Greg Robinson is the answer. Nothing against Greg, but the players are the problem. VERY SOFT. This group is weak and consistently gets whipped physically. Hate to trash college kids, but this group is bad (based on UT's past glory).
Won't know until season's end, but "soft" is a generic meaningless term that people throw out when all they know is that the other team got whipped. It's easy to look soft when you don't know what you're doing, you have a bad scheme, you're not pursuing because you're hesitant... Hey maybe they are soft. We'll see.
I recall most of us wanted Greg Robinson run out of Austin several years ago. They didn't care for him much in Michigan or Syracuse, either.
GR may not be THE answer but he is AN answer. Considering the situation and the timing, not a bad and possibly a good move. Better than standing pat!
Manny was the problem with the Def. Greg will be the problem of our Def if he leaves players on the field that loafs such as Edmond. I watch Edmonds very closely everytime he's in and my blood boils when I see him on the field knowing he doesn't put out but in spurts. If Greg doesn't change that then nothing will change with this defense..
Man, I totally disagree. I don't think the players are the problem at all. Urban Meyer steps in at Ohio St and has an immediate impact. Sumlin at A&M. The coaches are the problem. We have plenty of talent. If we're soft it is because of the culture that our coaches have created.
I don't think another defensive philosophical change this far or early into the season is the answer. It's a lot to adjust to on the fly. This season may be far more lost than many of us might want to consider.
blonthang, I consider Fred a good friend and a great coach. That said, Earl told me that it was Terry Allen who told him to wear pantyhose. I believe Allen was the preseason frontrunner for the Hype$man. He and Earl were teamed together for a summer USO tour. Allen also suffered from pulled muscles in his legs. He told Earl that the Oklahoma State coaches had made him start wearing the pantyhose to eliminate the problem. Earl thought it was a joke, but after much discussion agreed to try it. Major problem was finding pantyhose to fit Earl.
Fine. But Earl spoke directly about Akers demanding the weight loss, which was probably more important long-term than the pantyhose. I admit I don't recall Earl referring to Akers directly being involved in the pantyhose therapy. The ESPN special caught me off-guard, just a couple of days ago. It was touching and insightful. My GAWD, the scenes of Earl DESTROYING NFL DBs was mouth-gaping and at times histerical to watch. One could only imagine Monday morning film-room replays by opposing teams laughing at their fellow players being steamrolled by Earl. And I bet there wasn't a ONE NFL defensive player who didn't respect and want just one chance to hit Earl head on. Even if it meant a concussion. With all regards to Ricky, I watched them both, and if it was a 3rd and 5, I'd give it to Earl. And that's nothing against Ricky who was outstanding.
how many defensive coordinators have been here in the past 5 years? Okay now, how many offensive coordinator s have been here the past 5 years..how many position coaches.???? How many head coaches? PRICELESS
I think very few people think Robinson is "the answer." I think very few think he will be here beyond this year. I think the reason some are satisfied with this move is because "hey, why do we have to make any changes at all" was almost certainly brought up and strongly considered over the last 24 hours. Robinson is the lesser of two evils and if he sucks even worse, it just enhances that chance that Mack is not here in 2014. Dreaming is anyone who thought Manny could have turned it around or that Mack was going to get fired or step down today. That was never gonna happen. On short notice, what were the better options? Don't just throw out ridiculous names like Gruden...who were we going to get to be DC at this point? My point is, being happy that Manny has been removed should not be equated with "I think GR is the answer." I'm not sure the kids are soft either. They spend 2-3 years doing exactly what the coaches tell them to do only to get their butts whipped by less gifted athletes...I' think they've lost their confidence in the coaches and themselves a bit.
Who in their right mind is going to come to Austin knowing it's most likely for less than a year? The only option was promoting from within and that was Robinson, or Akina.
