Barring a horrible 5 loss year, and given everybody's agreement with every move he has made this year, AND given how young our team will be/poised for a real run in 09, does Mack any sort of pass? There were tons of comments on this board that he would not have the cajones to alter the coaching staff, but as we know, he did EVERYTHING that we could have wanted...
i actually think this will be a very proud year for us. Obviously, we have a great shot to beat OU, aswe did this year with our teams on relatively even levels. beating Kansas will make a huge stir and i really think we can escape this year with a loss or two, assuming nothing awful happens. our schedule is tough, but weve beaten some really good teams and we have a great O-Line surrounded by PLENTY of talent, and should have a top 10 defense once again. optimistic? sure, but why the hell not.
Mack should get a pass for the next two years, just based on the moves he's made this off-season. The record may not show it, but the Horns will be better next year, and a lot better the year after that. Props to Mack for not only seeing the need for changes on his staff, but making them, and making the right calls in hiring. He's a heck of a C.E.O.
Colt's Soph slump is over. Bradford's is just beginning. I am pinning my hopes on this horribly oversimplified outlook.
He got his pass in 06, at least as much a pass you can get from as another poster said, our resident football experts. He was replacing a ton of talent on D and some guy that played qb. For 08, he has an O-Line that is young yet very seasoned and because of so many injuries, they're flexible in the postions they play. RB's and WR's we always have, just plug the next one in, and much like 05 & 06 it can be a RB by commitee, and the WR's are always good around here, so the loss of JC, Limas etc doesn't worry me so much. The defense, well it can't get much worse. Again, there is a ton of talent, and Muschamp will get everything out of them and totally change the way they play physically and mentally approach the gameon D, much like Robinson/Tomey then Chizik did. ST's, hopefully with MB's new or re-found aggressive approach, will go back to its 05 and prior mentality of blocking punts in what seems like every game, whenever the hell they wanted to. Last but not least we have a QB who will be starting his 3rd year at Texas. I think Colt had a sophomore slump and is will have a big year. I think a lot of us agree that GD if nothing else is really good at developing his QB's, which will pay off this year for Colt, and even though Major is the RB coach, I think he will play a huge mentor role for Colt as well. I think that relationship itself could pay huge dividends for Colt. MB has BUILT a championship caliber program at Texas, and there are no off years or passes given when you bring in the talent he does. Texas has top 5 talent and a top 5 coaching staff. This team should expect to win the Big12, I think the question is can MB maintain the focus he had between the a&m game through the holiday bowl, and keep his players and staff that motivated as well for an entire season. If he can, this team will play in a BCS game. No passes, not next year, not ever for MB.
Probably depends on how much he contributes to the Longhorn Foundation...I'll trade parking passes with him.
Why are we even talking about this now? Are we already trying to justify a bad season? Come on, we have to keep the 10-win streak going at the very least. No passes for anyone... Texas doesn't rebuild... it just reloads...
2008 will see a ton of new players on defense and needing to replace our best WR, TE and RB along with a young OL. Add in a very tough schedule with no less than 4 pre-season top ten teams based on the various polls (OU, MU, KU and TT) and rivalry games with aggy and piggy and that is a prescription for a tough season. Now that said I think Texas can win all of its games games but this coming year is a lot like 2004 which set us up for the 05 run and I think 2009 is the year we will see an MNC run, if it happens next year thats great but we are probably a year away.
Hell, NO, he doesn't get a pass! When have we EVER given ANY coach a pass? Did Royal get a pass? NO. If Mack's team doesn't score at least 50 in every game, we'll run him out of town. With Major, it's a given. If the defense doesn't score more points itself than it allows, then Mack better learn to like tar and feathers. Hell, with Muschamp, the defense damn well better not let anyone score at all. A pass? Phaugh! This is TEXAS, by gum!
A pass? UT will be in good shape for the upcoming season. It is time for the injury problems to subside. I am most worried right now by the kicking game and special teams play. Hoping Bradford goes into a slump is 1 thing, I hope it is true... but I am not counting on it.
I have (as no doubt do many other posters) many friends and colleagues who attended TTU, A&M, ND, and other schools familiar to the HF landscape. As I reflect on the bittersweet season that was 2007, of course the usual pains resurface. How did we fumble away that impending TD against OU? How did we get so porous against the pass? How could we let the ags and KSU beat us again? Then, though, the brighter memories return. Exciting comebacks, big plays, watching "our kids" grow up, another ranked season and 10-win campaign, blasting ASU almost out of the stadium in the first q. Those Tech, ag, ND, UNT, etc acquaintances of mine would kill for the chance to lament a "down year" the likes of our 2007. We are back. UT is back. Winning 10 games but not climbing to the top of the mountain is insufficient because we always win 10 games-- for 'Horns, it is nothing special. Mack has done this, and I am grateful. I still remember 1997. Would he expect me to "give him a pass" for fielding less than the best we could or underperforming with what we do field? My guess is no. Would I? No. Will I view whatever results come in over the next year or two in the context appropriate to his accomplishments? Yes. Hook'em, Mack!
I got a feeling that IF we lose to OU and aggy at home again then things aren't going to sit well with the faifhful....Maybe it's just me i don't know...throw in a loss to oh i don't know Arkisaw....and well I think that just about answers this question
Nope we are Texas fans we expect excellence every game. And maybe even a conference title or two every decade. But I am of the opinion that once a coach wins a National Championship he is pretty much unfireable. I suppose Mack gets a pass in the sense he will be Head Coach until he decides no longer to be so. But NOBODY gets a pass at being bitched about on this board.
This is a public service announcement brought to you by the good folks at TEXAS LONGHORNS - STAND THE f**k UP! if by 'pass' you mean, "will it be okay to lose to get blown out by a mediocre Big 12 North team, at home, and lose to ou and aggy?" no. if by 'pass' you mean, "not win the big 12 south" that would not be a pass. that would be par. neither is acceptable to me in 2008 or 2009. Anything less than back to back Big 12 Championships will be underachieving, imo. Get down or lay down.
No. Mack doesn't get a pass for any reason, especially coming off of 2 seasons in which he FAILED. He proved a lot of people wrong in '05 and he's going to have to do that again very soon. Barring the barrage of injuries on the OL we endured last season and with the defensive improvements WM SHOULD bring we should see a step up in performance. I agree with the consensus that we should be prime for a NC run in '09
Pancho, Yes. Three passes after a NC. Every time. I think we are forgetting how long it was in between NC's.
I liked Jim Mora's response. No pass for the 2008 season. Time for everybody to man up and show us what they've got. This team needs the "BOOM ************" attitude, not the "we can lose to OU and still win the Big 12" attitude.
