After a weekend of watching the best that college football has to offer, I've got a little bit of a reality check for all of you.
Texas has a long way to go before it is worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as the likes of LSU, Clemson and Ohio State - teams absolutely capable of winning a national championship. Those three teams don't just have more talent than Texas. Those three teams don't just have better coaching. Or elite quarterback play.
Those three teams have all three. At once.
As we wait for Tom Herman to put the finishing touches on his off-season overhaul of the program, Saturday served as a reminder that adding a couple of new coordinators and position coaches to the mix isn't going to cut it by itself.
Just look at Oklahoma.
The five-time-champions-and-counting keep winning the Big 12 behind great quarterback play and coaching, but yet they keep getting treated like a rag-doll once they attempt to take the next step. Four times OU has been in the playoffs this decade and four times it has been dismissed by teams that are better pound for pound all over the field. If you take Oklahoma's five best players and match them up with the likes of LSU, the difference between the two teams is marginal, yet if you match up the top 20 players on each team, a sizable difference emerges.
I say that with the full acknowledgement that Oklahoma has a sizable difference in talent when compared to the Texas Longhorns, at least if we look at this year's all-Big 12 teams, which featured a total of two first-team players in burnt orange and only four out of 63 players that were recognized by the conference.
By comparison, Oklahoma had 11 of 63 players and it still continues to look completely in over its head when it gets to elite competition in late December/early January.
Meanwhile, it's impossible to discount what truly elite quarterback play means in this sport. The Sooners actually came into the playoffs with the Heisman runner-up at quarterback, but once you took Jalen Hurts out of the Big 12, Hurts completed 15 of 31 passes for 217 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception. The difference between Hurts and LSU's Joe Burrow was similar to the difference between the Grand Canyon and Brushy Creek.
Don't bother talking about what happened in September between Texas and LSU because the Tigers are sharpened steel at this point in the season, light years ahead of where they were early in the season when their defense was depending on Burrow to do all the heavy lifting.
There are two gigantic steps the Longhorns need to make and neither are automatic at this point.
First, the Longhorns have to find a way to dethrone Oklahoma.
Second, the Longhorns have to figure out a way to build a team that can compete with the true big boys in a conference that doesn't really prepare them for that. It's more than finding a way to stop playing footsy with the likes of Iowa State. It's finding a way to beat the teams that beat the crap out of them once the bowl season rolls around.
The hope has to be that Herman's hires close the gap in the coaching capacity, but there's still 2/3 of the equation that need to be addressed and it's going to take time.
And a lot more Bijan Robinsons.
No. 2 - My final movie metaphor of the decade...
Here's the first section in the form of a Thornton Melon diatribe.
No. 3 - Grading the Yurcich hire...
I'd give it a rock solid B.
I can't give it an A because that grade needs to be reserved for dudes that arrive with wallets in their pocket that read "Bad MF" across the front of them. After all, he didn't call plays at Ohio State this year and that's the kind of thing that needs to exist if you're going to get an A.
That being said, he checks a lot of boxes, important boxes in the mind of Tom Herman.
Play calling experience? Check.
Big 12 experience? Check.
A history of big-time quarterback development? Check.
The ability to come in and seamlessly adjust and improve what's in place? Possible check.
More than anything, the big takeaway from my perspective is that Texas has upgraded at both coordinator positions. Mike Yurcich >>> Tim Beck and Chris Ash >> Todd Orlando.
In the quest to take the next step as a program, those two improvements are pretty massive deals.
No. 4 - With Ash and Yurcich locked in as the new coordinators ...
Here's how I'd fill out the staff if I was calling the shots, assuming Stan Drayton, Herb Hand and Oscar Giles are the coaches on the staff that are safe.
Quarterbacks: Mike Yurcich
Running backs: Stan Drayton
Wide Receivers: Emmett Jones (Kansas) - The former Texas Tech player formerly coached in the DISD for more than a decade at Lincoln, Skyline and Oak Cliff and has made a name for himself as a recruiter for the Jayhawks.
Tight Ends: Tim Brewster (North Carolina) - I know Herman passed on Brewster before, but it's time to correct that mistake and bring back the recruiting rainmaker to Austin. Brewster's been dreaming of a return top Austin for more than a decade. I'd make it happen.
Offensive Line: Herb Hand
Defensive Tackles: Todd Bates (Clemson) - In addition to being a sensational recruiter for the Tigers, he's also one hell of a developer of talent. Considering he's making only $375,000 per year (less than Derek Warehime) the Longhorns could more than double his salary in an attempt to bring the former Alabama player to the Big 12. Give him a fancy co-defensive coordinator title if you need to. I'd contend he'd be just as big of an addition as adding Ash.
Defensive Ends: Oscar Giles
Linebackers: Tyson Veidt (Iowa State) - Has emerged as one of the nation's top linebacker coaches over the course of the four years with the Cyclones. A former finalist for the Broyles Award.
