Posted October 26th, 2012 by Ross
Filed under: Football

Many fans want the head coach, Mack Brown, to step down at the end of the season. The 2011 turnaround was ushered in with a host of new coaches and a rejuvenated Mack Brown. This 2012 season is under scrutiny because of the horrible loss against OU, the lack of defensive presence and the perceived lack of fight with this team. Mack will eventually leave, but he plans to stay as long as he can while posting winning campaigns. (what is a winning campaign?) Mack Brown says that he has the support of the administration, the athletic department and most of all the big money boosters. Problem is that the people that need to work on this situation may not be on the 40 acres right now. Mack Brown will be the head coach at least until after 2014 season. Let me count the ways:

DeLoss Dodds – Will not end the Mack Brown era because he wants to end his legacy with hiring the second greatest coach in the program history. DeLoss has a $1 million buyout that goes into effect after August 2014. The next AD, which will not be Mack Brown, will have to make the call on the next coach.

Big Money Booster – Will not fire Mack Brown because of all the relationship building and the good will that he has established. They want Mack to retire when he is ready. The word around the program is that the 2013 season is supposed to be the year for a BCS trip for the Horns. A total collapse (another 5-7 season) is the only scenario for them to act.

President Powers & the Regents – Read the latest edition of Texas Monthly and you will see that these two entities have plenty to deal with that has nothing to do with football.

Longhorn Network – This entity does not have control over the coaching decision, but they can certainly influence it. The network would not be here unless Mack Brown was present. Even though, the coach is quick to criticize the amount of time he spends with LHN.

Mack Brown – He is too much of a competitor to leave the ship. He wants to fix this more than anyone, but unfortunately his desire to go out on top may further erode the program. The spirit is willing for Mack but the flesh is weak which means he does not have the energy to reach the high standards that he has set to turn this program around.

Side Note: If Gene Chizik is fired from Auburn, get ready for him to join the defensive staff to try and correct the ills that many people blame Manny Diaz.

I agree with every one that says if you are going to point out the problem you better have a solution. Everyone has names that they want to throw out. I have to give credit to my friend Country Ham that came up with this coach as we were brain storming for a possible candidate for next year or more likely in 2014 if the luster has not left this coach. My suggestion is Dan Mullen who is the head coach for Mississippi State Bulldogs. He has a .622 winning percentage in the SEC over the past four years. He currently has an undefeated team which he will eventually secure his third winning season at MSU. The 40 year old coach will bring the edge, youth and program selling approach like Mack. He has a no nonsense approach with the media, and I think he would gravitate to the big stage which includes LHN. Mack has set the tone by recruiting coaches from the SEC, and Dan Mullen fits right into that direction. Dan does have credibility with 2 National Championship rings and comes from the Urban Meyer coaching tree if that does anything for you.

Mack will eventually leave because he will not want to pass Darrell Royal’s all time record for wins which is at 167. (Mack has 142 wins to date). The biggest issue is where is the program headed more than what is Mack Brown want to do.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on Twitter at 40AcresSports or follow me at Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

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Posted December 2nd, 2010 by Jack
Filed under: Feature, Football, Recruiting

The Cam Newton ruling is stunning to me.  The NCAA says his father broke rules by shopping his son, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong for Cam to play stupid while boosters and Cecil Newton negotiated a private transaction.   I sort of get their point – if the school itself and the player itself didn’t do anything improper, what the heck are they going to do about it?

Jadeveon Clowney is the top recruit in the country according to Rivals.com.  He’s a bonecrushing 6’6″ defensive end from the Palmetto State that reminds scouts of Mario Williams, a former #1 pick in the NFL Draft and an All-Pro.  Cownley hasn’t committed yet but has offers from 13 BCS conference schools from Alabama to South Carolina to all the way out West from Southern Cal.  At this point, why commit to anyone?  Just get your dad to contact each school’s booster club and get the best price.   Rivals.com’s #3 prospect is a Virginia linebacker named Curtis Grant, who runs a 4.5 40 and is 6’3″, 222 as a high school senior.  There’s 22 schools after Grant and he hasn’t made a decision.  Why make any decision that doesn’t involve getting paid?  Just let your parents get a media spanking from the NCAA and smile as they cash the check.

