3 More Days!
- Thread starter FlourBluffHorn
- Start date
Three days until we can all scream like lunatics at the first false start penalty, "ya got no control!"
They just announced that no college football will be broadcast this weekend to allow for additional coverage of the John mcCain funeral etc.
Last edited:
(From Anwar)
We have talked a lot about the positive vibes surrounding this year’s Texas football team prior to the season opener against Maryland on Saturday.
In fact, we detailed at length how this team began to gel as it prepared for the Texas Bowl last season. That unity carried over to winter conditioning. It continued during spring practice, and the bond between coaches and players continued to grow stronger this summer and during training camp. As a person who closely covers this team, the messages from coaches and players were the same. Players understood their coaches and developed strong bonds. In addition, players worked together more this off-season than in previous years because their desire to win as a team became more important than individual desires. Texas’ incumbent players better understood the expectations of Tom Herman’s program and excelled throughout the off-season. More importantly, those players took it upon themselves to mentor this year’s freshmen class and helped them develop.
In addition, most players believed in the direction of this program and wanted to remain in Austin. There was a very small number of players who transferred out of the program after this season. The most impressive thing about Herman’s lack of attrition is there has not been one player from his first recruiting class at Texas that has left the program. So far, every player Herman has recruited is still here. Obviously, those numbers will change in time, but it shows players believe in the direction of this program.
As I spoke to people associated with the program about the positive vibes, coupled with the quiet confidence surrounding this team, each person credited one person for the current demeanor of Texas’ program.
Tom Herman.
From what I was told, Herman has successfully implemented a culture where players come first. That does not mean it was never that way in the past. It just means that Herman’s main goal is to put players first, and as a result, his team has positively responded.
Think about this for a minute.
With all the quarterback battles that are still ongoing around the country, Herman took a different approach to Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele.
In the case of Buechele, Herman announced the starting quarterback job on Monday, Aug. 20, long before classes started on Wednesday, Aug. 29. I won’t mention names, but many schools are carrying out the quarterback competition (in part) because once classes start, the kid is all but forced to sit out that semester if he chooses to transfer. Thus, he cannot transfer and start transitioning to another school during the fall semester, which is a benefit regardless of if he has to sit out or not.
When it came to Buechele, Herman did not worry about Buechele leaving, knowing it would be an option for the quarterback with an earlier announcement. From what I was told, Buechele loves Texas, wants to be here for the team and is an “awesome kid” and there is no indication he thought of leaving. That being said, the way Herman announced the starter, he did not put up any barriers for Buechele if he had decided to leave.
Meanwhile, Herman did not stand in the way of former cornerback John Bonney’s decision to leave school as a grad transfer to Texas Tech.
From what I was told, Bonney walked into Herman’s office a few weeks ago and told the coach he was leaving. Having a player decide he wants to transfer to another program is not unusual. However, what is unusual is Bonney told Herman he intended to transfer to Texas Tech.
Herman would have been within his right to question whether Bonney spoke to coaches at Texas Tech while still on scholarship at Texas. He definitely had the right to limit Bonney’s choices as a grad transfer (new rule change does not occur until October). Bonney was on Herman’s leadership council and Herman could have begged the player to stay. Instead, Herman decided he wanted Bonney to be happy and refused to stand in the way of his player leaving the program.
It was a move that many people associated with the program noticed.
While discussing Herman with multiple people, here are a few examples of him being a player-first coach.
For the final scrimmage of camp, Herman invited all the players' families to attend, and they hosted a lunch for those relatives and players after the scrimmage. The players did not know, so when they took the field for the scrimmage, it was the first time they saw their families there. He then gave the team the afternoon off to spend time with their families. I was several feet away after the announcement, but the players went wild.
From what I can tell, forming his leadership council gave the players a voice they desired. The group meets and discusses things going on with the team and can bring back thoughts and ideas from the team as a whole. It’s part of his philosophy of a player-led program and has helped develop a much closer and more cohesive team.
His 4Ever Texas series where the staff brings guests in for visits to help promote and teach life skills is another example of his passion for developing them as people and student-athletes.