Defensive Backs: Chris Ash
Special Teams: John Fassel (LA Rams) - Coaches always talk about special teams being critically important, but then they hire someone with marginal experience (see Texas) to head up those units. Go to the NFL, hire an expert, pay him a lot of cash and let him make this third phase of the game an absolute strength. If not Fassel, then someone else. There are about to be a lot of unemployed NFL coaches on the streets just waiting for a new gig.
With the money Texas spends on assistant coaches, it should have one of the best coaching staffs in the country. Use that money to go out and get elite coaches and not just a way to hook up everyone you've worked with over the last 20 years.
No. 5a - Just a heads up ...
The Alamo Bowl is in two days.
I don't know that I'm picking the Longhorns to beat Utah, but as the game gets closer I can't help but be reminded of Tom Herman's record when he's an underdog.
I was thinking Utah in a 34-24 type of game when the announcement of the game was made, but I'm starting to think the Longhorns might take this one to the wire.
No. 5b - Sam flirting with the NFL?
On a scale of 1-10, I think the chance of Sam Ehlinger leaving early for the NFL is probably at a 2.
He's just not ready, and frankly, he's not good enough yet to be more than a mid-round candidate.
No. 6 - Five Thoughts on This Weekend's Playoff Games ...
a. I don't think Joe Burrow is the best college quarterback that I've ever seen, but he might be having the greatest season of any quarterback the sport has ever seen. He could have had 10 touchdown passes against the Sooners if the Tigers had wanted him to. Absolutely incredible.
Just look at this turnaround from a year ago (courtesy of @CS)
b. Jalen Hurts is not going to have a very long NFL career if he intends to stick it out at quarterback. I've come around on the critique that he struggles with being asked to make multiple reads and the NFL is all about making multiple reads and making throws from the pocket.
c. I hated the targeting call that changed the Ohio State/Clemson game. What's a defender to do when an offensive player ducks into a hit in a flash? At the very least, college football needs to create two variations of targeting, one that keeps a player in the game and one that warrants an ejection. That play on Saturday night did not warrant an ejection.
d. Speaking of officiating, the Clemson receiver caught the ball, took four steps with the ball under his control and then fumbled. It was a fumble. Man, Ohio State was on the rough end of some calls.
e. Joe Burrow vs. Trevor Lawrence is going to be some kind of championship game quarterback match-up. I like LSU by 10.
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) For Clemson or Alabama?
(Sell) I'd put money on Lincoln Riley returning.
(Buy) Sure, why not? Actually, don't answer that question. Let's just believe in Santa and we'll will it to come true.
(Sell) I'm not sure Sam hits 3,800 yards, but I might buy the rest.
(Sell) The Bengals would smash the Tigers.
(Sell) Its past time.
(Buy) That's about right.
(Sell) Someone has to win one, right?
(Buy) I'd bet a hundo it happened after the double middle-finger salute.
(Sell) Saban will aim higher.
(Buy) That seems about exactly right.
(Sell) How is he underrated? He's viewed as a top 3 head coach in the country.
(Sell) Give me more games. Is a 32-team NCAA Tournament better than a 64-team NCAA Tournament?
(Buy) Damn good, but not great.
(Sell) If he's UT's version of Joe Brady, that would mean he's great.
(Buy) Of course.
No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
... Please, God, let the Jason Garrett era in Dallas be over. After nine seasons, we're talking about a coach that missed the playoffs six times and won two damn playoff games. I've had enough of the clapping.
... Michael gallup is a bad mother and is only gping to get better. He's the highlight of the season for me.
... Man, Derick Roberson has had some kind of end to the 2019 season.
... Ok, Andrew Beck, I see you.
... I don't know about the rest of you, but I enjoyed Baker Mayfield's second season in the NFL.
... Ryan Fitzpatrick grabbing a playoff bye away from Tom Brady and the Patriots in the final seconds in Foxborough is surely a sign that the apocalypse is upon us.
... At his zenith, Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback my eyes have ever seen, but that zenith was a while back and he's nowhere near elite at this stage of his career.
... Derrick Henry is a bad man.
... Of course, Jameis Winston's season ended with him throwing a pick-six in overtime. Of course.
... Liverpool has won 82 of its last 84 possible points in Premier League play. The Reds might be replacing the 1992 Cowboys as the greatest team if my lifetime as a professional sports fan. I couldn't possibly love them more.
... Prediction for the end of the season EPL standings: 1. Liverpool 2. Man City 3. Leicester City 4. Wolves 5. Tottenham 6. Chelsea 7. Manchester United
No. 9 - The List: Top 10 TV Shows of the Decade ...
Let's end this bad boy with some good pop culture arguing.
10. Fleabag
9. Boardwalk Empire
8. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
7. Better Call Saul
6. True Dectetive
5. Watchmen
4. Veep
3. Parks and Rec
2. Game of Thrones
1. Breaking Bad
No.10 - And finally...
On behalf of everyone who had to endure this decade of Texas Longhorns athletics, I say good riddance to the 2010s.
Here's to a hell of a lot better decade than the last one.
