Mack was on the Dan Patrick show Monday and said that he feels that since Vince came in second after the 2005 Heisman Trophy vote, he should get it now. Quoth Mack: “I think you have to go back and really give that choice to the Heisman Trust. If they take it away, I think Vince should be awarded the trophy. Vince was second in the voting, so even if they re-voted I would like to see Vince get it.”
The Heisman Trust would have to re-vote then. They haven’t even taken it away from Reggie Bush yet – SC’s new AD just shipped the school’s statue back to New York. So of course all of this is hypothetical. It’s also really unnecessary. If you think about it, they vote and award the trophy before the BCS bowls in the first place. The Trust has never wavered from doing that, so awarding a trophy on a re-vote after the player’s greatest moment came in a bowl game – even five years later – is opening them up for some criticism down the road.
I guess that having another Heisman on display could help with recruiting and adds to Vince’s list of accolades collected as a player, but to me, I want the program to be concentrating on what’s in front of them. This to me sounds like something a school stuck in the past would do. Vince already got the most important trophy available – after beating Reggie and ESPN’s “greatest team of all time” in their backyard. Besides, Vince is not a college kid anymore. He needs to concentrate on leading his NFL team and not another trip back to Austin to get honored. His legacy is putting an entire program back on top of the world five years ago.
I also don’t want any asterisks associated with the greatness that was the Longhorn’s 2005 BCS Championship run. That lame 2008 Big 12 title asterisk on the wall at Moncrief-Neuhaus was embarrassing. If Mack wants a Heisman to show off, let’s see if one of our current guys can pick one up after an awesome season.
Should Texas retire Colt McCoy's #12 jersey?
As we approach the Davey O’Brien award ceremony on February 15th in Fort Worth, let us think about the legacy that was handed down to Colt McCoy.
Legacy is defined as what is handed down from the past. The legacy and legend that is Vince Young will forever be the heaviest burden that any first year quarterback could have ever faced. Maxwell, Davey O’Brien and National Championship are awards that will forever seal VY’s legacy for all Texas fans. What you do with that legacy in this case is what is truly remarkable. Colt McCoy added another record by becoming the winningest quarterback in history with 45 wins.
Here is a list of accomplishments Colt put up in just his senior year:
- Big XII Offensive Player of the Year
- First Team All American by Associated Press
- Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
- Davey O’Brien Award
- Archie Manning Award
- Maxwell Award
- Walter Camp Award
Hope you have NFL Sunday Ticket, but has become must-see-tv again. Just like when he in college at Texas, he was Superman today for the Tennessee Titans throwing for 387 yards and leading a 99-yard gamewinning drive with 2 minutes left in the game. And Matt Leinart was there again too:
Last week’s game had them talking about Vince Young as an awesome weapon playing quarterback. This was an incredible performance that left the NFL experts gushing about Vince Young as an NFL quarterback. He was poised. He was accurate. He was Vince Young.
Related Links
The Statesman ranks the top Texas quarterbacks of all time. Where does Colt McCoy rank?
Link: McCoy needs to win a title before topping the likes of legends Young, Street.
The Tennessean is reporting that the Titans have benched quarterback Kerry Collins and Texas legend will make the start Sunday versus the Jaguars. The Titans are 0-6 and Vince is due big money if the team wants to keep him after this season, it is only logical that the team throws him out there for the final 10 games of the season to see what he can do.
Finally, some sense coming out of the Tennessee Titans. Team owner Bud Adams has told local media that he wants Texas ex to start at quarterback for the Titans this weekend. Head coach Jeff Fisher is apparently still interested in being awful with an old bad QB with no future than finding out what your possible future is capable of. Watch:
He’s not perfect and he hasn’t been a great NFL player (so far), but I’ll never understand why some people root so hard against . This week, the young man stepped in and took Steve McNair’s sons to a father-son function at their school:
As a kid, Titans quarterback Vince Young looked up to Steve McNair. On Wednesday, McNair’s two young sons looked to Young as their father figure.
