1560 Guys on UT's Starting QB Next Year...

Discussion in 'On The Field' started by Zona Horn, Jan 13, 2011.

  1. Zona Horn

    Zona Horn 500+ Posts

    This morning John Granato and Lance Zierlein on Houston's 1560 had the Chronicle's Richard Justice on (Justice is a UT guy that seems to have pretty good sources within the UT staff), and the topic of QB's came up, along with the new staff's plans for them. It was a free flowing conversation, but I will try to summarize the comments regarding our QB's.

    Garret Gilbert: RJ indicated that there are those at UT that think he may have been more of a system QB coming out of high school (and he warned TTech that they may have gotten the same thing with their Lake Travis guy), and that he may be lacking in leadership skills and playmaking. For GG's part, he apparently has considered transfering because he did not like the coaching he was getting from Davis. RJ indicated that Harsin will probably have an open competition for the job, and its uncertain who will emerge as the starter. (For what its worth, I wondered to myself throughout the season if GG was lacking in the leadership department, and if that explained the overall underachievement of the offense. Apparently that is the view of some on the staff as well, at least according to RJ).

    Case McCoy: The same people within the UT brain trust that thought GG was a system guy and lacked leadership skills thought McCoy should be playing more, and maybe even starting if he did well. There are several on the staff who think McCoy is the "gamer" and would be the best player. There are others, however, that are less sure and are not even certain he is a legit Div 1 starter. So, the book on McCoy is all over the map. RJ seemed to think that Harsin would like McCoy and that he would have a good shot to emerge as the starter.

    Connor Wood: RJ indicated that the book on Wood is that he is the most talented of the three. Biggest arm, and "looks" the most like a big-time QB. Some thought that he was shirted to save a year, and would actually be seriously in the running to be the starter in an open competition this spring. For his part, Wood was apparently pissed and ending up as 3rd string, and is considering transfering to Stanford to take over for Luck the year after next. (RJ indicated that many compare Wood to Luck in terms of stature, arm, ability, etc).

    It was an interesting discussion, and it would be great to know who RJ is really talking to, but of course all of this was based on "off the record"comments, so who knows whether its coming from the coaches, the players, the boosters or the secretaries in the office.

    I don't have a real strong opinion on who should be the starter next year, other than to say I hope its an open competition and that Harsin and Major are given a big role in makling the decision. One thing seems certain: whoever winds up third is likely to transfer.
     
  2. Whiterock Horn

    Whiterock Horn 1,000+ Posts

    I agree that an open competition is needed. However, I have no idea who of those 3 is the best and/or should be starting. I'll trust our coaches can figure that out and put the best guy in there. If that's GG, then so be it. If it's one of the others then that'll be fine as well. Just put the best guy on the field.
     
  3. YoLaDu

    YoLaDu Guest


     
  4. TexasGolf

    TexasGolf 2,500+ Posts

    not sold on GG so I hope the comp. is wide freakin open and everyone get a fair shake.
     
  5. Zona Horn

    Zona Horn 500+ Posts

    YoLaDo -- It wasn't 100% clear on the Luck v. Wood comparison, but I think RJ was just saying that they have a similar raw skill set and stature (in other words, they would have similar combine numbers). There is a big difference between arm strength/size/atheltic ability/etc at the QB position and on-field play. Wood apparently has a lot of potential, is all he seemed to be saying.
     
  6. RomaVicta

    RomaVicta 5,000+ Posts

    Ironically, I think Mack messes up the leadership of the team by being anxious to declare the QB the leader of the team no matter his year or experience. He did it with Colt his first year and it was just absurd to call the Longhorns "his team" as though he could just simply take over Vince's role by starting in his position.

    Colt had a good first year, but he wasn't the leader of the team. The senior linemen were. Mack should work quietly to groom leaders whom he spots among the players, not just assign them.

    You can't be appointed leader, you must earn it.

    This is my remaining quibble with Mack along with not playing the second team QB enough especially if your starter is a senior. Perhaps these issues are related. Perhaps the QB could more easily assume the role if he has spent more time actually leading the team during a game.
     
  7. tejas77

    tejas77 1,000+ Posts


     
  8. Clean

    Clean 5,000+ Posts

    So we had an "Andrew Luck" caliber QB sitting on our bench while we suffered through last season? That would be ironic indeed, since we also apparently didn't recruit Luck very hard either.

    Wood is big and supposedly runs a 4.6. Everybody from Alabama to OU and aggy were after him. I say give him a chance.
     
  9. 90 Grad

    90 Grad 500+ Posts

    look at the Boise QB Kellen More. Not the strongest arm or the tallest (6'0" LISTED) 191 pounds.

    But he had it between the ears.

    that is what Harsin will want.
     
  10. Oilfield

    Oilfield Guest

    GG just makes bad decisions on the fly.
     
  11. Basil Your Face

    Basil Your Face 100+ Posts

    Richard Justice is a two bit loser hack that earns his living saying and printing outrageous crap that he knows not to be true. He's a shock jock of a sports reporter and should be killed.
     
  12. Zona Horn

    Zona Horn 500+ Posts

    Rex -- I don't disagree. I had a lot of questions about GG last year, but I don't think he was helped at all by his coaching or, frankly, the upper classmen on the offense that dropped passes, missed blocking assignments, couldn't run the ball consistantly, etc.