I guess it’s nice to know that Texas has one of the wealthiest alumni bases in America, but now we face an ethical decision.  We share a conference with Oklahoma and Texas A&M – who have a long history of shady behavior and are going into the postseason while the Longhorns stay home this year.  If Pandora’s box has indeed been opened – the Ags and the Sooners both will be at the front of the line with their checkbooks open.  Texas can pay coordinators and position coaches more than the majority of head coaches in the FBS…but does any of that matter if OU and A&M start paying for five star athletes?  Just because RC and Switzer aren’t running things doesn’t mean those alums went away.

There’s probably some 14 year old freshman phenom right now leading his team into the playoffs this weekend that will become the first million dollar recruit if his dad plays this system right.  Coaches and scouts will flock to his games in 2014 watching him shred opponents while praying that their school’s rich alums and the phenom’s family can work out a deal behind their backs.  As long as the athletic department stays ignorant and the recruit’s parents tell him where he’s going to school, this is deemed acceptable by the NCAA.  He can roll onto his new campus in a 80K ride and have a 200K off campus condo if his parents bought it all for him, right?

All this talk about the NCAA closing this loophole is probably dumb.  That says that they don’t want a filthy program like Auburn to get punished for THIS season.  Auburn has faced sanctions a whopping 7 times since 1950.   This is a quote from former Auburn president William Muse after the NCAA dropped the hammer on Auburn in 1993 for alums paying players:  “If this program is to survive, there can be no more days like this one, intentional or unintentional.”

Guess you lucked out on this one, War Eagle.  Can Reggie Bush have his Heisman back now?

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Posted January 4th, 2006 by Brian
Filed under: Bowls, Football, Live

Let’s see how this goes. I’ll post as often as I can stand to. Horns and Trojans are about to get underway.

BIG FREAKING GAME!

Did we win the coin toss, defer, and USC chose to kick? Will we receive to start both halves? Nevermind, the official said it wrong.

First Quarter
  • Great deep kick and good coverage on Reggie Bush. Great start to the game for the Horns.
  • Bush stopped for a loss on the game’s first play. Now let’s do that 60+ more times.
  • Texas’ defense in the backfield with great penetration on the first 3 plays.
  • Holy crap! [tag]Aaron Ross[/tag] fumbled the punt. Crap crap crap. Come on defense step up. Crap.
  • Reggie Bush has no class. Hand the ball to the ref instead of flicking it up in the air after a 5 yard run. Let’s hope he actually gets ejected if he punches someone again this game.
  • Too bad helmet-to-helmet contact isn’t illegal in college football. Plus [tag]Cedric Griffin[/tag] hit him in the chest.
  • Stupid penalty by [tag]Robert Killebrew[/tag]. He seems to get one per game, let’s hope this is it. Come on D!
  • Turnover costs the Horns 7 points. Game started off fantastically and then suddenly went downhill from there.
Texas 0, USC 7
  • Let’s go Vince, get fired up.
  • Looks like no huddle for the offense to start things off again this week. I like it.
  • Poor spot on 2nd down leads to 4th and 1. [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] elects to go for it and Horns get nowhere. Turnover on downs at midfield. All the momentum is going USC’s way now. Defense has to make a big play here and get things back going Texas’ way.
  • Apparently guy in charge of the clock doesn’t realize it should stop after incomplete passes.
  • Freaking Rose Bowl and national championship and the clock breaks?
  • Horns go to 3 down linemen on a 3rd and long. Interesting look.
  • Texas makes the stop but a face mask on Michael Huff gives USC the necessary yards for the first down.
  • [tag]Drew Kelson[/tag] in the game early instead of [tag]Rashad Bobino[/tag] (I think that’s who isn’t in there.) [tag]Gene Chizik[/tag] getting more speed on the field.
  • [tag]Tarell Brown[/tag] has a pick go in and out of his hands.
  • Reggie Bush gets about an extra 2 yards thanks to the generous spot. These simple plays need to be reviewed as much as any others.
  • Another generous spot for Matt Leinart on the 4th down QB sneak but I still think they’re short. Come on!
  • Horns stop them and get the ball back. Let’s go let’s go!
  • Meanwhile ABC is on commercial break #26 after like two minutes of football.
  • Bad play design or something as [tag]Billy Pittman[/tag] and [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] end up next to each other on pass routes. Complete to Pittman for the first though.
  • Another freaking fumble. Charles bumps into David Thomas and just drops it. Crap. Lost 5 yards. Kills the offense’s momentum.
  • Bud Light commercial featuring the “daredevil” are dumb.
  • Lost takes such long hiatuses that they have to have recap shows by the time they come back.
  • Interesting counter play from USC. Kind of a WR and FB counter instead of a GT counter.

