Once again you rank coaches/players in superlatives terms based on recent history without mention of some of the old timers. Rick Barnes was without doubt a very good coach during his tenure at Texas, but “best ever Texas coach” without even mentioning Jack Gray is an oversight.
Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (Evaluating Herman's first (almost) 500 days...)
- Thread starter Ketchum
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- Mar 14, 2007
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That had been my understanding of your ranking for some time from your earlier posts. I think a QB becomes (arguably, at worst) near-moot without a capable OL, which makes it wholly illogical then to rank OL below QB if QB becomes inadequate without OL. Add to that RB, and then WR become inadequate without OL and QB play (dependent on OL), and there is a cascade of irrelevance of Offense without OL.
Being an old, I grew up when there were coaches like Bear Bryant and sayings like "games are won and lost in the trenches" and "It all begins up front". And while DL were highly valued, nobody confused them for coequal with OL (IMO) for the simple reason that you didn't have an OFFENSE without OL.
And like I said, DL is job 2, but you have a better chance with a capable OL and marginal DL than you do marginal OL and capable DL. I'm not minimizing the importance of DL.
That "defense wins championships" saying is really always predicated on an unstated assumption that your damn Offense is getting the job done. It doesn't (get the job done) without an adequate OL. It really is that simple.
Hook'em!
Amen. I love Tom Herman, but his ridiculous “binder” and crazy overly aggressive and just plain bad decisions early in the season might have cost Texas wins over Maryland and USC and almost turned the victory over K-State in OT into a loss. Now, if Herman had Vince Young, a good OL, Jamaal Charles at RB and a poor defense, FINE, go for it on 4th and 2. But the following “binder” decisions were bad game-coaching decisions that would make DKR, Tom Landry and Mack Brown shake their heads:
- Goes for it on 4th and goal at the Maryland 4 on the first drive of the 3rd quarter down 19?
- Going for 2 after cutting the Maryland lead to 10 midway through the 3rd quarter?
- Going for it on 4th and 2 from midfield trailing Maryland by only 3 with the whole 4th quarter to go, a great punter and Maryland now depending on a shaky pure freshman QB?
- Going for it on 4th and goal at the USC 3-yard line, on the road with a pure freshman QB in his 2nd start and foregoing the precious opportunity to grab the lead 3-0?
- Going for it on 4th and goal at the K-State 2-yard line in the 1st quarter with the score tied?
We dodged a bullet and won the K-State game in OT, but early victories over Maryland and #3 ranked USC on the road would’ve triggered major momentum and a likely 10 win season.
And I didn’t even mention the fateful 3rd and 2 pass play call against Tech from the Tech 39-yard line with 2:10 to go, Tech down to 1 timeout and the world’s greatest punter ready to pin them inside their 10 IF Texas fails to make the 1st down running the football (thereby causing Tech to burn their final time out).
I believe Herman will be far better at game-management next season...
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One thing about having a smart guy as head coach. He should be able to analyze results and figure out how to make adjustments.
I was a little worried that Herman might be too enamored of his own smartness. That he might be the kind of guy who thinks "This is the perfect plan and it is the kids' and coaches' fault that they are not getting it, so I don't have to change directions." I am very pleased that he is acting like he knows he has to make some changes, particularly around the team atmosphere.
I was a little worried that Herman might be too enamored of his own smartness. That he might be the kind of guy who thinks "This is the perfect plan and it is the kids' and coaches' fault that they are not getting it, so I don't have to change directions." I am very pleased that he is acting like he knows he has to make some changes, particularly around the team atmosphere.
I love movies, but can no longer stomach watching the Oscars {one of my favorite things to watch not so long ago}, and subject myself to the liberal left's sanctimonious, hypocritical, stupid, outrageously biased/mis-informed diatribes that are vomited on the public on a yearly basis now. The great irony is that these fools don't realize they're part of the problem, and not the solution.
Right now I think its
1. KDB. Absolute Box-Box beast with incredible skills and fitness level. Has not missed a game. Best player on the best team that could shatter records.
2. Salah. Could pass KDB if he keeps scoring and MNC shut it down in the league to focus on CL.
3. deGea. where would they be without him?
4. Kane. Pretty ordinary finishing for him this year. He just gets so many chances playing on that team.
Another thing that could work against de Brunye, is the fact that City are so good. A month or so, people were in awe, today they are just kind of in their own bracket and not getting as much buzz. Everyone realized the title was there some time ago and just expect them to win.
Could be wrong on that though. Might very well play the other way. Curious to see if CL results play into this as well. If City/Liverpool/Spurs make the final or make a big run, or lose unexpectedly I can see the voters taking that (unofficially of course) into account.