Dick Tomey is 76 years old. Is there any reason to think he's interested in coming out of retirement to watch over our dumpster fire for 3 more months? Isn't Chizik still being paid by Auburn? If so, he is not available. Rick Lantz... His last real jobs were in Europe. His last stint in major college football was over a decade ago. Wiki lists his last job as Omaha Nighthawks (2010). This is better than Robinson who is familiar with our program? Mickey Andrews - any reason to think he's interested? I'd think a guy who coached at such a high level in the past could find a job were he interested and frankly wasn't he part of the reason Bowden was eventually shown the door. I'm not saying there aren't guys available who can do the job. But it has to be a guy who is interested in uprooting his life for just a few months, because there is almost no chance that guy still has a job in January. It pretty much has to be a guy who wants to coach but is currently unemployed. If they were good and wanted to coach they'd be doing it. What Robinson has going for him is he's been here, he's not Manny and he is at least familiar with the current system and players. Frankly the bar will be set very low for him. If he fails, he didn't have enough time or his players to succeed. He's a stop gap and nothing more as would be pretty much any other guy who took this job right now.
Rick Lantz has forgotten more football than Greg Robinson will ever know. I don't give a **** about age, I want someone to motivate, convict, coach up, and develop all this great talent we have seen wasted. How about five non blue chips drafted in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft? History lesson: Has anyone ever changed an entire defense in one season for a single game? Barry Switzer tried it and got run off the field by the convicts. We actually had a betting pool for what point in the game Barry would abandon his plan. About 8 minutes left in the second quarter. Lantz did it and beat FSU. He coached up and trained a bunch of kids to recognize FSU's offense. When FSU came to the line of scrimmage, Jones (a LB - yes his LBs could read and tackle, novel concept) started calling the play FSU was about to run on the goalline. It's called coaching, something we haven't seen in a long time. There's a reason the NFL had him coach in Europe, where he won two or three championships - it was to develop players. He retired many years ago after helping out Gladchuk at Navy. Lives well in Jupiter, FL. Dick Twomey might just do it for cash and fun. I've said for two years - $1 million for a year. He will never get it out of his blood. I'm not suggesting that either wants a longterm contract, but we need immediate help, and retreading a neverwas wannabe ain't the answer. Like I said, just another "yes man".
Sip, You have a very valid point about their ages. I never considered that they may not be able to keep up in clapping practice.
Lol. I love Tomey. The man was born to teach defense. I'm just not sure that age isn't a factor at this point or that he'd be interested. 76 is pretty close to hitting the wall. Forget about JoePa who was a figure head for for more than a decade (or two). I know robinson is interested. Frankly I half wonder if this isn't a lost season. I'm not expecting any miracles from whoever comes in. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Mack needs to go. Getting the defense back on track and winning 7-8 games might doom us to another year or two of MB. I was kind of thinking about Manny getting reassigned, not fired. It's still possible that it's because Mack is too nice, but I wonder if he's being kept on because some of the kids might be loyal to him and it keeps those kids from turning on the program. Just a random thought.
Perhaps change can bring on Success but... has Texas ever fired a DC after the start of the season and 2 of the games played? We have seen New DC's here year in and year out... just don't know how this group will adjust to learning new schemes after the 2nd year of learning under Diaz was a disaster. I am curious what lies ahead for this D. I was never a believer that this was National Title contending team but I did feel that they can win the Big 12 and go to a BCS bowl... but that is the ceiling for this team. I am not sold on Ash or the offensive scheme. Texas has been trying to redefine themselves every year. What will the philosophical change be next season?
Robinson just accepted an almost impossible job with the defensive staff he has other than Akina- who still has to be told to bring his corners up. I would not wait to reassign/fire Bo Davis. He needs to be gone today. Robinson should focus totally on stopping the run schemes including using Searles to help with the defensive line and let Akina work the dbs and linebackers. At the end of the year keep Akina, fire the entire rest of the defensive staff. Bring in Brewster or Chizek as DC for next year and let them pick the rest of the defensive coaches. I prefer Brewster.
