Daily Short #112, December 1st, 2017: Chat Column + Upcoming "Break"
presented by the Dental Offices of Wendy Swantkowski, DDS
The Absolute BEST in family and cosmetic dentistry for the Houston-Memorial Area
Now Accepting New Patients --- 281-293-9140
This will be the last edition of the Daily Short for a while. Starting on Monday, I'll begin working on a special feature that should take up the majority of my time over the next week or so, as Ketchum has assigned me to update my "College Coaching Hot Seat" database for the 2017 carousel and for projection of what Tom Herman is facing in 2018 as far as staying off of it, based on recent historical precedent.
This less-regimented content schedule comes at a good time, as my wife is due on this very day with our second child -- a baby boy. She could pop at any time moving forward and having a more long-term project to work on during this period without daily deadlines comes at a good time (this is assuming the little booger doesn't stay in to bake for an extra near-two weeks post-due-date like his big sister did). So, keep an eye out for the "Tom Herman and the Hot Seat" column/study as we get a little farther into December, and then for the Daily Short to kick back into gear following its publication here on Orangebloods.
With that said, let's get into the Chat Column for this week:
This Week in the Short
MONDAY - SOURCES on Texas Players and the NFL Draft
TUESDAY - FINAL Defensive Rankings + 2018 Defense First-Look
WEDNESDAY - Which Skill Players Can Help Fix this Broken Texas Offense?
THURSDAY - Connor Williams, A Texas Great, Goes Out with a Thud
Thank you. I think it's interesting that, as pointed out to us at a staff lunch this week by @DustinMcComas, that Texas looks like it will be the new record-holder in number of players sitting out the bowl game. Needless to say, it's a brand new trend so it's not a telling record by any means -- but a bit interesting to me nonetheless.
My personal feelings on these guys sitting out the bowl game is that it is within their rights to do so. Do I like it as a guy who loves college football? Not really. Do I understand it as a rational person who can put myself in the shoes of these players or their parents? Absolutely.
From a pure business sense, it makes total sense to me. We're talking millions of bucks here. But, this isn't all about the pure business side. It also has to do with the fact that some players are just ready to be done with Herman's Texas.
Some players feel that Tom Herman has not created a culture in this program yet of extreme accountability from the coaching staff to the players when it is being demanded in spades coming from the players' side. Some of the players feel like they got treated like crap with cold, runny eggs and all this other stuff just to have the staff fall short on promises of on-field success that would arise out of that misery. It's the line you have to walk as a head coach in creating a culture -- you're going to have guys who hold you to your end of the bargain, and if you don't, they might quit on you. I just see this as part of the process with any new coach that, for whatever reasons, feels like it hit Tom Herman and the Texas staff especially hard after their first season.
Thank you. I think the attrition that is going to occur is in no way addition by subtraction, Texas has a good roster of players and lacks depth across many positions. Retention at this point becomes as important as recruitment. Some of the players who left/will leave are going to be players that leave Texas after meetings with Herman in which Herman is scratching and clawing to keep them on board. There will, of course, be a few malcontents that find their way out the door. It was the worst-kept secret in Texas football last season, for example, that Chris Warren was unhappy so Herman probably doesn't mind seeing outwardly discontent guys like that move on. In those cases, we are talking addition by subtraction in some cases, but in the majority, the losses due to attrition will not serve a substantially greater purpose of cleansing the program of any kind of toxic personalities, etc.
Thanks man.
I assume you are talking about Malik and Elliott. It's a tough question because it's a nuanced conversation. I think that Todd Orlando's scheme was what freed up Jefferson to be his best and masked his inability to get off second-level blocks as Poona kept him clean basically all season. I think Naivar is the undercover rock star of the coaching staff for what he's done with his safeties. So, while it was Herman's staff who allowed these guys to get put in position to succeed, I think every player that comes to Texas feels like it is owed to them in some way, given hard work on their part, for a coaching staff to put them in position to succeed -- with the actual execution being up to them, of course.
Thank you.
I never mentioned any changes to the grading system in the future. I mentioned that haters complain about it. Absolutely no changes to the grading system are planned. Also, kids who shouldn't be playing D1 football don't grade out at 75 and over the course of an entire season, a Top 10 pick would never grade out as an 81.
