to play and coach their way through the conference with savvy as well as effort and talent.

Jerrod Heard has ignited the whole thing and declared much is possible. I would not feel this confident, or excited maybe better term, were it not for Norvell. I really like that guy. For 30 years he has assisted but not really gotten a chance to see what he can do.

He's just been handed a CLS-550. Or more. Anybody seen all those Maserati sedans roaming around town? Damn!! Every other block it's that or a Tesla. Austin is loaded, all I gotta say.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm in line for as much Heard Kool Aid as I can legally ingest, but he has a little trouble with the long ball. Receivers have to wait for the ball, slow up a bit or come back to him, at times. I recall Burt loping along a bit waiting for the ball, and there was the lucky catch in the corner against Rice. He makes up for it by having really good field vision. It looks like he waits to throw a deep ball on the edge of his comfort zone, for when he has a wide open receiver. In other words, he seems to appreciate his limitations. On the short and intermediate stuff he is outstanding, and the threat of knocking out 15-20 yards just by tucking and running makes him really hard to defend.

As for the coaching decisions that left Tyrone as the starter, I can only assume Charlie trusted Watson as the guy he had at Louisville, and that worked out ok. Going forward, I would assume the rest of the season is Norvel's job interview for OC. I'm curious how much input Wickline and Traylor have on the game planning. If not Norvel, who else is out there that has the resume for UT's OC and would utilize Heard in a spread offense? Is there good reason for not considering Norvel?

 

Yeah, I hear ya. It does make one wonder. And I was really surprised that Heard threw the ball so well. We kept hearing that he was so weak in the passing game. Well, he throws well enough to keep any defense on its toes. And opponents are already on their toes to stop his runs.

Stopping Jerrod is like trying to squeeze jello to hold it in your hand. Not possible.

All we need now is a defense that can stop people moderately effectively. I think that will come.

 

I think Heard got hurt against ND. he looked like he was limping off. probably why you never saw him again after that run off right tackle

 

Maybe they didn't want Heard killed given ND blitzing and our OL play.

 

It was Watson at ND. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Maybe everyone knows this about Heard but in case not please read. He has work hard for this opportunity.
http://www.burntorangenation.com/re...spring-break-george-whitfield-texas-longhorns

 

In 2014-I'm pretty sure Heard beats 3 or at least 2 of OU, TCU, k state and Baylor . We had a great D, and just needed a spark. That's important to me as it could of helped recruiting, and I could of had 2 happier weekends last year.
It's good we didn't play well on offense against ND or we'd be 2014 redux.
Heard is gonna have some growing pains this year that he could of had last year.

 

I am anxiously excited about what we see over the next 2-3 weeks. If Heard is able to keep going at anywhere near the same pace once other teams have game film and time to prepare, we'll know he's the real deal. That is my only real concern right now, how much of this is because teams have been surprised on the field?

 

The key is to teach him the proper reads and then potentially bailout points or rules to keep in mind as he dissects the D each play given their formations and where his guys are supposed to be.

 

I don't share this perspective based on what I observed at the press conference when Strong announced the change. He was completely stressed out and clearly nervous. A broken man. Not a man with a prepared plan...

 

In this week's press conference, Strong said he always knew what Heard could do. Just a matter of when to insert him. I think the transition was a little faster and more sudden than he had planned.

 

Precisely.

Red McCombs was exactly right. Charlie Strong may yet pull off a miracle and revive this program, but he was totally unqualified and unprepared to take this job.

He's not a planner and he's not a CEO. He's not a good recruiter (ask Texas high school coaches) and he's not a good manager. I wish him every success, but he didn't bring the experience or the qualifications to take this job. Powers screwed up royally on both Patterson and Strong. Bill likely set back Texas football 5 - 7 years because he was selfish, mainly interested in his legacy versus the wellbeing of Texas athletics.

 

Not a good recruiter? So far he's looking pretty good at it, but lets see how the next class looks to confirm just how good he is. In the meantime ask Malik how good of a recruiter Strong is.

Totally unqualified and unprepared? Based on what? Hes 53, has been a coach on national championship teams, led a D1 school in Lousiville to two straight BCS wins, has more NFL draftees than just about anyone over the last few years... is a great developer of talent, and has had to rebuild this Texas team that was left in shambles for him from the ground up.

Fire the man after he goes 7-6 in his 3rd season, not after 3 games into his second.

 

Respectfully disagree with the last 2 sentences.

From what I've read, he "was completely stressed out" due to being lied to by Watson about the game plan. Watson promised certain things during the off season which never showed in the nd game. As others, including Norvell, have said, the playbook now is the same as the one in the first game - just substantially reduced (and with some Traylor Tweaks).

I opined back in February (don't know if it was here or elsewhere) that my only fear going into 2015 was that Watson would convince Strong that he would transform Swoopes into Bridgewater this year and it would be Louisville 2.0. If this indeed happened, then fault Charlie for trusting Sean, but credit CS for not hesitating one moment to pull the plug.

 

That's the key. Watson not following thru and going with Swoopes. Didn't Watson make a comment that he was having to throw 34 years of football knowledge out to learn a new system? He didn't learn it and against ND the only difference I saw was our 3 and outs went faster.