I hope to be able to look back on the Charlie Strong era and say that it was a necessary evil that got us back to prominence. My faith in Strong's on-the-field coaching abilities dwindled slowly over the past couple of years, finally hitting rock bottom in Lawrence. But I still have faith, whether misplaced or not, that he reinvigorated the talent pipeline and that we are poised for imminent success.
Texas recruiting 2005-2009: 7 five stars, 58 four stars, 36 three stars Played for a national championship in 2009 against Alabama. Alabama recruiting 2005-2009: 9 five stars, 59 four stars, 60 three stars
Of course, if stars are meaningless, how do we know Strong has recruited any talent? I mean, based on the results of the past two years, it would appear we seriously lack talent. The only indicator of our talent is recruiting rankings.
So Herman's success, if he is successful, will be because Strong went 6-7, 5-7, 5-7? You can right a ship without sinking it first.
The returning 2014 OL wasn't near as bad as what we fielded that year. Of course when the starting book-end tackles never bought in on Strong and kept puffing or whatever, it became terrible. All I know is they were eligible the year before.
No wonder we lost. Bama recruited 27 more players than we did. Guess that's why we only had a true freshman as our depth at QB, which might be why we lost that game.
Saban is rather infamous for running off players after a year and forcing transfers. He usually offers more scholarships than spots and eventually players "decide" to transfer. His methods have been criticized for quite sometime.
Texas lost because Colt was injured. Texas was on the way to running Alabama out of the building when Colt was hurt.
Still makes me sick thinking about it. How much different would things be if he hadn't gotten hurt. Never understood the refusal to get a junior college backup QB from Mack or from Charlie when he came here.
We did not need a transfer backup QB. GG was doing fine if he just could have gotten a little help from a) his coaches and b) his teammates. a) Coaches - called that STUPID shovel pass right before the half when they should have taken a knee. b) Players - Malcolm Williams dropped a TD pass that hit him right in the hands in the endzone right in front of me. Those 2 plays go our way and I say we would have won that game. How different would GG's time at UT been if we had won that game? Instead it was a microcosm of his entire time at UT when the coaches and the players around him failed to help him out.
You are probably right. If we had won, Mack might not have lost his damned mind and tried to make the team over into a pro-style power running/play action offense. But also we lost a lot of talent after 2009. 2010 was probably going to be a rebuilding year anyway. But that decision by Mack sent the season off the rails and into a deep gulch. GG probably would have been just fine if not for that decision.
GG would not have been fine. He was too over critical of his own mistakes. One mistake lead to 3 and his continued forcing of the ball just killed him. He was like Chris Simms on steroids as far as how he handled mistakes.
I think it's a pretty good system he runs. As demanding as he is there will always be a percentage that will never fit. He's great at identifying that and I'm sure he's honest and tells them they'll never play at Bama so they leave and he fills the roster with fresh blood. Those that give all and do as he says gets to stay. Sounds like what Charlie did when he got here except he filled the gaps with a lot of soft crybabies he kept. Is there a running list of super star players who Saban ran off but were successful elsewhere?
Phil, I would add to your list the wrong pass route being run on the spot throw that resulted in six for Alabama.
I do not think that is his system. He offers way too many scholarships ahead of time. I think the system is "if you are not good enough you choose to transfer aka lose your scholarship." I do not think that is right. Plenty of coaches win national titles by honoring scholarships to kids that gave it their all, did everything right and were just recruiting misses or did not develop.
He can't make them leave. If they choose to stay they can. There's nothing wrong with telling someone they aren't good enough or working hard enough to be on his team.
I never understood WHY Greg Davis would call a read option with Colt, KNOWING Bama had to plan to knock him out of the game to have a chance to beat us..... Why give them the chance, especiially that early??????. I cussed that man for a month straight after that play...LOL....After I got over being mad I thought that maybe Colt had changed the play call. If I ever see one of them I am going to ask who called that play.
54, I have a new found appreciation for your self control and discipline. I was cussing Greg when he was at A&M, while he was at UNC, and before he moved to Austin. Knowing what Greg has been, what he continues to be will never allow me to achieve your level of forgiveness for more than that one play.
Folks and pundints also need to remember that not only was Mack's final three years infinitely better than Strong's, but so were Mackovick's. Mackovick's last season was his only losing season 4-7. The previous two years before that he just won the Big 12 in its first year and went 10-2-1 with a Sugar Bowl berth. Charile's results in his three years here were much worse than his two fired predecessors who actually delivered championships. You do know that was a completely freak random injury? There's wasn't anything especially risky (moreso considering you're using the entire playbook in a championship game) about that option play. He's been hit much harder and was going to get hit much harder during that game.
