Posted January 6th, 2014 by Brian
Filed under: Football

New Texas head coach Charlie Strong had his first press conference today where he was introduced to Texas fans by school president Bill Powers and AD Steve Patterson. Coach Strong spoke for a bit about Texas tradition, his time at Louisville, and his plans for getting Texas Football back on track.

Watch the full video of Coach Strong’s press conference:

Really enjoyed listening to him speak about football and his philosophy on building a program. Funny and genuine. Said all the right things and sounded like he meant them. Also great to see his respect for Darrell Royal in there too.

Based off his jokes at the expense of the recruiting sites, I’m guessing that a lot of the people claiming he isn’t good with media are media members he didn’t glad hand enough. Despite some Internet blathering, he appeared to be a guy who will be as good with the media and big money donors as he wants to be.

And watching Twitter reactions I’m not the only one who is excited about Coach Strong’s arrival, it sounds like he is already firing up current, future, and past Longhorn players:

And:

Isn’t it awesome to be excited about Texas Football again? Welcome to the Forty Acres Coach Strong.

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Posted January 3rd, 2014 by Brian
Filed under: Football

Both Orangebloods.com and Horns247 are reporting that Charlie Strong will be the next Texas head coach. Before being the Louisville head coach, Strong was an assistant at Notre Dame, South Carolina, and Florida.

(via Texas FanGuide)

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Posted January 2nd, 2014 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football

There are pros and cons to every potential next head coach. Yes even the great Nick Saban.

Not enough experience. Too old. No big wins. Doesn’t know Texas. Can’t recruit.

Art Briles

Coach Art Briles has won big at Baylor. Can he put the Longhorns back on top?

My concern about Art Briles is more complicated than that. He certainly has experience. He’s taken Baylor to unimaginable heights both on the field and in recruiting. He’s respected by Texas high school coaches.

The big question is, how good is Baylor really?

Their resurgence has coincided with a time when both Texas and Oklahoma are as bad as they’ve been in 15 years. Texas Tech is just ok. The Husker and Aggies are gone. The Big 12 was incredibly strong just 5 years ago, but now the conference is just a shell of it’s former self. How high would people be on Briles if he has 2-3 more losses each of the last 3 seasons?

Yes Baylor is leaps and bounds better than they’ve ever been before and Briles deserves all the credit for that but I’m not sure that’s any more impressive than what Charlie Strong has done at Louisville or James Franklin at Vanderbilt. And Strong and Franklin are probably last on the Texas fan base’s wishlist. I’m high on Briles and would be excited if he was hired by Texas, but he’s 58 and his defenses have ranged from ok to awful. He’s not the slam dunk that many Texas fans think he is.

But hey, Briles might not work out at Texas but at least the offense should be fun to watch.

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[Update: Hammad did in fact commit to Texas. See ESPN’s story. – Brian]

The Longhorns are looking to continue stockpiling big bodies after Monday’s commitment by Desmond Harrison. Coach Stacy Searels is believed to be closing in on yet another top notch offensive line prospect: Irving High School Tackle, Rami Hammad. Hammad’s measurable are impressive: 6’5″ and 320 pounds. Hammad is ranked by Rivals as the 172nd prospect nationally, 28th at his position, and 78th overall in the state of Texas. Hammad took an official visit to the 40 Acres this past weekend that lead to him to end his his nearly three month commitment to Baylor.

Hammad now lists a top four of Texas, TCU, Baylor, and Oklahoma and is set to announce at 5:00 PM today. It is believed that Texas is clearly the team to beat for Hammad due to how quickly he backed out of his verbal commitment to Baylor after the weekend visit to Austin.

A quick film study of shows Hammad to be an aggressive and nasty blocker. He will sustain blocks 10-15 yards downfield on running plays and has a strong base in passing sets. He’s not nearly the physical specimen that Desmond Harrison is, but it’s easy to see that he has a mean streak and isn’t afraid to mix it up.

(more …)

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Posted November 7th, 2012 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football

Darrell RoyalThe University of Texas has confirmed that legendary Longhorns head coach Darrell Royal has passed away at the age of 88. Royal is Texas’ all-time winningest coach and led the Horns to three national championships (1963, 1969, and 1970) and won 11 Southwest Conference championships.

I was lucky enough to meet Coach Royal on several occasions while at UT through the Terry Foundation. He was one of three people who interviewed me for the scholarship and being able to talk with him about football and growing up a coach’s son was an incredible moment.

It’s a sad day for Texas fans. RIP Coach.

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Posted November 1st, 2012 by Ross
Filed under: Feature, Football

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas game against the Kansas Jayhawks.

Case McCoy did it again. Off the bench for the gamewinning drive.

