OK, so this is kind of a thought that came to me while discussing our loss to Maryland. I’ve been an avid fan since I stepped on campus in 1984, and in hindsight, am wondering.... Littlefield, Bible, then Royal built Texas into a power and then a national champion. Since then it’s been sort of a roller coaster hit and miss. IMO, Fred Akers = Mack Brown Both had great teams, Earl/Ricky, Notre Dame/Georgia/Alabama took two titles from Fred and 1 from Mack, who got one over USC David McWilliams = Charlie Strong Both coaches defensive minded but struggled offensively. McWilliams had the one season of “whatever it takes”, but had 3 losing seasons as did Charlie. John Mackovic = Tom Herman Only one season in but both coaches had/have a reputation for being aloof/smarter/better than the fan base. Mackovic was a great offensive mind with zero regard for defense and it cost him in the end. Tom Herman is known for his binder that cannot be questioned even in failure. This is where we are at this moment in time... We had Akers/McWilliams/Mackovic Then Brown/Strong/Herman I am a known supporter of TH, and I wonder if his arrogance similar to Mackovic’s will cost him in the end at Texas. I always support our guys going to get the NFL $ when it’s readily available, but I’ll always wonder if Foreman would have stayed for his senior year like Ricky did, would Herman’s inaugural season had been a kick start like Ricky was for Mack. It sure made Applewhite’s job easier as a young qb...similar to the dream of Vince staying for his senior year.....the “what ifs” are endless....
The pressure to win at Texas is higher than just about anywhere else. The lights at Texas are brighter and hotter than possibly anywhere else. I have no doubt Herman is a smart man, but sometimes smart people hate having their decisions and results questioned under the lights and pressure because "they are smarter than you" then set out to prove that they can't possibly be wrong. I see it all the time in leadership positions. This leads to mistakes and missing the obvious answers. I feel like this is Herman at this point in time. The good news is that it is not too late for him to realize this and fix the problems. If he continues down this path he is doomed to be the next great failure at Texas. This is why I am sitting on the wagon with both feet dragging the ground. This could go either way but someone has to be in a position to help him see the light.
Beside the '91 Cotton Bowl debacle, I don't recall McWilliams's teams being regularly shredded on the defensive side and losing by multiple historic margins like Strong's. Otherwise, I get the comparison.
Blowouts, during the McWilliams years, as much as I hate to bring them up. He is the reason I got into coaching and teaching. 1987 lost to Auburn 31-3, lost to OU 44-9 1988 lost to BYU 47-6, lost to UH 66-15 1989 lost to Colorado 27-6, lost to UH 47-9, lost to Baylor 50-7 1990 lost to Miami 46-3
McWilliams was our worst coach since Ed Price, but with two winning seasons, finishing ranked twice, and the 10-2 conference championship year, even he is a tier above Charlie Strong. Not really fair to compare him to Charlie since McWilliams actually did win some things (and beat OU!). They both are comparable in being good guys and likeable.
I do agree that TH is going down the John Mackovic road. He comes off as thinking he is smarter than us stupid fans, even tho I've been watching and rooting for this team longer than he has been alive. He's not building up any goodwill points that would tide him over thru the rough patches the way MB did.
Bad losses and blowouts for sure, and I did mention the Miami game. However, as I wrote, Strong had a lot more than the list you compiled, which is one blowout loss per season. As a comparison, in 2014 alone, here are the blowout losses under Strong: BYU 41-7 Baylor 28-7, yes I consider a 21 point loss to Baylor to be a blowout. Kansas State 23-0 TCU 48-10 Arkansa 31-7 Hard to say McWilliams's teams were shredded and blown out as regularly, which is what I said, as Strong's teams.
“Sic transit gloria mundi”, in Latin, translates literally meaning "Thus passes the glory of the world" and loosely means “all glory is fleeting.” Since DKR, we have seen coaches come in, have success, some play for an NC, then fail miserably in the end and are generally forgotten or most fans would like to forget them. I saw arrogance in Mackovic, Akers (when the program began to crater) and in Mack near the end. McWilliams and Strong just looked like pathetic lost souls wandering in the twilight fog trying to find their shoes, but at least McWilliams had one good season in '90 which ended poorly in the Cotton Bowl. Seems between good or great coaches, there are 2 that experience little or no success. McWilliams and Mackovic after Akers (he did play for but lost 2 NCs) then came Strong and Herman after Mack. The jury is out on Herman, but he exhibits the same arrogant style and seeming unwillingness to make changes which, in the end, cost others and their jobs. At this point, unless there is improvement, if this season produces anything less than 8 wins which includes a bowl win, then next season will be Herman's last hoorah. If he finishes under .500 this or next season, is there any reason to keep him?
Although with Mackovic the all offense no defense stuff was often true. Last year with Herman, we had the opposite issue.
We had the opposite issue, but there were no planes flying around the stadium toting banners reading "Turn the page, Tom"
I would take Mackovic back as our offensive coodinator in a heartbeat. He could take our current oline and running backs and do great things.
77, I always enjoyed your posts and usually agree with them, so I'm truly saddened that you have gone to the dark side. Putting Mackovic & Herman in the same zipcode, much less the same staff would create an explosion of arrogance that would make a nuclear holocaust look like a campfire.
Pretty darn well said, especially the last sentence. Sums up what I've been thinking this week. I would too. Even though he wasn't ever coming I tell you who I wanted in 2014 : Paul Chryst. Watching his offenses reminds me an awful lot of the Mackovic days and with the talent he could pull out of Texas (AND DEVELOP) the offensive side of the ball would have been an NFL pipeline.
Good post. Mack Brown was awesome for ten straight years. Other than that, since 1984, it has been hit or miss, mostly miss.
I apologize @SabreHorn. I truly never want Mackovic back. That said, I love his running plays and blocking schemes. The man deserves all the derision he receives. However, he was gifted at drawing up and calling offensive plays. Unfortunately, that was about it. I will also add, unlike Charlie and Herman (so far), McWilliams, Mackovic, etc all had big moments like 1990 or 95/96 where they had Texas playing for something. Even Mack in 2013 had Texas playing for something against Baylor. I think Texas fans have tired of not playing for anything, and Herman insisting on playing Ehlinger/not fixing anything makes us all not expect to play for anything this year yet again. I really do hope Herman figures it out and tries to fix things before it is too late. However, Monday’s press conference dropped my confidence in that to < 1%.
