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I'm not a fan of UT (I know a lot of people who are, including family members), but to me, firing the most successful coach in 25+ years before the regular season plays out would not be the smartest thing to do. Of course, you might not be suggesting that.
Give me a break. Missing a few players that went to OU or OSU isn't the cause of Texas' problems. The talent level from top to bottom at Texas is still way above SMU, TCU, Houston, K State, etc. I think the horns would lose to at least two of them, and possibly all four if played this weekend. Player development (that means coaching) has been subpar for a bit. Adding Jonathan Gray isn't going to suddenly make Texas a MNC contender unless the players around him develop.
I think an least worthy of discussion knock against Mack in his history at Texas is that he has relied on talent instead of player development.
Ive never been a great supporter of Mack's coaching or lack of coaching style.
He HAS always relied on his recruiting to have good teams. Last year is where coaching could have made a difference from 5-7 to a maybe 7-5 team or even 8-4. The losses to ISU, KSU and UCLA should some coach flaws.
Talent is what you want out of your recruits. Thats how you get NC trophies. Look at the Florida, Alabama, USC and OU teams. Loads of talent!
I'm not a fan of UT (I know a lot of people who are, including family members), but to me, firing the most successful coach in 25+ years before the regular season plays out would not be the smartest thing to do. Of course, you might not be suggesting that.
I'm not suggesting that. let the season play, THEN fire him.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hoffdano
Your earlier post said UT could get all the great athletes that had great character. Yet the surge in player arrests over the last four years flies in the face of your statement.
So did Texas recruit and win with "good" kids or "bad" kids? Did they decide that "bad" kids were OK to recruit? And are you saying that when Mack decided not to coddle the "bad" kids that other teams got better?
I think the evidence suggests that Texas did NOT take enough care to screen its recruits followed by relaxed team rules once they were on the roster. Cedric Benson isn't even on the lists above. He kicked down a door to an apartment because he thought someone had his TV.
When these "bad" boys left the team, they didn't suddenly show up on the roster of TCU, A&M, or OU.
What I'm saying is that around 2005, the UT athletic department started to look more closely at what their prospects were like off the field as well and what kind of presence they would have in the locker room and gave that considerable weight. A lot of blue chip athletes from Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana that would have made contributions at UT instead made those contributions at schools like TCU, A&M, OSU, U of H, etc. etc. I'm not saying that they were perfect in the execution, I'm saying that they passed on some athletes that they viewed as at risk of becoming Cedric Benson II. It's subtle, but I don't believe that TCU, A&M, OSU and other resurgent regional programs suddenly had top tier talent available to them because they were somehow recruiting better; something changed from the top down and I hypothesize that the change was selection criteria at the largest drawing program.
What I'm saying is that around 2005, the UT athletic department started to look more closely at what their prospects were like off the field as well and what kind of presence they would have in the locker room and gave that considerable weight. A lot of blue chip athletes from Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana that would have made contributions at UT instead made those contributions at schools like TCU, A&M, OSU, U of H, etc. etc. I'm not saying that they were perfect in the execution, I'm saying that they passed on some athletes that they viewed as at risk of becoming Cedric Benson II. It's subtle, but I don't believe that TCU, A&M, OSU and other resurgent regional programs suddenly had top tier talent available to them because they were somehow recruiting better; something changed from the top down and I hypothesize that the change was selection criteria at the largest drawing program.
I don't think the evidence shows that at all. UT's off field problems grew between 2007 - 2009. If somehow UT became more selective beginning in 2005 then their off field problems should have been reduced. I also don't see that A&M's recruiting classes improved much at all. TCU was never noted for good recruiting - rather just great player development from 2 star players. A&M has an excellent OL now, all sophomores or younger. None of these players were passed over by Texas because they were an off the field risk. Texas just didn't think they were good enough for them.
I haven't seen any evidence either that the teams you mentioned suddenly filled their rosters with troublemakers.
A typical recruiting class is just 18-20 players. Texas fills it early, probably earlier than anyone else in the country. I think that has been their biggest problem. Signing juniors that look great, but aren't really. Players like Tray Allen, a top 20 national player, who lost his starting job to a freshman. Or Gilbert. Player evaluation followed by player development is the long term formula for success.
I don't think Brown's lost his mojo. There are going to be down cycles for every team once in a while, and this is probably a downward trend for Tex. They're still getting good recruits, though, and that's what matters. They might need some different coaches and perhaps settle on a system of offensive and defensive schemes that match their players' strengths. But I don't think Mack Brown has lost his ability to coach. They had a very good run from 2004 to 2008, and they were in the title game only two years ago. You don't lose it that quickly. If they start getting beat in the recruiting game, then Texas has a problem.
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