Case McCoy did it again. Off the bench for the gamewinning drive. (Photo: The Daily Texan_

Pre-Game WTH Lawrence?! Some of the Longhorn players saw more fans at their high school playoff games than the 40,097 that were in attendance at this game. Interesting note that the 1983 television show “The Day After” was filmed here. Both of these programs had a lot of waste to bury after this one.

1st Quarter (12:37) WTH Gray?! Johnathan Gray first carry of the game went for 31 yards and the drive ended in a touchdown. Crazily that would be the only lead the Longhorns would have until the end of the game. Gray’s 111 yards should surely earn him the starting job for next week.

2nd Quarter (13:45) WTH Sims?! Is it me or does every UT opponent put up career highs in running yards? James Sims took the handoff for a 64 yard run which started KU toward their first touchdown of the day. Sims puts up 176 yards rushing on a UT defense that cannot stop a runny nose. Oh yeah, Kenny Vaccaro added a few more yards to this run with a personal foul.

Halftime WTH Zebras?! Since this game was lacking a lot to be desired let’s take an inside look at referee Scott Novak and his team that worked this game.

3rd Quarter (8:57) WTH SEC?! The team wants to be a SEC style running team. Getting stopped by the 90th ranked rushing defense in the country on fourth down was demoralizing. Until you see the stats that Texas has the 108th rushing defense in the country.

4th Quarter (13:04) WTH Horseshoe?! After multiple interceptions by David Ash, the coaches decide to put in the lucky charm. Case McCoy provided some sort of spark that ended up in two touchdown drives to win the game. I thought we would have settled the quarterback situation by now. Thank goodness for another McCoy comeback to stave off a loss.

Next up for the Longhorns is a road trip to Lubbock to take on the Red Raiders on November 3rd.

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 October 23rd, 2012 by Ross
Filed under: Feature, Football

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas game against the Baylor Bears.

Texas QB David Ash attempts a pass against Baylor

QB David Ash had a solid performance for the Longhorns against Baylor.

1st Quarter (14:43) WTH Lighting?! Mack Brown needed a quick start to avoid most of the 101,353 fans turning on him and the team. Well, Daje Johnson took care of that with an electrifying 84 yard touchdown run on the FIRST play of the game.

1st Quarter (2:42) WTH Williams?! The Big XII leading receiver took the defense to task especially on a simple stop and go for an 80 yard touchdown to give the Bears their first lead of the game. Manny Diaz does this count as an explosive play?

1st Quarter (0:00) WTH Students?! Well, if you ever wondered where the student section is at DKR, you found out before the 2nd quarter. All the students broke out black Livestrong shirts to support the 15th anniversary of the organization. It’s interesting the salute with all that is swirling around Lance.

2nd Quarter (6:18) WTH 50 Shades?! Could not pass up the chance to report on the first touchdown of the season for one Johnathan Gray. He put a move on safety Sam Hall that left the defenders clothes on the ground. At this point in the game, BU Coach Phil Bennett and Manny Diaz were getting ready to work on their resume at halftime.

3rd Quarter (12:55) WTH Okafor?! Alex Okafor called out the defense to play tougher after last week’s game. He needed to be called out for a crucial offside on fourth down that would have ended the Baylor touchdown drive.

3rd Quarter (6:31) WTH Black Swan?! The highlight of the night on the Godzillatron and the television broadcast was a shot of Natalie Portman. Wonder why she was there… who cares!

3rd Quarter (5:56) WTH Sooners?! OU fans in the stands wearing a Beat Texas shirt. Looks like these two guys forgot that the Red River Rivalry was last week in Dallas. Longhorn fans are still trying to forget.

3rd Quarter (2:17) WTH Mad Hatter?! Art Briles threw his ball cap so high in the air in disgust over the late Texas timeout on fourth down that WR Tevin Reese had plenty of time to make the fair catch signal when he caught his hat.

4th Quarter (2:34) WTH Mulligan?! The head referee announced to the crowd that Texas would get a “Do Over” to match up with the substitutions that Baylor was implementing. Mack Brown hopes next time a “King’s X” will be called when he needs to surrender.

Next up for the Longhorns is a trip to Kansas to play the Jayhawks on October 27th.

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 October 16th, 2012 by Ross
Filed under: Feature, Football

Mack Brown looking for answers against OU.

Texas head coach Mack Brown didn't have any answers for the Sooners. (AP Photo/Michael Mulvey)

You will not see the normal WTH article this week from the Red River Rivalry because there was nothing good to report. After being annihilated for the second straight year from your biggest rival, it’s a reminder of where the program stands.

