And now we wait. The program on a knife edge.

Discussion in 'On The Field' started by Duck Dodgers, Oct 18, 2020.

  1. Duck Dodgers

    Duck Dodgers 1,000+ Posts

    Going into the season, the week off after OU looked helpful. But after the poor start to the year, with both on and off the field failures, it’s only accentuated the issues, as one week drags into two.

    Despite the coaches' claims otherwise, nothing is going to get “fixed”, even if they have the two bestus practices in the history of college football. If things like poor tackling, WR’s giving up on routes, OL’s having feet set in concrete, and 30 yards of rushing by the RB’s were fixable by this staff, they would have been already.

    The season so far could scarcely have gone worse realistically. Off the field issues have been horrid. Players make demands of the school with regards to naming of buildings and the school song, with a 0% chance that they researched any history of this on their own, and instead are merely mouthpieces for professors and outsiders.

    After putting the team on his shoulders and almost dragging them to a victory, the team then abandons their leader and team captain, leaving him to sing the school song alone.

    The coach makes out-of-nowhere insults about the fans, claiming they discriminate against football players for dating family members and hiring (meanwhile he goes out and hires a couple of dudes he used to work with, neither of which is a UT football player).

    A risk weighted prediction was 2-2 at this point, and that’s where the team is, showing that despite having a senior QB, and a very down OU team, the Texas football program is tracking the same win / loss history as the past three years that has produced 6, 4, and 5 loss seasons.

    Texas has a 1-2 record in the conference, good for 8th place in a 10 team conference. Texas’ only win has come against a winless in conference T Tech.

    Texas is the only conference win by TCU and OU. Texas fans often excuse losses by saying that everyone else has the calendar circled or the Texas game. I think that’s right – they look upon the Texas game as an easy win that can help a struggling program.

    Dreams of going to the playoffs are packed in grease and put in the back of the garage, awaiting another year. Even a conference championship spot seems an unlikely event at this point. An early top ten ranking, and national attention, has turned into the standard un-ranked status for Texas, the program being considered an underachieving joke by the rest of college football.

    Rumors swirl about big money donors funding hiring a new coach, while an elite coach in Urban Meyer seems to want the job.

    And now we wait. The program seemingly on a knife edge.

    Will Texas turn things around, ending the year strong and with a spot in the B12 game, which would continue Herman’s tenure here.

    Or will both the flaws on and off the field, as well as in the locker room, doom the remainder of the season, and also lead to Herman’s demotion as Texas football coach? Who would the next coach be – if Meyer then there’s a good chance of success based on his track record. But if some up and coming coach, well Strong and Herman himself were also considered up and coming.

    6 games remain, with only perhaps the KU game being considered easy.

    Baylor has a good QB that has the same running ability and toughness as the TCU QB that gave Texas fits.

    OSU holds a 2-1 record against Herman, and the game is on the road this year. Combined with decent looking WV, ISU, and KSU teams, realistically, a 3-3 split seems a good result, leading to a 5-5 season in a very weak B12 year. 2-4 is not a hard stretch to think either, with wins only against KU, and one of Baylor/WV/ISU/ or KSU.

    The results of the next 7 weeks will determine the future of the Texas program for years to come.
     
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    Last edited: Oct 18, 2020
  2. KBBAKER

    KBBAKER 500+ Posts

    Just as the Kansas loss was needed in 2016 to alleviate all uncertainty regarding Charlie Strong's tenure, I will root for an 0-6 finish this season if it unequivocally delivers Urban Meyer. I bleed Burnt Orange, but I can hold my nose for 6 weeks. Six weeks of hell for 5+ years of paradise is worth it!
     
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  3. nashhorn

    nashhorn 5,000+ Posts

    You can’t bleed orange, well not burnt orange and hope for 0 - 6. I get the premise you put forth but I still say you cannot really want that.
     
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  4. RainH2burntO

    RainH2burntO 2,500+ Posts

    Good summary of the year so far. I enjoyed reading it and agree with your apparent perspective I'll add only that I believe our issues go far beyond the players and coaches.
    i still support the team, coaches, players, and program.... but it is very hard to take pride in anything related to this right now - and I am not talking just on-field performance and wins and losses.
     
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  5. horninchicago

    horninchicago 10,000+ Posts

    I would have agreed my whole life on this until this coach insulted the fan base the way he did. Now, that may be what it takes to get rid of him, and so be it.
     