(more …)

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Posted September 6th, 2005 by Matt
Filed under: Football

In a nutshell, Texas had their way with Louisiana Lafayette, which is indicated by the 60-3 score. Texas did pretty much anything they wanted to on offense, including rushing for 418 yards. The defense was also stout, and you could tell right from the start that Louisiana Lafayette was going to have trouble doing anything. I guess the only real down spot is Saturday’s game is the special teams, who missed 3 extra points! Now let’s move on to a position-by-position look at how the Longhorns graded out on Saturday.

Quarterback – Overall Grade: A

After [tag]Vince Young[/tag]’s 5 touchdown performance in the Rose Bowl, there is no surprise that he entered this season as one of the top contenders for the Heisman Trophy. With all of that pressure, I was interested to see how he would perform. I think it is safe to say that Young did not disappoint. Young finished the game with an efficient 13-17 for 173 yards. He looked to be very comfortable throwing the ball and you could tell he has gained a lot of confindence this past off-season. [tag]Matt Nordgren[/tag] played for most of the second half but did not attempt a single pass attempt. He did scramble a few times, showing off an interesting technique of gaining more yards when going out of bounds.

Running Backs – Overall Grade: A+

Texas appears to have a full stable of speedy and powerful tailbacks to compliment quarterback Vince Young this year. Freshman running backs [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] and [tag]Henry Melton[/tag] had a huge impact on the game, with Charles running for 135 yards and 1 score and Melton running for 65 yards and 2 scores. I swear it looked like Melton couldn’t be tackled. A bigger and quicker [tag]Selvin Young[/tag] added 65 yards and speedster [tag]Ramonce Taylor[/tag] also added 65 yards. With a total of 418 yards, I would say things are definitely looking good for the Texas running game.

Receivers / Tight Ends – Overall Grade: B

[tag]David Thomas[/tag] was up to his usual self, making big plays and scored 2 touchdowns on 3 catches. With his 2 touchdowns, David Thomas moved into fifth place all-time at Texas for a tight end with his 51th career reception. Senior [tag]Brian Carter[/tag] also help out by setting a career high with three receptions against the Ragin’ Cajuns for 65 yards, matching his previous career total of three receptions in only the first half. [tag]Nate Jones[/tag], [tag]Limas Sweed[/tag], and [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] also performed well, with Nate Jones scoring his first career touchdown. It was nice to see some consistency in this group and I look forward to seeing them improve this year.

Offensive Line – Overall Grade: A+

Considering that Selvin Young, Jamaal Charles, Henry Melton, Ramonce Taylor and Vince Young averaged 9.5 yards per carry, I would say that the offensive line did pretty well on Saturday. [tag]Justin Blalock[/tag] (fellow Plano East grad) led the offensive line who just totally dominated Louisana Lafayette. Hopefully they keep the same aggressiveness next Saturday against OSU.

(more …)

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