A love in with Joey McGuire and Zach Kittley? You make them sound like some sort of Kliff Kingsbury-Todd Dodge combo. I thought Sark was considered the whisperer top rated WBs would flock to to prep for the NFL?
Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (About Quinn Ewers...)
- Thread starter Ketchum
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- Jan 14, 2011
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This is just crazy that Sark wouldn’t ask for org and other things to make the program better until told “no.”
Again, he saw firsthand what it takes to compete on the elite level.
Any idea why he is reticent to build this type of org?
Honest question; How would a Southlake family know the coach at Cedar Hill and a 39 year old who last lived in Lubbock when Quinn was 14?
The saving grace (in my mind) as it relates to Campbell is that Riley didn't get Bill Bedenbaugh to follow him to USC. And, USC's current OL coach just left for Washington State. So Riley doesn't have an OL coach to sell Campbell on. And even if he did, it's unlikely that OL coach would have a strong relationship with Campbell. How often do o-linemen sign with a team that either (a) doesn't have an OL coach or (b) just hired an OL coach the player doesn't know? That has to work in Texas' favor. [fingers crossed]
- Jan 14, 2011
- 34,022
- 94,981
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It seems like you are thinking of reasons why Card won’t play here and hyping his “talent” that he hasn’t shown
Bama when Satan retires?
Put me in the camp that thinks the biggest area of need is OL. It's the one position group on the team that impacts all other positions on the team. A quality OL makes the QB, RB, WRs, and TE better. But, it also makes the D better. Look at Texas this year. Our offense ranked in the bottom 10 (out of 130 teams) in time of possession per drive. That means our defense had amongst the shortest rest breaks between series, got amongst the least amount of time with coaches to game plan between series, and defended amongst the most drives. Add a mere 2 minutes of offensive possession in the OU, OSU, and Baylor games, and Texas probably goes 3-0 or 2-1 in those games. And that probably spills over into the subsequent games that Texas lost.
I don't think any other position group could've had a greater impact on the games than OL. Thompson and our RBs/WRs/TEs would've all had better productivity. And, the offense would've sustained longer drives, which likely results in more points. The defense would've gotten more rest, which would've kept them fresh longer into games. And, they'd have defended fewer drives. They'd have also defended fewer short fields, b/c the offense wouldn't have been punting so frequently from deep in their own end of the field. All of that likely means fewer points surrendered by the D. Just a 15-20% improvement in the OL legitimately nets Texas an additional 3-4 wins this season. I don't think any QB could deliver that differential with all other parts staying the same.
Also, I think we're underselling the impact Thompson's thumb had on his performance. He was fantastic against OU (before the injury), Tech, and Rice. Is he as good as Ewers with some development? Probably not. But, Casey with a healthy thumb & a marginally better OL probably leads us to 8-4 or 9-3.
I think the only thing that saved Harbaugh was him being a "Michigan man". Coming into this season, he was 0-6 vs Ohio State, 3-3 vs Michigan State, and 1-4 in bowl games. He's been their Mark Richt. I'd love to see them hoist the trophy this year though. It'd be a victory for patience!
I can't say that I know what to say about the current situation with Quinn Ewers.
As soon as his name officially hit the portal, I'll admit to thinking the following three things ...
a. Ewers transferring to Texas makes a lot of sense.
b. It's entirely possible that Texas won't be his best option.
c. Orangebloods might burn to the ground if he goes elsewhere.
Not once did the idea of him going to Texas Tech cross my mind.
Even when Texas Tech was first mentioned, I viewed the Red Raiders as a throwaway consideration, kind of like when you order salad when ordering an expensive steak. You might take a few bites of it, but you didn't order the expensive steak just to fill up on something other than the steak.
Yet, here we are. Ewers appears very, very interested in that side salad.
Sooooooo ... what exactly does this situation represent? What are the implications? What happens if it turns out that Ewers views Texas as the side salad and Texas Tech as the steak?
Let's begin by acknowledging the foundation of all the angst surrounding this situation, which is a Texas program that just went 5-7 with an offensive guru as its head coach and as things currently stand in year two with its guru, it still doesn't have a definite answer at the most important position in the sport, which just happens to be the position that Ewers plays extremely well.
Until the Texas quarterback position has a definitive answer and then that answer has other fantastic potential answers behind him, all of this matters quite a bit. The fact that the kid grew up a Texas fan, was once committed to play for the Longhorns as recently as 14 months ago, is suddenly available at a time when the Longhorns have a huge immediate need at the position and has a head coach with a history of developing guys just like Ewers into Sunday players would seem to be a recipe for landing him if he is going to choose a school inside the state of Texas.