He has talked about the recovery Mondays where they focus is on taking care of the bodies of his players, something that was not at Texas prior to his arrival. They bring in cryotherapy chambers, take them to salt water float tanks, give them recovery boots and constantly seeking new techniques to improve their minds and bodies. The players love it, and as a result of those treatments, Herman enters Saturday’s game against Maryland about as healthy as he could have ever hoped for when his team began training camp.
We will soon find out how Herman’s approach translates on-the-field.
For now, it appears Herman has done everything possible to put his players first, which has resulted in a positive impact within his program.
*****
(Suchomel)
In talking to some people who cover the Maryland program this week, I was curious to hear what the vibe was going around that program with all the turmoil that has hovered over Maryland this summer. Information (and practices) have been very guarded, as you’d expect and it sounds like the coaches have done a pretty good job of keeping everyone guessing on what they’ll do on offense. But surprisingly, people who have spent time around the team and at practices actually feel the off-field distractions won’t play a huge impact in this game.
“Traditionally, with things like this, things blow up,” one person said. “I can’t believe I’m saying it, but from the little big I’ve seen and from talking to players and coaches, I don’t see that happening. They’re really loose. They’re almost responding to Canada better because he’s not a hard ass. They’re much more laid back. They’re season imploded last year when they lost both quarterbacks and their top pass rusher, but I get the sense that they’re calm, feeling more laid back. They’re definitely confident in their ability. I think the fact that they beat them last year helps them with their confidence.”
Will any of that carry over to the field on Saturday? We’ll see. If Texas jumps on them early, all that confidence and looseness could go out the window in a hurry.
Offensively, with Matt Canada taking over, this should be a different style of offense than what Texas saw last year in Austin.
“I’m literally expecting a completely different offense from last year. From what we’ve seen, it’s going to be totally different. It’s going to be so different, I’m not sure what to expect if that makes sense. Maryland literally is going from a guy who tried to fit a square peg into a round hole, to a guy who will tailor the talent around the players he has.”
Texas is favored by two scores, so this is a game the Longhorns should win fairly easily. But if the vibe around the Maryland team from those who cover it holds any truth at all, the Longhorns need to guard against overconfidence in this one. After what happened last year in Austin, Texas should have all the motivation it needs to stay focused and motivated. We’ll know soon enough.
We have talked a lot about the positive vibes surrounding this year’s Texas football team prior to the season opener against Maryland on Saturday.
In fact, we detailed at length how this team began to gel as it prepared for the Texas Bowl last season. That unity carried over to winter conditioning. It continued during spring practice, and the bond between coaches and players continued to grow stronger this summer and during training camp. As a person who closely covers this team, the messages from coaches and players were the same. Players understood their coaches and developed strong bonds. In addition, players worked together more this off-season than in previous years because their desire to win as a team became more important than individual desires. Texas’ incumbent players better understood the expectations of Tom Herman’s program and excelled throughout the off-season. More importantly, those players took it upon themselves to mentor this year’s freshmen class and helped them develop.
In addition, most players believed in the direction of this program and wanted to remain in Austin. There was a very small number of players who transferred out of the program after this season. The most impressive thing about Herman’s lack of attrition is there has not been one player from his first recruiting class at Texas that has left the program. So far, every player Herman has recruited is still here. Obviously, those numbers will change in time, but it shows players believe in the direction of this program.
As I spoke to people associated with the program about the positive vibes, coupled with the quiet confidence surrounding this team, each person credited one person for the current demeanor of Texas’ program.
Tom Herman.
From what I was told, Herman has successfully implemented a culture where players come first. That does not mean it was never that way in the past. It just means that Herman’s main goal is to put players first, and as a result, his team has positively responded.
Think about this for a minute.
With all the quarterback battles that are still ongoing around the country, Herman took a different approach to Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele.
In the case of Buechele, Herman announced the starting quarterback job on Monday, Aug. 20, long before classes started on Wednesday, Aug. 29. I won’t mention names, but many schools are carrying out the quarterback competition (in part) because once classes start, the kid is all but forced to sit out that semester if he chooses to transfer. Thus, he cannot transfer and start transitioning to another school during the fall semester, which is a benefit regardless of if he has to sit out or not.