As part of “Dear Dads Breakfast” at St. Paul Christian Academy, Young surprised the children when he showed up at their house early Wednesday and took them to the Pancake Pantry.
After a very rough Hall of Fame Game outing against the Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans quarterback rebounded with an impressive performance in his second preseason game Saturday night. The Titans’ starting QB Kerry Collins threw for only 37 yards and 2 picks while Young used his arm and his feet on the way to an efficient 131 yards and 1 touchdown.
Posted July 23rd, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football, Recruiting
Lake Travis' Garrett Gilbert will continue the spread quarterback lineage at Texas.
ESPN has several excellent articles this week on the spread offense in college football and some on it’s origins as well. Their articles feature Longhorn QB’s all over, from several generations. They think the perfect spread quarterback starts with Colt McCoy’s accurate arm and their history article gives a lot of love to future Horn and former Horn and current UNT coach .
ESPN Spread Offense Articles
- Spread concepts around for decades
- Spread traces its roots to Depression-era Texas high school football
- Who runs the spread offense?
- Defending the spread offense
- Andre Ware: ABC’s of the spread
- Crosshairs: Building a spread quarterback
- The 10 most dangerous spread offense QBs (*)
- Is 7-On craze helping?
Will Keenan Robison blow up at linebacker in 2009?
Football has become a 24/7, 365 days a year sport. We talk about football in the fall. We watch the spring games in April. And we even follow recruiting with the fervor of a Saturday night in Baton Rouge.
But the one aspect of college football that is overlooked is the work done in the summer with 7-on-7 workouts. Vince Young and the 2005 Championship team proved that chemistry and timing built in the summer can propel a team to the top. After a near perfect season in 2008 Colt McCoy and the Texas football team are looking to duplicate the blue print of the last team to make it to the Rose Bowl and win.
The similarities of this year’s team to the 2005 squad are alarming and are sure to be talked about like McCoy and Jordan Shipley’s fishing plans.
Not all aspects of the game can be worked on over the summer without pads, but plenty can be accomplished. Even with more answers than questions lingering to enter this season there is room for improvement. And here are five questions that could be answered over the summer?
1. What will be the base offensive formation?
The lack of a viable tight end may force Greg Davis’ hand when it comes to “go to” formations. In the biggest games of the year, and when Texas needed to move the ball, they abandoned the tight end set for a four wide receiver spread. With McCoy’s accuracy and the depth at the receiver position having a tight end on the field may be a detriment to the team.
From a skill stand point there is no question the fourth receiver will be more talented than any healthy tight end on the roster, unless we assume DJ Grant can emerge as a catcher and a blocker in his first year at the position. Frankly, it would be unfair to ask that of Grant so the question becomes – is it more important to disguise your play calls by being multiple on offense with a tight end or is the talent difference so great that putting a tight end on the field is holding the team back?
I don’t know the answer, maybe Davis and McCoy don’t either, but a huge summer by the receivers combined with no progress from the tight ends might equal a wide open spread attack for the majority of the snaps.
2. Can Garrett Gilbert handle being the backup quarterback right away?
Anyone who has seen or followed the career of the incoming freshman from Lake Travis knows that all signs point to a successful career at Texas and beyond. But all the skill, and smarts, in the world don’t necessarily spell success as a true freshman. In a perfect world Gilbert will only see the field in controlled situations. The plan is to bring him along slowly at the end of games that Texas has in the bag.
The problem is Texas cannot be comfortable with Sherrod Harris as the primary backup. The coaches and the players love Harris but he has never shown he could carry the team if needed. And with the junior recovering from surgery Gilbert has the chance to secure the backup spot if he can prove he has what it takes on the field, in his head, and in the huddle.