The Tech thing is fascinating in that I'm not sure anyone could have calculated what it might mean if Tech had a relationship advantage over Texas with both the head coach (Joey McGuire vs. Steve Sarkisian) and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (possibly Western Kentucky's Zach Kittley vs. Sarkisian/A.J. Milwee). If the primary goal is to play in a pass-happy offense that will prepare him for the NFL in two years without so much as a competition in the spring, while playing for a head coach that your mom would significantly approve of ... I guess it makes some sense.
If that happens, I'm not sure how to respond to it. There would be a segment of people that would want to suggest that this would represent a massive failure on the part of Sarkisian, but we can't view this as a Texas vs. Texas Tech battle in a vacuum. Ewers has other options because he's literally the most talented available quarterback prospect in America. He doesn't have to only choose from a pool of teams that finished outside of the AP Top 50. It's just that Texas would be the only program in the country that might have a fan base looking for a tall bridge if he doesn't choose them.
On the other hand, if Sarkisian can land Ewers, it will feel like a new lease on life on his entire tenure. This is a Texas fan base that wants so badly to be excited about its program that it will willfully allow for a new starting line for the dream of Sarkisian reign of greatness, knowing full well that it can always change its mind later (see the first two games of the 2016 season and then what happened after the 12th game of that same season). Fireworks will go off if Texas lands Ewers.
Let's not trip. Five-star quarterbacks are worth their weight in gold because they hit big at least three times the rate of the next closest ranking tier.
Should Texas miss, the position is still a major need moving forward, which means this staff will need to immediately start working on back-up players, if it hasn't already. Fresno State's Jake Haener and Central Florida's Dillon Gabriel need to be on lines one and two, if at all possible. Maybe get LSU's Myles Brennan on line three.
If you're wondering what to hope for with Ewers, the simple answer would appear to be more time. With Kittley on campus and Ewers joined by both of his parents on his visit to Lubbock, it sounds like Sunday was some sort of hang-out among friends. If it's Tech, this thing is probably over in the next 72 hours. The fact that he's already met with Texas and is scheduled to visit TCU on Monday makes me think this thing isn't going beyond midweek.
My instincts tell me the best thing that could happen is Texas getting him on a visit on Tuesday or Wednesday. Maybe it won't matter. The Texas side of things is confident. Of course, they are always confident, even when they probably shouldn't have been.
For now, we wait ...
No. 2 - ... The 2022 Texas football team got better over the weekend
Here are a collection of thoughts after linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and cornerback D'Shawn Jamison made announcements that they would turn down a chance to head off to the NFL in favor of one more season in Austin.
* Considering the depth at the linebacker position, the return of Overshown feels like a major deal that goes beyond the fact that Overshown was the team's best defensive player in 2021. There's just not a real plan in place yet to replace him when he's not in the line-up, which makes not having to do such a win.
* It's not an understatement to say that Overshown had bigger expectations for himself than finishing as an honorable mention All-Big 12 player. After being such a playmaker for the 2020 team, Overshown simply didn't make as many game-changing plays in 2021.
* Going into next season, this staff has to find a way to get Overshown in a position to make those types of game-changing plays. Is this a linebacker-friendly defense, or not?
* As for Jamison, I'm really not sure how to describe his junior season other than massively disappointing after going from a pre-season All-Big 12 selection before the season to a level of performance that had many questioning whether he should keep his starting job. He's made 30+ starts in his career going into 2022, but I'm not sure what the expectations for him need to be.
* I'm not sure these moves could have happened without the emergence of NIL earnings for these players. There's no question in my mind that its viability was a major plus for Overshown, who could have gone to the NFL and likely been a mid-round pick at worst had he declared for the Draft. I'm just not sure that playing for free (no offense to his scholarship being paid for) could continue to represent a viable option. You don't have to like this new NIL age, but you need to know that it is improving the quality of life for a lot of young people.
No. 3 - A look at the scholarship board ...
After a few comings and goings this week, here's an updated look at the scholarship board.
A few thoughts...
1. Just a reminder that the Longhorns currently have 21 commitments. From an accounting standpoint, the Longhorns will be able to move one of the scholarships from the 2022 class into the 2021 numbers because the Longhorns have one unused slot in the 2021 class. The NCAA is allowing teams to take as many as 32 incoming players (at this point). Assuming that Texas ends up with enough attrition, it still has 12 incoming slots available.
2. It remains to be seen how the NCAA will treat players like Overshown and Jamison who will return for extra seasons. It's possible that the NCAA will grandfather those extra seasons of eligibility so that they don't count against the 85-man numbers like it did this season, but nothing is set in stone at this point. Stay tuned.
3. Depending on how the NCAA D1 Council rules on the matter of COVID years being cashed in for the 2022 season, the Longhorns need either 7 (if the current scholarship number is 80) or 9 (if the current scholarship number is 82) more players to leave before August in order for the Longhorns to take the full 32 new incoming players that the NCAA will currently allow.