Even if Texas does go all-in on the OL transfer market, it will not be a line made up of mostly new players. Guys straight out of JUCO are rarely ready. Donald Hawkins always tells me -- as a guy who came from JUCO himself -- "it takes a year to get the JUCO out," plus, guys like Shack, Kerstetter, Rodriguez, etc. will likely serve as superior options unless the level of players recruited is outrageous. To think this staff will go out and recruit 4 to 5 immediate starters on the offensive line out of JUCO is, with all due respect, pure lunacy.
It's standard procedure, but I think the best answer probably has a little bit of both. I don't think any of those guys are desperate to "get out," but it's also clear that they are open to a change of scenery.
I'll be able to answer this with a lot more detail and substance once I've done work on them. I do not do any recruiting evaluations during the season as I'm too swamped with my other responsibilities. You'll hear plenty from me about all these players when the Short picks back up here a little ways into December. ; )
Yeah, I'm going to leave that one alone. The last time I speculated about players who may leave, the thread went nuclear and many on here were calling for Ketch to fire me. I didn't understand it then, and still don't to some degree, but I made a promise to myself not to speculate about attrition (outside of reporting on things we're hearing about the draft, etc.) here on OB. Apologies.
As I said in another answer, I don't love it as a college football fan, but I understand it. I'm not going to click on the MacGahee video because I saw it live. People say that it didn't matter because he still had an NFL career, but who knows how that injury affected it. Look at Jaylon Smith, people will say he's collecting paychecks, too -- but, if you think he's anywhere near the player he was poised to be pre-injury I'm not sure what to tell you.
Thank you very much.
On the OL: I think it can be a better unit next season than fans are bracing themselves for. A few bits of key development in a few players could make for miles of difference.
On the offense: I think that Herman was billed as somewhat of a QB whisperer coming in, we'll just have to see if he lives up to the billing with what he has in the cupboard plus the talented new 2018 additions.
I'll end it with this one ... thanks to everyone for participating in the chat and co-writing the column with me. And thanks for all your nice words.
As much as my daughter and I campaigned for the name (she still tells everyone his name is Tupac which gets a lot of laughs, so she's learned to deploy it often).. we were voted down by Mama.
He'll be named Merit. Our family's motto is "Merito" which means "by merit, not birth." I pray he works hard to take advantage of his unbelievable opportunities as an American with the understanding that nothing is owed to him or anyone else.
presented by the Dental Offices of Wendy Swantkowski, DDS
The Absolute BEST in family and cosmetic dentistry for the Houston-Memorial Area
Now Accepting New Patients --- 281-293-9140
This will be the last edition of the Daily Short for a while. Starting on Monday, I'll begin working on a special feature that should take up the majority of my time over the next week or so, as Ketchum has assigned me to update my "College Coaching Hot Seat" database for the 2017 carousel and for projection of what Tom Herman is facing in 2018 as far as staying off of it, based on recent historical precedent.
This less-regimented content schedule comes at a good time, as my wife is due on this very day with our second child -- a baby boy. She could pop at any time moving forward and having a more long-term project to work on during this period without daily deadlines comes at a good time (this is assuming the little booger doesn't stay in to bake for an extra near-two weeks post-due-date like his big sister did). So, keep an eye out for the "Tom Herman and the Hot Seat" column/study as we get a little farther into December, and then for the Daily Short to kick back into gear following its publication here on Orangebloods.
With that said, let's get into the Chat Column for this week:
This Week in the Short
MONDAY - SOURCES on Texas Players and the NFL Draft
TUESDAY - FINAL Defensive Rankings + 2018 Defense First-Look
WEDNESDAY - Which Skill Players Can Help Fix this Broken Texas Offense?
THURSDAY - Connor Williams, A Texas Great, Goes Out with a Thud
* * *
I'll answer your questions here for the next hour to make a community chat column. When answering the questions, I'll copy and paste them here in the OP to make it an easer-to-read column once the chat has ended. Ask me anything for the next hour. I'll make a note in the thread when the chat portion is over after an hour or so. Thank you. I think it's interesting that, as pointed out to us at a staff lunch this week by @DustinMcComas, that Texas looks like it will be the new record-holder in number of players sitting out the bowl game. Needless to say, it's a brand new trend so it's not a telling record by any means -- but a bit interesting to me nonetheless.
My personal feelings on these guys sitting out the bowl game is that it is within their rights to do so. Do I like it as a guy who loves college football? Not really. Do I understand it as a rational person who can put myself in the shoes of these players or their parents? Absolutely.
From a pure business sense, it makes total sense to me. We're talking millions of bucks here. But, this isn't all about the pure business side. It also has to do with the fact that some players are just ready to be done with Herman's Texas.