When it came to Buechele, Herman did not worry about Buechele leaving, knowing it would be an option for the quarterback with an earlier announcement. From what I was told, Buechele loves Texas, wants to be here for the team and is an “awesome kid” and there is no indication he thought of leaving. That being said, the way Herman announced the starter, he did not put up any barriers for Buechele if he had decided to leave.
Meanwhile, Herman did not stand in the way of former cornerback John Bonney’s decision to leave school as a grad transfer to Texas Tech.
From what I was told, Bonney walked into Herman’s office a few weeks ago and told the coach he was leaving. Having a player decide he wants to transfer to another program is not unusual. However, what is unusual is Bonney told Herman he intended to transfer to Texas Tech.
Herman would have been within his right to question whether Bonney spoke to coaches at Texas Tech while still on scholarship at Texas. He definitely had the right to limit Bonney’s choices as a grad transfer (new rule change does not occur until October). Bonney was on Herman’s leadership council and Herman could have begged the player to stay. Instead, Herman decided he wanted Bonney to be happy and refused to stand in the way of his player leaving the program.
It was a move that many people associated with the program noticed.
While discussing Herman with multiple people, here are a few examples of him being a player-first coach.
For the final scrimmage of camp, Herman invited all the players' families to attend, and they hosted a lunch for those relatives and players after the scrimmage. The players did not know, so when they took the field for the scrimmage, it was the first time they saw their families there. He then gave the team the afternoon off to spend time with their families. I was several feet away after the announcement, but the players went wild.
From what I can tell, forming his leadership council gave the players a voice they desired. The group meets and discusses things going on with the team and can bring back thoughts and ideas from the team as a whole. It’s part of his philosophy of a player-led program and has helped develop a much closer and more cohesive team.
His 4Ever Texas series where the staff brings guests in for visits to help promote and teach life skills is another example of his passion for developing them as people and student-athletes.
He has talked about the recovery Mondays where they focus is on taking care of the bodies of his players, something that was not at Texas prior to his arrival. They bring in cryotherapy chambers, take them to salt water float tanks, give them recovery boots and constantly seeking new techniques to improve their minds and bodies. The players love it, and as a result of those treatments, Herman enters Saturday’s game against Maryland about as healthy as he could have ever hoped for when his team began training camp.
We will soon find out how Herman’s approach translates on-the-field.
For now, it appears Herman has done everything possible to put his players first, which has resulted in a positive impact within his program.
*****
(Suchomel)
In talking to some people who cover the Maryland program this week, I was curious to hear what the vibe was going around that program with all the turmoil that has hovered over Maryland this summer. Information (and practices) have been very guarded, as you’d expect and it sounds like the coaches have done a pretty good job of keeping everyone guessing on what they’ll do on offense. But surprisingly, people who have spent time around the team and at practices actually feel the off-field distractions won’t play a huge impact in this game.
“Traditionally, with things like this, things blow up,” one person said. “I can’t believe I’m saying it, but from the little big I’ve seen and from talking to players and coaches, I don’t see that happening. They’re really loose. They’re almost responding to Canada better because he’s not a hard ass. They’re much more laid back. They’re season imploded last year when they lost both quarterbacks and their top pass rusher, but I get the sense that they’re calm, feeling more laid back. They’re definitely confident in their ability. I think the fact that they beat them last year helps them with their confidence.”
Will any of that carry over to the field on Saturday? We’ll see. If Texas jumps on them early, all that confidence and looseness could go out the window in a hurry.
Offensively, with Matt Canada taking over, this should be a different style of offense than what Texas saw last year in Austin.
“I’m literally expecting a completely different offense from last year. From what we’ve seen, it’s going to be totally different. It’s going to be so different, I’m not sure what to expect if that makes sense. Maryland literally is going from a guy who tried to fit a square peg into a round hole, to a guy who will tailor the talent around the players he has.”
Texas is favored by two scores, so this is a game the Longhorns should win fairly easily. But if the vibe around the Maryland team from those who cover it holds any truth at all, the Longhorns need to guard against overconfidence in this one. After what happened last year in Austin, Texas should have all the motivation it needs to stay focused and motivated. We’ll know soon enough.
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