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  6. RainH2burntO

    RainH2burntO 2,500+ Posts

    6 weeks?!?!??
    My clock says 10 years 9 months 1 week 3 days and 17 hours already.
     
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    Last edited: Oct 18, 2020
  7. Duck Dodgers

    Duck Dodgers 1,000+ Posts

    I can't say I want the team to lose at this point - but I really don't care if they do or not. So far, the three real games have been exciting to watch, and that's about all you can expect for this, or about any other year under Herman.
     
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  8. horninchicago

    horninchicago 10,000+ Posts

    Since Ehlinger is the only real Longhorn on this "team", and he can't win a game by himself, I am stuck hoping these malcontents lose.
     
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  9. rick mueller

    rick mueller Burnt Orange Bleeder

    This would be a whole easier to stomach were it not for the off field garbage. I would be willing to give Herman another year if not for that. Heck, I was in favor of one more year for Charlie. That however, was based on my perception of Charlie's character, whether my perception was correct or not. With the off field issues, my perception of TH's character has taken a real hit. Again, I could be right about that or I could be wrong.
     
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  10. rick mueller

    rick mueller Burnt Orange Bleeder

    He called each of us a racist and has never met the vast majority of us. He lost me there but then he is Mensa so perhaps he knows something I don't.
     
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    Last edited: Oct 18, 2020
  11. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Amor Fati

    If Meyer came I have a hard time seeing him stick around that long
    Also I have learned to dial down my expectations on the coaching thing
     
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  12. horninchicago

    horninchicago 10,000+ Posts

    He knows many things you and I as non-Mensa don't know.
     
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  13. longhornlegend

    longhornlegend 1,000+ Posts

    I think its fair to say at this point that Herman is not the guy. The hs coaches dont seem to mesh with him. The hs talent is certainly not in aw of him. We field one of the most talented teams in terms of recruiting services and we have to recruit out of state because of the aforementioned issues. As the coach, you have to be a leader and herman is poor at best. Ehlinger being the only one singing was the final straw to me. Herman saying he hoped his coaches and team would sing is just more BS. You and your coaches are paid by UT therefore it should never have been in question that you take the pay, you ride for the brand!! Worrying if spoiled brat kids are offended is just comical. Who are you when you look in the mirror every morning? In hermans case I can answer that but decorum prevents it in this format.
     
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  14. Duck Dodgers

    Duck Dodgers 1,000+ Posts

    The worst stat against Herman is, as I have in another post, him going 3-9 against TCU / OU / OSU.

    Lots of coaches seem to have a team they can't get past. It's a knock on them and keeps them from elevating their game, but it's common.

    But for Herman, it's the 3 decent teams in the conference. It would be one thing if he was doing a Mack, losing to OU every year, but winning all the other games.

    But he has 2 wins, against 5 losses, to TCU / OSU. If he can't even be competitive against those teams, what chance does he ever have of winning a conference championship, much less a National Title?
     
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  15. El Sapo

    El Sapo Bevo's BFF

    Not to :herring: but this hits at at the heart of why I grew to hate Mack Brown by the end of his tenure. Once I realized we had fallen behind the Baylor and TCU's of the world and Mack wasn't going to bring us back to the halcyon days we had enjoyed, an awful reality set in. The only way the needed coaching change was going to happen was for us to start losing enough games that the admin would have to pull the plug. My fear was we'd enjoy the worst kind of success going 10-3, 9-4 every year but never take the next step. Mark Richt at Georgia, in short. I believe that's what would have happened if we had kept Mack.

    So my apathy grew as well as my indifference to the losses and I found myself doing something I never thought possible, when we were in a game that could go either way I started to want our team to lose so Mack would be that much closer to being fired. This carried over to the Charlie Strong years where I was flat out rooting for Kansas to pull out the upset ; surely, surely, that should be enough to get Charlie Strong out the door. I feel the same way about this team now. I don't care if we win another game this year if that's what it will take for change. It's sad.
     
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  16. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    1) How to piss people off

    2) How to lose his team

    3) How to guzzle water rather than ask a softball question

    4) How to cash a $6 million check
     
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  17. horninchicago

    horninchicago 10,000+ Posts

    To be fair, I'm pretty good at #1.
     
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  18. Duck Dodgers

    Duck Dodgers 1,000+ Posts

    For an entertainer, and that's all athletes are - they run around with inflatable balls for our own amusement - the poison to their careers is indifference, not dislike.

    Lots of entertainers survive with dislike of them - attention is what they need, strive for, and crave! Even attention mixed in with dislike feeds their careers.