Like it or not Texas is one freak play away from starting a quarterback with no experience. With Chiles at receiver the only real hope is Gilbert. There is no doubt the pressure and expectations will not be fair or realistic for the prodigy, but he should have never expected them to be. This is Texas; he’ll learn that soon enough.
3. Who will be the running back?
Realistically this could be a question that isn’t answered at all this season. Mack Brown and Major Applewhite have proven they’ll mix backs in and out as much as they deem necessary. And while they’ll do it again this year, one has to think the staff wants a “go to” guy. A lot of the inconsistencies last year can be attributed to the lack of familiarity with the backs and the offensive line. The running game can be about timing as much as anything and UT had none last year.
It is true that the full running game cannot be featured without pads, but Applewhite has shown he values pass protection and ball security over big play ability. Vondrell McGee, maybe the most complete runner in the backfield, learned this lesson the hard way when he was benched for the entire Fiesta Bowl.
McGee may be the best runner, but it is Foswhitt Whittaker that can excel in 7-on-7 drills because of his ability to catch the ball and run in space. If he can stay healthy and prove he is willing to block Whittaker may finally break out this season.
The other option is freshman Chris Whaley. All reports have the physical freak as being impressive. The coaching staff has all but said he’ll get his shot to compete, so if he can pick up the small things this summer he’ll have a huge chance this fall.
4. Who will start as the third linebacker?
Roddrick Muckelroy and Jared Norton have starting jobs locked up in the 4-3 alignment, but with Sergio moving to defensive end one of the outside linebacker spots are open. The two candidates for the position are Keenan Robinson Emmanuel Acho. Both can rush the passer and both can make plays.
The skill that may separate them, and determine who plays more, will likely who can play in pass coverage the best. This is where 7-on-7 comes into play. With the Big 12 becoming football version of the Blue Angels air show finding linebackers that can stop the run and cover the pass is invaluable. In his short time on campus Robinson has shown the ability to play the pass and that’ what puts him at the top of the depth chart at strong side linebacker.
Texas will play with five defensive backs a lot this season, and that means only two linebackers on the field. Norton, who is a prototypical middle linebacker in the 4-3, has struggled in the nickel formation so if Robinson plays well enough he may be alongside Muckelroy when teams are spread out.
5. Is the work ethic there?
For the first time in a long time Texas overachieved last season. It had more to do with expectations, but the Longhorns had a workman like feel that wasn’t the norm in the last decade. Will Muschamp has gotten a lot of credit for the attitude change, but more credit needs to go to the players and especially the leaders on the team. More than talent, UT lost some big time leaders in Quan Cosby, Roy Miller, and Brian Orakpo.
Those guys kept the young guys in check in practice, off the field, and in the locker room. Texas still has established leaders in Colt McCoy and Sergio Kindle and new leaders are stepping up like Earl Thomas. But until the team faces some adversity no one will know if the team has the backbone they showed in games against Oklahoma and Ohio State last year.
The 2005 team established that ethic in the summer with many players pointing out that they had worked too hard in June and July to let anyone beat them. If this year’s team comes out of the summer with the same feeling another special year could be on the horizon.
Former Texas quarterback lost a mentor and hero when former Titans’ star Steve McNair was murdered last week. Yesterday Vince spoke briefly at McNair’s funeral service and he had trouble keeping his emotions in check. With tears in his eyes Young said, “Steve was like a hero to me, and heroes are not supposed to die.”
Our thoughts go out to McNair’s family and friends.
Posted July 12th, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Swimming
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#ESPN says contract talks btwn Blazers & LaMarcus Aldridge have stalled, but that he “will be here for a long time”: http://tr.im/rO6o #UT
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RT @InsideTexas: Texas-Ex Aaron Peirsol breaks world record in 100-meter back with time of 51.94 at 2009 USA Swimming National Championships
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RT @Lesleymccaslin: Just called WKRN in Nashville – They say the reports that QB Steve McNair is dead are true and they don’t know much more
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