4. Cornerback Anthony Cook isn't listed on the scholarship board yet because there has been no official word yet on his status. Attempts to confirm his status this weekend failed. Stay tuned.
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No. 4 - About Devon Campbell ...
The news on Sunday that Arlington Bowie five-star offensive lineman Devon Campbell will take a second official visit to USC next weekend is less than optimal.
I don't want to sound like I'm screaming "fire!" in a crowded theater, but alarm bells are going off in my head.
There's probably not a worse wildcard that could have been thrown in the face of this recruitment if you're Texas than Lincoln Riley taking the USC job. For the very first time in his recruitment, I'm concerned for Texas.
No. 5 - Sprinkling in some good news ...
In case you haven't read the Instant Analysis for tonight's Kobie McKenzie commitment, here's a spoiler.
"There's really not anyone else in the state quite like the 6-3, 225-pound McKenzie, who oozes the look of an SEC-style linebacker because of full-grown man size as a prospect. Make no mistake about it, McKenzie is definitely the first guy off the bus for Lubbock Cooper and likely has been since his sophomore season. What's great about him is that he combined that impressive frame with a powerhouse game as an interior linebacker prospect. Possessing the speed and athleticism to play sideline to sideline, the physical traits needed to be an impact player in college and potentially a Sunday player are there. Most of his success as a high school player comes from running sideline to sideline and basically wildin' all over the field. He's a fun dude to watch play football. Does he have the natural instincts to stay inside? That's almost always an impossible question to answer with a player at this level. Will he potentially emerge as a possible threat at the edge or even Buck positions? It's not outside the realm of possibilities at all. The bottom line is that he's a very physically enticing player when projecting to the next level and he's actually a really good football player and not just a guy who thrives in a camp setting."
No. 6 – A huge weekend looms …
All you need to know about the path for the Texas volleyball team in its quest for a national championship is that long-time foe Nebraska looms in the Elite 8.
Get your freaking popcorn ready.
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) I don't know that I believe that any more than I believe landing him automatically saves the Sark era. There's a lot of work to do and the quarterback position is just a piece of the puzzle. It's a huge piece of the puzzle, but it's still just a single piece.
(Sell) I'm expecting changes. Plural. Sarkisian can't sit with a pat hand.
(Sell) No offense to the current meltdowns, but this doesn't remotely feel like the worst levels we've ever seen.
(Buy) Yeah, I'll jump on that grenade. It sounds like he's way more open to joining Texas than he is against it.
(Sell) I need to see more of this roster rebuild before I'm ready to make that leap of faith.
(Sell) If Ewers is important enough to him that he would switch his commitment with his arrival, he likely would have had an indication of things before a week ago. That doesn't pass my logic test, but that probably means it's more on the table than I would believe.
(Sell) Fixing the quarterback position is the most important thing on Sark's to-do-list. He has multiple major areas of fixing.
(Sell) Most of the "me-first" stuff I saw in college football over the weekend came from coaches.
(Buy) Great question. Maybe it won't happen this year, but it seems like something that will eventually have to happen. It's just hard for me to believe that Sarkisian will ever trust him again.
(Buy) He literally just entered the Portal about 48 hours ago. It wasn't some willy-nilly decision to enter the Portal. There has been planning.
(Sell) A Jim Harbaugh rebuild included a 10-3 year one. Then 10-3 in year two. Outside of a disaster COVID season, he won 9+ games in 4 of his first 5 seasons as a coach. Let's not pretend that the reputation of the last decade was built on undervaluing 10-win seasons.
(Sell) Two questions like this. Is this a thing that people are thinking? It's never even crossed my mind. Honestly.
(Sell) Give me the bird in hand. Texas needs help NOW.
(Sell) If Banks flips, I've thought for about a month he'd flip to A&M.
(Buy) I mean ... yeah.
(Buy) The Wolverines might just win the whole damn thing. None of these teams are unbeatable. They all bleed.
(Sell) He'd brings something this program needs a little more of ... toughness. Also, his eye for talent is second to none. There's a lot of value there.
(Buy) I don't think he's coached his last college football game.
(Buy) It feels rather unreasonable to think it didn't or wouldn't have a big impact on his play in the final half of the season.
No. 8 - Scattershooting on the sports weekend ...
... Bravo, Dave Aranda. That was one hell of a coaching job. In my mind, we just witnessed the single best single-season coaching performance in the history of the Big 12. His team was predicted to finish the season eighth in the conference.
... Oklahoma hiring Brent Venables means they didn't hire Aranda. That feels like a major win for Texas. No offense to Venables or any OU fans that want a hug following his hire.
... The Miami Hurricanes might just make a better, more impressive hire IMO.