    It's indifference that sinks them. When the public just doesn't care - it's like who won a WNBA game? Don't know, don't care.

    Who won the Texas game - for a lot of fans, it's trending towards that.

    Myself, I've watched them this year as the games have been exciting, in a Popeye's fried chicken sandwich fight kind of way. But gotta say, just like those videos, I'm just rooting for non-stop action, and don't care who wins.
     
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  19. rick mueller

    rick mueller Burnt Orange Bleeder

    Heck, I probably could do #3 given the chance. I would love to learn #4/
     
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  20. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Not to reveal confidences, but you were an honor graduate of the course I taught

    :hookem2:
     
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  21. horninchicago

    horninchicago 10,000+ Posts

    What the hell's that supposed to mean?

    :fiestanana:
     
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  22. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Interpretation

    You could take lessons from me on how to piss people off
     
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  23. horninchicago

    horninchicago 10,000+ Posts

    I know. I was just answering you in a pissed off way lol.
     
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  24. El Sapo

    El Sapo Bevo's BFF

    I'm pretty good at drinking beer :idk:


    This. All of this and the viewer totals prove it.
     
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  25. Vol Horn 4 Life

    Vol Horn 4 Life Good Bye To All The Rest!

    I think there's a song about that.
     
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  26. Horn6721

    Horn6721 10,000+ Posts

    Dion is missing some pretty good threads.
     
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  27. rick mueller

    rick mueller Burnt Orange Bleeder

    Nah. He's here and we don't know about it. He is deep, deep, deep undercover.
     
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  28. El Sapo

    El Sapo Bevo's BFF

    Admin / moderators gain access to the Hornfans E-3 Sentry (AWACS) & from there Dion can monitor the website real time while catching up on his favorite Kyrgyzstani soaps, even when on vacation. Everything is covered.
     
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  29. yelladawgdem

    yelladawgdem 2,500+ Posts

    Wait. What is all this crap about his record against TCU, OSU, K-State, etc? Who the hell cares? This is a one game schedule. Every year. It was prior to the formation of the Big 12 and has been since the formation of the Big 12. It has been since George Lynn Cross hired Jim Tatum and his top assistant, Bud Wilkinson.

    Mack was with winningest Power Five coach in America in the 2000's. But he isn't remembered around here for winning all of those games, making Longhorn Football games, both at home and on the road an "event", creating a frenzy at the box office, pumping steroids into the BMDs, or even Sally's cookies. He is remembered for two things; finally letting Vince be Vince, and getting shoved around by Oklahoma for bulk of the decade.

    Other than the fact that he never lost to Nebraska, no one can tell you his record against any of these other schools that are being blathered on about in this thread. If you can't beat Oklahoma, consistently, you are not going to keep your job here. Or at least win occasionally, and then beat everyone else like a drum.

    So let's acknowledge the elephant in the room. Given that the best indicator of future results is past behavior, how many times do you think "Group of Five Mensa Boy" is going to Beat Oklahoma in whatever is the term and/or stomach that we have for his contract?

    The University doesn't have the largest endowment of any public school in the country, and the Athletic Department isn't swimming in an ocean of cash because they made bad investments (hires). Spending money to lose more money is not a business model I am familiar with.

    It is simply time to shake hands and part company. This is not an emotional decision. It is a business decision. Anyone who thinks UM is not waiting for the phone call is a fool. The chance to win titles at three different Blue Blood Schools? Game. Set. Match.

    :texasflag::cowrose:
     
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    Last edited: Oct 19, 2020
  30. zuckercanyon

    zuckercanyon 2,500+ Posts

    Agreed, YDD, everyone liked that used car salesman. However, he would either lose big to Stoops, then win his other games and go to the Holiday Bowl, or he would beat Stoops, then lose another game to the Pirate and let OU in the back door. After the loss to Alabama, Mack threw out the baby with the bathwater, then became the 3rd/4th/etc best team in the Big 12. He just took a #5 team and lost to an unranked Florida State team. The answer is Urban Meyer, and, if everyone stays out of his way, we'll have a shot at the national championship in 3-4 (if not sooner). Start to whine about some non-football/BLM/Assistant coach beats his wife, the heart problems will arise and he'll go back into the booth. Let him coach football, 80-85% wins, conference champions, and so forth.... Don't like that? Then keep TH, and after a couple of years we'll get deep, and then you get the right couple of key players and you're in the thick of it (LSU).
     
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