Some players feel that Tom Herman has not created a culture in this program yet of extreme accountability from the coaching staff to the players when it is being demanded in spades coming from the players' side. Some of the players feel like they got treated like crap with cold, runny eggs and all this other stuff just to have the staff fall short on promises of on-field success that would arise out of that misery. It's the line you have to walk as a head coach in creating a culture -- you're going to have guys who hold you to your end of the bargain, and if you don't, they might quit on you. I just see this as part of the process with any new coach that, for whatever reasons, feels like it hit Tom Herman and the Texas staff especially hard after their first season.
Thank you. I think the attrition that is going to occur is in no way addition by subtraction, Texas has a good roster of players and lacks depth across many positions. Retention at this point becomes as important as recruitment. Some of the players who left/will leave are going to be players that leave Texas after meetings with Herman in which Herman is scratching and clawing to keep them on board. There will, of course, be a few malcontents that find their way out the door. It was the worst-kept secret in Texas football last season, for example, that Chris Warren was unhappy so Herman probably doesn't mind seeing outwardly discontent guys like that move on. In those cases, we are talking addition by subtraction in some cases, but in the majority, the losses due to attrition will not serve a substantially greater purpose of cleansing the program of any kind of toxic personalities, etc.
Thanks man.
I assume you are talking about Malik and Elliott. It's a tough question because it's a nuanced conversation. I think that Todd Orlando's scheme was what freed up Jefferson to be his best and masked his inability to get off second-level blocks as Poona kept him clean basically all season. I think Naivar is the undercover rock star of the coaching staff for what he's done with his safeties. So, while it was Herman's staff who allowed these guys to get put in position to succeed, I think every player that comes to Texas feels like it is owed to them in some way, given hard work on their part, for a coaching staff to put them in position to succeed -- with the actual execution being up to them, of course.
Thank you.
I never mentioned any changes to the grading system in the future. I mentioned that haters complain about it. Absolutely no changes to the grading system are planned. Also, kids who shouldn't be playing D1 football don't grade out at 75 and over the course of an entire season, a Top 10 pick would never grade out as an 81.
Even if Texas does go all-in on the OL transfer market, it will not be a line made up of mostly new players. Guys straight out of JUCO are rarely ready. Donald Hawkins always tells me -- as a guy who came from JUCO himself -- "it takes a year to get the JUCO out," plus, guys like Shack, Kerstetter, Rodriguez, etc. will likely serve as superior options unless the level of players recruited is outrageous. To think this staff will go out and recruit 4 to 5 immediate starters on the offensive line out of JUCO is, with all due respect, pure lunacy.
It's standard procedure, but I think the best answer probably has a little bit of both. I don't think any of those guys are desperate to "get out," but it's also clear that they are open to a change of scenery.
I'll be able to answer this with a lot more detail and substance once I've done work on them. I do not do any recruiting evaluations during the season as I'm too swamped with my other responsibilities. You'll hear plenty from me about all these players when the Short picks back up here a little ways into December. ; )
Yeah, I'm going to leave that one alone. The last time I speculated about players who may leave, the thread went nuclear and many on here were calling for Ketch to fire me. I didn't understand it then, and still don't to some degree, but I made a promise to myself not to speculate about attrition (outside of reporting on things we're hearing about the draft, etc.) here on OB. Apologies.
As I said in another answer, I don't love it as a college football fan, but I understand it. I'm not going to click on the MacGahee video because I saw it live. People say that it didn't matter because he still had an NFL career, but who knows how that injury affected it. Look at Jaylon Smith, people will say he's collecting paychecks, too -- but, if you think he's anywhere near the player he was poised to be pre-injury I'm not sure what to tell you.
Thank you very much.
On the OL: I think it can be a better unit next season than fans are bracing themselves for. A few bits of key development in a few players could make for miles of difference.
On the offense: I think that Herman was billed as somewhat of a QB whisperer coming in, we'll just have to see if he lives up to the billing with what he has in the cupboard plus the talented new 2018 additions.
I'll end it with this one ... thanks to everyone for participating in the chat and co-writing the column with me. And thanks for all your nice words.
As much as my daughter and I campaigned for the name (she still tells everyone his name is Tupac which gets a lot of laughs, so she's learned to deploy it often).. we were voted down by Mama.
He'll be named Merit. Our family's motto is "Merito" which means "by merit, not birth." I pray he works hard to take advantage of his unbelievable opportunities as an American with the understanding that nothing is owed to him or anyone else.
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