... Alabama beat Georgia so badly that I'm not convinced at all that the Dawgs deserve to be in the playoff. That being said, I'm still picking them to beat Michigan.
... I feel for John Metchie. That dude was a few weeks away from getting seriously paid.
... Louisiana went freaking 11-1 on the season after losing to Texas. Go figure.
... Maybe this dude needed to be playing more when he was in Austin.
... Look...If you had one shot... Or one opportunity... to seize everything you ever wanted In one moment... would you capture it? Or just let it slip?
No. 9 - Top 10 Daniel Day Lewis movies ...
Personally, I think he's the greatest actor of my lifetime and ranking his Top 10 is long overdue.
You can't convince me otherwise.
10. The Boxer
9. A Room With a View
8. The Age of Innocence
7. In The Name of The father
6. Lincoln
5. The Last of the Mohicans
4. My Left Foot
3. Phantom Thread
2. There Will Be Blood
1. Gangs of New York
That;'s right. I have Gangs of New York as my No.1. I will stand on the table for it.
No. 10 - And Finally...
This was my favorite thing from the weekend.
Is it me or do players that leave Texas flourish more than any other school. Are we just not good evaluators of talent? Are we so stuck in our system that we don't adjust to get the right players on the field? Crazy.
No disrespect @Ketchum but I'll never not believe that a 4* QB behind an outstanding OL is better than a 5* QB running for his life at the snap. Obviously QB is important, but OL will fix your whole offense and make 3* and 4* skill positions look like world beaters.
We can win with Thompson and Maalik behind a really good OL. If you put Ewers behind what we had this year we still don't win our conference.
B/S Ewers decision was made before he hit the portal. It isn't Texas.
(Buy) He literally just entered the Portal about 48 hours ago. It wasn't some willy-nilly decision to enter the Portal. There has been planning.
@Ketchum Are you sure you read the question above correctly? The poster is saying the decision was made not to go to Texas before entering the portal.
(Buy) He literally just entered the Portal about 48 hours ago. It wasn't some willy-nilly decision to enter the Portal. There has been planning.
@Ketchum Are you sure you read the question above correctly? The poster is saying the decision was made not to go to Texas before entering the portal.
Not flags character wise, but concerns about the seriousness of his professional development. Granted, some of the concerns may be from the current events that are no more than a smokescreen. The flags that concern me are the prioritization of the small NIL money he could receive over the long term player development that could lead to massive riches. Specifically, leaving school early for Ohio State to secure NIL money. Now leaving OSU because he does not want to sit an additional year. The development of quarterbacks under Day is impressive enough to forsake the bird in the hand. Then, the schools he is identifying as a potential transfer destination are Texas Tech and Texas. The fact that A&M is an afterthought is concerning, because even though we may find Jimbo lacking, he still produced several NFL quarterbacks. The Tech head coach may be a very successful high school coach, however, he has minimal college experience. Couple that with no discernible offensive coordinator, only the potential one that was a GA at Tech. This leads me to believe comfort could be a huge positive for him.
If I was a 5-star QB, which as you indicated has a 33% chance of living the dream, I would go out of my way to go to a program that would help develop me and provide a back up plan. Sark has a clear track record of putting quarterbacks in the NFL. It is understandable that the performance of Texas last year would give you great reservations about the program, however, your alternative would be another program that has a similar coaching player development reputation. Hence, A&M as an illustration of a reasonable alternative.
I'm just answering the question. I'm not sure I can control how "it seems".
Bout to ban some people up in here!
QB, of course. But tell me how many times a world class, HOF QB in his prime failed to deliver his team to the NFL playoffs b/c his OL was below par. It's a long & distinguished list of talented QBs who watched the playoffs on their sofa, just like us. Also, I look at it like this..........on a scale of 1 to 10, Thompson is probably a 7. But on a scale of 1 to 10, our OL is probably a 3. So there is significantly more room to improve the OL, and thus gain benefit, than at QB.
Plus, our view of Thompson was heavily influenced by his injury and the caliber of line he played behind. Think back to last year. There were OBs who SWORE Ehlinger was a JAG & holding the team back. Today, he's the #2 QB for the Indianapolis Colts. And the OL he played behind last year, which made fans think he was a JAG, was better than the OL Thompson played behind this year. Now throw Thompson's thumb injury on top of that. Guys selling Thompson short are making the same mistake guys made selling Ehlinger short last year. The caliber of line you play behind makes a HUGE difference as to the caliber of play you get out of the QB. And that's not even taking into account the inability to grip the ball well due to a busted thumb.
Agree, you don't watch bowl season from your couch if you only have one problem.
I just think OL is the importantest. (I'm really well at English.)
You are totally smelling what I'm stepping in! Plus, maybe Thompson doesn't hurt his thumb to begin with if he has a pocket to throw from.