The players and coaches talk about needing to get to work. Mack Brown said that I know what is wrong and I am the man to fix it. Unfortunately, we have been down this road before and the culture is not in place for this to be fixed. Sure the Horns can rally from this huge let down and win a couple of more games but the underlying problem is still there.

The problem is the culture that has been established on the 40 acres. Fans enjoy hearing how recruit after recruit say that they love the family atmosphere that Mack Brown delivers. Many coaches say that you have to de-recruit the player when you get the kid on campus. The UT staff may want to rethink how they de-recruit a player. A high school kid feels like he has already made it when he sees the facilities, the opportunities playing in front of so many people, and the fact that they are on television all the time not to mention that the LHN is there to record their every move. It is very hard for a head coach to legislate the discipline when times are tough while the team sees the head coach as more of a father figure. The last time Coach Brown, who is 61 years old, unloaded on his team and the staff, he had his first losing season and lost most of his coaches.

When Texas has won conference titles, the leadership has come from the players (McCoy & Young) themselves. Florida, Oklahoma and Alabama take their direction from their head coach. You will get a Tebow and a Bradford that will step up and take a lead role, but you know that Urban Meyer and Bob Stoops have their finger prints on their teams. Players and coaches take the identity of their head coach. Right now the identity Mack Brown exudes is an exhausted, questioning and apologetic leader.

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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Awesome news for the relatively distant future as the Longhorns and Buckeyes have agreed to play a home and home series in 2022 and 2023. Here’s the details from MBTF:

Two of the most storied programs in college football history will meet again as The University of Texas and The Ohio State University have agreed to a future home and home series. The Buckeyes are slated to travel to Austin on Sept. 17, 2022 while the Longhorns will head to Columbus on Sept. 16, 2023. Texas and Ohio State last met at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in 2009.

The two schools with a combined 243 years of college football history and 1,693 all-time victories didn’t meet on the football field until 2005, but the Longhorns and Buckeyes have played three times since. No. 2 Texas knocked off No. 4 Ohio State, 25-22, in Columbus en route to the 2005 BCS National Championship. The No. 1 Buckeyes returned the favor, claiming a 24-7 win over the No. 2 Longhorns in Austin on its way to a BCS National Championship game berth in 2006. No. 3 Texas met No. 10 Ohio State in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl following the 2008 season. The Longhorns came from behind to win that one, 24-21, on a Colt McCoy to Quan Cosby 26-yard TD strike with 16 seconds remaining.

It’s a long way off but nice to see the Longhorns continuing to strengthen their out of conference scheduling. There’s at least one really nice opponent on the schedule per year including series with Cal, Notre Dame, and USC.

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Posted September 5th, 2012 by Ross
Filed under: Feature, Football, Golf

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Cowboys.

DJ Monroe touchdown vs Wyoming

DJ Monroe showed speed AND strength on his TD run against Wyoming. (AP Photo)

Pre-Game (15:00) WTH WHY-O?! Not exactly a uniform statement like Oregon. The Cowboys had the letters WYO on the front of the jerseys. Way to step out on the cool side. While on the subject of uniforms I hate the Longhorns practice jerseys. Never replace the Storm Trooper White uniforms when we go on the road.

1st Quarter (4:02) WTH LHN?! The LHN camera crew had a rough night. The Godzillatron went pink, then fuzzy, then out for a few minutes. The camera crew kept missing highlights of the plays for the video board. The LHN group must have been partying the night before after AT&T U-Verse decided to pony up for the network.

2nd Quarter (15:00) WTH Putters?! It was great to recognize the UT Golf Team for their accomplishment of winning a National Title. Glad we can beat Alabama at something.

2nd Quarter (9:40) WTH Vaccaro?! Kenny Vaccaro was all over the place, and he picked off his first of many footballs this season when he jumped the route to get the momentum back for the Horns.

2nd Quarter (4:48) WTH Statue?! The play that keeps OU fans up at night. Nice execution by David Ash to Malcolm Brown. It was great to see Joe Bergeron and Malcolm Brown each post 100 yard games.

2nd Quarter (3:44) WTH Tightrope?! It was nice to see the Wild Formation which Bergeron gave the ball to a streaking DJ Monroe for a touchdown. Are we going to call it the Wild Joe?

4th Quarter (14:50) WTH Ash?! The only turnover of the game put a little scare into most of the 101,142 fans in attendance. David Ash did have a solid game 20-27 for 156. If only one of his long distance connections to Mike Davis would have made the state line look a lot better

4th Quarter (4:28) WTH Jordan?! We are going to have a lot of sleepless nights if the field goal kicking does not get better. Nick Rose can definitely handle the kickoff duties, but so far Nick Jordan leaves something to be desired when trying to split the up rights. Misses of 46 and 44 plus a botched extra point is not the legacy of kicking on the 40 acres.

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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