Admittedly I"ve bashed GD, especially during the SImms/Applewhite eras, but I think he did a really good job overall last year considering our OL and loss of Limas. Yes, he had some bad games but who doesn't. Plus, we had enough defensive woes to take a lot of the heat of Davis. The games we lost were because of Def not lack of scoring.
Actually, I would go so far as to put Greg Davis in the top 10 of offensive coordinators at BCS schools. Have any of you ever watched another BCS team and pretended that GD was calling the plays? I have and trust me, only a few schools have been as consistently good against top flight teams as GD has been over the years. GD's raise is well deserved and I hope he sticks around for while...I know, CRAZY huh?
i agree with puddle. people who can't seem to understand the fact we score 50+ vs Iowa St, Baylor, Rice, etc and only 20 vs decent teams just blow me away. like you said a dropoff is to be expected but 40% is flat out ******.
The whole "Top 10 offenses in Texas history" is just drivel that Bellmont likes to spout out in the hopes that sheep will swallow it. Davis is a decent, not great, offensive coordinator. And with Texas football, you're going to get a raise each year unless your unit really sucks. It's happened in the past, and it will happen in future. Dodds has a wall sign in his office that says "We Are The Joneses". And with an open cash register, he's never going to deviate far from that mantra.
Ok Puddle, now do that for the Offensive Coordinators who you think are good. I bet you'll be surprised.
puddle (or anyone else who has some time), lets see similar breakdowns of other schools. i bet that trend is close to the norm.
Sgt Longhorn and Horn10 may have a point and this is should prove out the theory. I will go on record as saying that Puddle's original data may not be the "best" determinant but some form of how GD performs vs "quality" teams and the dropoff vs other coaches.
Oh yeah and why you're telling us what would be an acceptable drop off, use an OC that you're wetting your pants over, as a comparison.
I understand Muschamp's salary 100%. We were competing for his services with other schools and he will bring toughness to our D. Davis on the other hand, we're overpaying by about 250k as it relates to the next highest bidder. Ridiculous.
What were we ranked in those losses? How talented were we those years? Key injuries? All factors that effect the outcome. I'd need more than just numbers.
Interesting fact. In 1985 Mack Brown tookover the Green Wave HC. He went 1-10, 4-7, then 6-6 before getting a better job. Greg Davis took over the next year went 5-8, 4-7, 4-8, then 1-10 before he was fired. Now the circle is complete, Greg Davis and Mack wrote a book called, Master and Dunce "1-10 and back".
The old saying is "You're only as good as your last performance." With that being said, many on here are only remembering his last performance.
We are not, imo, just remembering GD's "last" performance. Actually, we're remembering the consistent pattern of the Horns' running-game failures vs. quality opponents in title games throughout GD's tenure at The University of Texas -- starting in 1998 and continuing through 2007, with the only exception to the rule occurring with Vince. Without a dual-threat QB, the Horns (and before that, the Heels in 1996 and 1997 -- when Mack & Greg coached together at North Carolina) never have fielded a viable running game vs. quality opponents in title games under Greg Davis. Worse yet (for the future), there is no indication that GD learned anything from the success of the Horns' running game with Vince (when we had two viable running threats on the football field at the same time -- to give the Horns' running game substantive misdirection for the only time ever under GD). After Vince, the Horns returned to GD's totally-predictable "one-man" running game that has no substantive misdirection and simply doesn't work vs. quality opponents in title games. It is not for nothing that Mack & Greg have never won a Conference title without a dual-threat QB -- the documented record indicates they cannot coach a viable running game (at Texas or North Carolina) with an NFL-style "passing QB". Of course, the running game strategy we're attempting to emulate at Texas (under GD) comes from the NFL ... where the teams, as a practical matter, rely almost totally on the passing game and seldom utilize the running game. That may work in the NFL (where the offenses are cloned, and the QB seldom runs with the football), but it doesn't work in major-college football -- where you have dual-threat QBs and creative running-game schemes -- and some teams can run the football effectively. Meanwhile, John Chiles (the No. 2-ranked "athlete" nationally in the 2007 recruiting class) is sitting on the bench at Texas ... while our running game evaporates (again) vs. the likes of KState, Oklahoma and A&M ... ... and we're talking about recruiting Garrett Gilbert (a "passing QB" who reportedly is slower than Colt McCoy) ahead of Russell Shepard (4.4 in the 40). And Major Applewhite (whose 2007 Alabama offense just finished No. 60 in the nation in rushing offense) reportedly is a "disciple" of Greg Davis. With this approach, Texas may compete with Tech for the best "passing offense" in the Big-12 Conference, but the Conference football titles -- if past history is any indication -- will continue to go to the teams that can run the football effectively (e.g., the Horns, under Mack & Greg, never have beaten Oklahoma when the Sooners outrush us in the RRS). All of which can make you wonder how GD possibly could have received another "raise" from Texas for his work in the KState, Oklahoma and A&M games (not to mention Nebraska, where we let John Chiles in the game for one play late in the contest -- just in time to remind Greg that the Horns might be able to run the football vs. the Huskers, who had the No. 110-ranked run defense in the Country). Go figure. Hook 'em.