With all due respect to Gray, Rick Barnes is the obvious best coach in school history.
Very thoughtful analysis on Herman's first 500 days ... greatly enjoyed.
Question: I always feel like locker room discord is something that mostly comes to light well after the fact ... are we actually learning more about 2017 locker room discord now or just reporting on it more matter of factly at this point?
Comment: Talent Evaluation & Player Development always seem to take a backseat to counting stars on recruits, but as we've seen with programs like K State & TCU v. Texas, in the end those factors are more important to the end product being put on the field.
Question: I always feel like locker room discord is something that mostly comes to light well after the fact ... are we actually learning more about 2017 locker room discord now or just reporting on it more matter of factly at this point?
Comment: Talent Evaluation & Player Development always seem to take a backseat to counting stars on recruits, but as we've seen with programs like K State & TCU v. Texas, in the end those factors are more important to the end product being put on the field.
First, nine games to go is a lot so things could change but I agree with your take. If I was voting today it would be Salah. The real voters though are going to look at that monster season and find it hard not to pick the best player at Man City. A deep run in the Champions League would make that even more the case.
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Hardly surprising that a team which came out to support and hug Charlie Strong at a press conference after cementing a 3rd straight losing season and loss to Kansas didn’t take kindly to Herman’s ways. Herman may be a Di-k but I doubt Lil’ Urban cares.
The first concert I ever attended was Prince at the Erwin Center, January 29th, 1985. I wasn't old enough to drive so my best friend and I had to convince my older brother to take us. My brother had a bit of Chet from Weird Science in him. He said, "Ok but you have to pay for me and my girlfriend, you guys sit in the back seat and aren't allowed to say a word on the ride there and back."
Prince in his prime. Still the best concert I've ever seen.
From the Erwin Center 1985:
From the Summit in Houston 1985:
Prince in his prime. Still the best concert I've ever seen.
From the Erwin Center 1985:
From the Summit in Houston 1985:
The first concert I ever attended was Prince at the Erwin Center, January 29th, 1985. I wasn't old enough to drive so my best friend and I had to convince my older brother to take us. My brother had a bit of Chet from Weird Science in him. He said, "Ok but you have to pay for me and my girlfriend, you guys sit in the back seat and aren't allowed to say a word on the ride there and back."
Prince in his prime. Still the best concert I've ever seen.
From the Erwin Center 1985:
From the Summit in Houston 1985:
I think MJ was a fantastic entertainer, but Thriller, along with most of his music, was tied to music videos. When you think Thriller, you think of the historic 14-minute video and dancing monsters. When you think of Beat It, it's about the choreography in a pool hall. When you think Billie Jean, it's about the sidewalk lighting up on every step, or his Motown performance of the song. We don't really think of how great the song was musically, which is why most of us prefer to play Prince over MJ nowadays.
MJ is a cultural icon who directly paved the way for Prince. Everyone knows that.
However, Purple Rain is the better music album.
MJ is a cultural icon who directly paved the way for Prince. Everyone knows that.
However, Purple Rain is the better music album.
drunk randoke
“Let us have peace.” General Grant
Bro hug headed your way Anwar. Both are great, just in very different ways.
I think of MJ as an entertainer and his MTV videos are among the greatest ever. An 80's icon beyond just music.
Prince was a musician and an artist through and through (BTW, a spectacular entertainer in his own right). MJ can't touch Prince's qualities as a musician.
Oh, and Prince didn't molest little boys.
I think that Nick Saban would say that DL is more important than OL or QB. Especially looking at there past draft history.
How did you describe the pic to Anwar when you asked for it? "Hey Anwar where is that picture with Herman and that hot student from a year ago"Actually,Anwar found it for me in 3 seconds.
Mo is amazing but isn't he interchangeably special? The score/assist numbers for Kane and Aguero suggest that a capable striker at this age and stage in their career would succeed on that team in that system assuming the same contribution of everyone that plays behind them on the pitch.
In American football terms we are comparing 2 star WRs that play up top and are on the receiving end of someone else's work in the last 40% of the field to the work of a star QB/OL/DL/LB/K that plays 75% of the field and more minutes on a team full of talent that has been riddled with injuries this season.
They are all stars and any of the 3 winning shouldn't surprise anyone. Great season of football so far!
Old isn't the descriptive word I would use.Am I an old? I literally have no idea what you're talking about.
Well, @Ketchum is correct on this one. Prince > MJ. One was an all time great musician and one was an all time great entertainer. But Ketch is right...about this. Other stuff, not so much.
drunk randoke
“Let us have peace.” General Grant
I'm not making a negative claim against Mike's music. He made historic pop music. I just find Purple Rain to be truly special.