    That said, there were times last year where it just seemed like he was not on the same page with the rest of the offense, where guys were not helping him up after he got sacked, or where they seemed to be tuning him out when he got frustrated by being sacked or people missing key assignements on 3rd down. Its obviously impossible to know what is really going on from the cheap seats, but that is what I wondered about when I was grasping at straws as to why the team was playing so bad. It was just interesting to me for RJ to verify what I suspected (at least by some undisclosed, private source within the athletic department, so take that for what its worth).

    If the new staff thinks GG is the man then I am totally cool with that. The "re-boot" that we have gotten ought to be enough to shake us out of whatever losing dynamic we had last year. I'd love to see GG turn it on and throw for 30+ TD's next year. What he went through this year had to suck, so it would be good to see him have a lot of success.
     
  13. Joe2005

    Joe2005 500+ Posts

    It would have been nice to have let Case McCoy gets some playing time this year so they'd actually have some game-film to evaluate him with instead of just practice. [​IMG]
     
  14. Bayerithe

    Bayerithe 1,000+ Posts


     
  15. busterbrown16

    busterbrown16 1,000+ Posts

    The quickest way to get a slap on the wrist from a moderator is to call out a moderator.
     
  16. starchild

    starchild 500+ Posts

    if the best guy doesn't get the chance to be the starter, the other players will notice. when this happens, it ain't good for team morale.
     
  17. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin


     
  18. No le hace

    No le hace 500+ Posts


     
  19. Texas Taps

    Texas Taps 5,000+ Posts


     
  20. HousHorn09

    HousHorn09 2,500+ Posts

    I think most of us were disappointed by what we saw come from GG in terms of leadership and being a "gamer". In my most humble and no-coaching-background experience he doesn't seem positioned to be guaranteed our starter in 2011.

    I would think that Major has a good handle on the behind-the-scenes issues that led our O to fall far short of everyone's expectations. I'm sure him & Harsin are spending many hours discussing this very issue. Harsin has the QB responsibilities and I think he'll want to evaluate the talent himself and make his decision based on what he feels is the best player to field.

    I, for one, would love to see both McCoy and Wood get more opportunities to prove themselves on the field under game conditions just to see who has more of that "it" quality.

    Spring Practice should be interesting. Very interesting.

    P.S. chill out Rex. Let the mods do their job. No need to jump into an area outside the bounds. Lumps you into the very same category, if'n you know whut I mean. Besides... can't we all just get along???

    [​IMG]
     
  21. Bruthaman

    Bruthaman 250+ Posts

    Harsin/Applewhite run a more traditional scheme right? So, a drop back passer would be more in order than anything. What kind of offense do you see texas trying to run? Zone read? Harsin didnt do that at Boise.
     
  22. 90 Grad

    90 Grad 500+ Posts

    anyone have a list of QB's at Boise since Harsin was there?

    I know they cant recruit great but if they wanted a strong armed tall dude, they could have gotten something.

    They seemed to like the smart decision maker who can run if necessary. Arm strength and height be dammed!
     
  23. Burnt Orangeman

    Burnt Orangeman 1,000+ Posts

    I'm just happy poor Gilbert isn't getting a prison rape of biblical proportion from the title of this thread.
     
  24. Detective Shilala

    Detective Shilala 2,500+ Posts

    Agree with Roma to an extent.

    GG lost this team as the season went on.

    But what's to say he could not have eased into a leadership role if he had an OL like Colt had on 06, or anyone (coach?) to draw support from for that matter?

    There were 10 other guys on the field, some of them upperclassmen, and not a single one of them wanted to be the guy. At least Gilbert looked like he wanted* to be a leader at times. See the NU game where he was firing the team up.

    Anyway, I hope he can rebound. Not because I have a bias about who I want starting. Just because I hate to see a good kid who wanted to be a horn fall short of his potential.
     
  25. bullzak

    bullzak 500+ Posts

    No run game, mediocre OL, no TE, no open receivers who can catch the ball.

    Tom Brady couldnt have run that offense last year.

    I give GG more of an incomplete than an F at this point. The offense around the guy was garbage in every area.
     
  26. bevaux

    bevaux 250+ Posts

    I was told in November by a family member of Woods that the transfer talk is so much bs. I guess we will see.
    As I have stated before a former player friend that is at a lot of practices said McCoy was nowhere near ready last season to play significant time, much less take over. But, I agree that discussions of him are all over the place. As for Justice? I'll pass on about anything he has to say.
     
  27. 1leggedduck

    1leggedduck 1,000+ Posts

    However this works out in the Spring and next fall, I will feel better about it going into the next season knowing that Harsin and Applewhite are running the offense, and presumably, making this call. GD got a lot of credit for qb developement, but I think two amazing athletes made him look good.
     
  28. Zona Horn

    Zona Horn 500+ Posts


     
  29. bronco

    bronco Guest

    The sad reality is that a obvious go to guy isn't on the team. There would have been a lot more chatter about Wood and McCoy if they were really tearing it up in practice. One or the other might be "gamers" but it is hard to trust your team to a guy not doing it in practice on the hope he can come through in the games.

    If there is a new system put in place it can certainly help the QB but it will take time and be a tough year again for the team. 2012 may be a better year.

    You simply can not win consistently without a confident QB that can make plays at critical times. Doesnt have to be John Elway, but it simply can not have bad turnovers and fail when the heat gets turned up on 3rd down.
     
  30. HI_McDunnough

    HI_McDunnough 500+ Posts

    I honestly think Gilbert will get beat out by the start of the season OR he will lose his job a couple of games into the 2011 season.

    Based on what I have seen from him, he is just doesn't have it. Texas can do better.
     

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