Statalyzer - that is an interesting observation. You refer to the Oklahoma game this past season as "a game our passing offense played well enough to win" ... apparently not, as Colt tossed another key interception, and OU beat us with a "balanced" offense that included a viable running game. True to form (with our GD "one-man" running game and a "passing QB"), the Horns' ground attack went virtually nowhere vs. the Sooners. Oklahoma outgained Texas in rushing yardage in the 2007 RRS by more than 100 yards (170-61), and worse yet -- the Horns averaged a mere 2.1 yards-per-carry, as compared to OU's 4.1 ypc. Colt McCoy finished with minus-24 yards rushing in the game, on 7 carries. And John Chiles, who was clocked in a 4.37 (in the 40) before his senior year ijn HS (at Scout's Waco combine) sat on the bench in the RRS -- not because he wasn't our "starting" QB (although that's an interesting effort to create a red herring on your part), but because we refused to let John Chiles help our running game (as a "backup" QB) on any substantive basis this past season ... until the 2007 Holiday Bowl ... ... at which point, John Chiles led the Horns' first-team offense to two TDs in his only two full offensive possessions -- producing 91 rushing yards (at 15 yards-per-carry) and 14 points for the Horns' offense -- in 1 minute and 37 seconds (combined, for the two TD drives). You may wish to pretend that the Horns' "passing game" (under GD) can win the RRS, but no Mack-coached Texas team ever has beaten a Stoops-coached Oklahoma team in the RRS when the Sooners have outrushed the Horns. Of course, Mack & Greg have been waiting for "next year" (to win a Conference title with a "passing QB") for three decades ... ... so, perhaps, you believe that waiting a few more years won't hurt The University of Texas football program. Meanwhile, we can keep giving GD an annual "raise" to celebrate our passing-yardage stats. Hook 'em.
its also not a good way of looking at it - percentage dropped vs top 10 teams. we could have the #1 ppg against top 10 in the nation, and yet the worse we blowout bad teams the worse that percentage was mentioned grows larger. you have to look at wins and losses and final BCS rank over a period of time. having said that we are a legit top 5 program over the past 10 yrs. you absolutely cant fake that record with underachieving offenses, its just not possible. everyone struggles against better competition, especially top 10 teams. but we've also had our sucesses against highly ranked opponents as well. and in the end, just like this year when we had to overcome a horrific defense, alot of injuries, a qb that had a soph slump, and a team that took a while to begin to gel, we still ended up a top ten team. we also scored 52 in our bowl against a team that had some really nice defensive games this season. some people have agendas they just wont let go. go run numbers any way you like over the last 10 yrs, just make sure you include all other teams in the analysis. we stack up at the top of the list, and its all based on the final W/L and BCS record - which you just cant fake.
Truck's Son - appreciate your point. However, you have no substantive basis -- nor does any other Chiles critic -- to judge whether the Horns' offense would be "100 percent one-dimensional" with John Chiles on the football field as the QB for Texas. John has been given no substantive opportunity to pass the football for the Horns (with our first-team offense in the natural flow of the game). In effect, you are suggesting that we convict him (of being an ineffective passer) without a fair trial. In terms of his previous record in HS for passing the football effectively, John Chiles completed 56 percent of his passes as a senior QB at Class 5A Mansfield Summit -- passing for 1,805 yards and 24 touchdowns, with just 8 interceptions, and averaging 14.8 yards-per-completion. That compares favorably to the passing yardage (1,488 yards) and passing TDs (15) for dual-threat QB Pat White -- during White's senior year as a HS quarterback in Mobile, Alabama. Pat White has led West Virginia to two BCS game victories in the past three seasons (including a decisive win over Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl), and White finished the 2007 football season as the No. 9-ranked QB nationally in the NCAA passing-efficency ratings ... ahead of (among others) both Chase Daniel and Colt McCoy. Pat White's ability to pass the football effectively also was questioned when he first arrived at West Virginia, and White was Rivals' No. 55-ranked "athlete" nationally in the 2004 recruiting class. John Chiles was Rivals' No. 2 ranked "athlete" nationally in the 2007 recruiting class. It is highly likely, imo, that an athlete of John Chiles' ability is fully capable of passing the football effectively for the Horns -- if he is given the opportunity to do so -- on the football field, on the merits. To suggest that John Chiles should be relegated to the bench because his critics "think" he might not be an effective passer would be, imo, as illogical as keeping Pat White or Vince Young on the bench at West Virginia and Texas, respectively, for the same reason. We arguably have "protected" Colt McCoy from any bona-fide competition as the Horns' QB for two years -- if so, based on the record on the football field [Colt just finished the 2007 season throwing more interceptions than all but one other QB in major-college football, while throwing six interceptions (combined) in the 2007 Horns' losses to KState, Oklahoma and A&M, and rushing for .6 (six-tenths) of a yard-per-carry in UT's losses to the Wildcats, the Sooners and the Aggies] ... ... it arguably is time to have legitimate competiton at QB, just like we have at Texas for every other playing position, for the good of the team. The 2008 Horns need a viable running game, imo, to compete more effectively for a Big-12 Conference football championship.. Hook 'em.
KCHorn, It seems that we are having the same argument in two different threads. I suggest you check out the "How many snaps should Chiles get in 08" thread if you want to see my counter argument to your claim that he hasn't been given a chance to prove he can pass. I'll summarize here by saying that, from what I have seen during his actual play during games and his performance in the fall practices I witnessed in 07, the dude simply is not ready to take the snap on every single play. I would assume that Greg Davis agrees with me based on what he's seen in practice and that is why he didn't give John an opportunity to throw the ball more in 07 (which was a mistake in my opinion).
