Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (I have to confess to being delusional...)

[AustinTransplant]

Tomey bringing what was missing for decades was the final piece to the puzzle.

For years before and since Texas was viewed as a place that was country club. Tim Brewster and the like can get the talent in the door but they just went through the motions. Tomey brought out the best in them.

without Tomey, Mack never wins a national championship. Wish he could have stayed longer.

RIP coach

 

[dirtlawyer]

What those coaches accomplished has nothing to do with the fact that they were viewed as much higher-level hires in real time when they were made, which was my point when reviewing the hires of this off-season.

You're asking OB to carefully read your post.

 

[TW51]

What those coaches accomplished has nothing to do with the fact that they were viewed as much higher-level hires in real time when they were made, which was my point when reviewing the hires of this off-season.

How they were viewed is irrelevant. The only valid criteria for measuring their quality as coaches was on field performance. There is no way you can compare this staff to Mack’s staff until we see how they perform.

 

[jjgutz]

go for it!

He's not going to work cuz he's probably off for MLK

 

[MuggyMug]

When Mack Brown replaced a huge chunk of his coaching staff following the 2010 season, he took his new defensive line coach (Bo Davis) away from Nick Saban, his new offensive line coach (Stacy Searles) away from Georgia and his new wide receivers coach (Darrell Wyatt) away from a conference foe, despite the fact that he was a coordinator at his previous school and a mere wide receivers coach upon his arrival in Austin.

And how did that work out?

 

[jrsaustin]

“Understanding makes understanding easier to understand”.....good one

 

[sodiumacetate]

No Larry Macduff on the list?

 

[OBRob]

Hope you have to change the coaching hire ratings by the end of this year moving Ash and Yurcich up in the ranks.

 

[LWULFE]

Hope you have to change the coaching hire ratings by the end of this year moving Ash and Yurcich up in the ranks.

If you evaluate coaching hires based on year one, Diaz and Orlando should be in the top 10. Thankfully we look at their complete history.

 

[wfoot]

Alfred and Princely ? That would make this recruiting class a success in my eyes.

Not the Brockermeyers ? You have got to be kidding.

 

[Heightshorn008]

To point No. 1, in the world of the CFP when the only thing that matters is getting in the “final four”, do we ever get “back”?

Not too sure anymore.

Maybe that’s the reality.

 

[longhornrumble]

Look, I get the infatuation with recruiting, but we’re all underestimating just how important development is and will always be.

Yes. Texas is down. Still, look at the decent classes Strong brought in, and look at the top national classes that Herman has brought in.

How many 5 stars are in our secondary currently? Several. Where do they rank as a unit again?

Now, go back to Mack’s peak time. He was Mr February. You’d be hard pressed to find a 3 deep roster with more talent than Texas.

Why didn’t we win more conference titles? Why did we only play for it all twice?

@Ketchum. You got your pick for #1 assistant right because why? Robinson brought toughness and DEVELOPMENT. We finally reached the mountain top then and life was certainly made easier for Chizak and Muschamp after.

What was the knock on Texas that whole time? That we were soft and lacked development.

If we have been able to bank a couple of Top 5 classes the last couple of years based on hope, and we’re going to bank a top 10 this year with the same, that means our logo does a lot of heavy lifting. At this point when you’re already superior, you only get incrementally better. An extra tenth of a second when you’re running is huge, though. Incrementally better in recruiting means you pick up an extra 4 or 5 star or more.

Development gets you where you want to go. We have historically recruited quite well. We’re kind of at the definition of insanity point now and have been for a while. How about we coach them up?

 

[c'est la vie]

I didn't do a B/S, but I think TH falls somewhere between Fred Akers just ahead of him and John Mackovic just behind him in the historical coaching ranking at UT. What do you think?


Like you Ketch, I was really disappointed in these picks, but in honesty I don't know them that well. I'm not sure this new staff has the answers either, but only time will truly tell. You can never say never. I'm hoping that Tom struck gold.

Hook'em

 

[laidbackex]

How can any list of great assistant coaches at Texas not include Duane Akina?

 

[BevosRevenge]

... Early Prediction: Kansas City 27 San Francisco 24

Nope

 

[daflonghorn]

No. 9= I won’t be arguing about number 1

 

[Rookie97]

It seems like many people didn’t read the assistant coach “hire” rankings in the context that Ketchum stated he evaluated the hires...

 

[Txhorns10]

Your disrespect for the 49ers continues, smh.

 

[McHorn]

 

[TD TX TD VY]

Greg Robinson did not have more juice than Muschamp. That's just silly.

 

[T_Horn]

Give me a top 10-20 recruiting class that is actually developed rather than a top 5 class that isn’t. Recruiting matters but development matters more. I can’t remember what years they were, (I think 2009-2012), but in Anwar’s column it was stated that Texas put together four top 5 classes.... what in the hell did that group accomplish?? Outside of the freshman that were there for the 2009-2010 natty season. They accomplished absolutely dick.
Development is what’s needed at Texas. We will always be able to recruit well.

 

[longhorn73]

I liked all of the hires.

I believe if these guys go get a conference title next year, op would still be unhappy.

Maybe, it’s time to find a worth while hobby op, other than this site.

 

[Peanuthorn]

Ran @Ketchum's "jobber' comment by a fam member with some experience in the sport. He texted back...

"That guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Cowboy is far from a jobber. He’s sustained consecutive losses before only to go on runs that lead him to title shots. For someone to say that really doesn’t know how this sport works. Cowboy's last 3 losses came from #1 Justin Gaethje, #2 Tony Ferguson, and #4 Conor McGregor. Tony is on a 12-fight win streak and Conor is arguably one of the most dangerous fighters in 2 separate weight divisions history. Cowboy is one of the greatest fighters never to hold a belt. That guy needs to brush up on his facts.

Since when is #5 in the world in any sport a jobber or an easy night out?"

 

[Bevo 24]

Ran @Ketchum's "jobber' comment by a fam member with some experience in the sport. He texted back...

"That guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Cowboy is far from a jobber, he’s sustained consecutive loses before only to go on runs that lead him to title shots. For someone to say that they really don’t know how this sport works. Cowboys last 3 loses came from #1 Justin Gaethje #2 Tony Ferguson and #4 Conor McGregor. Tony is on a 12 fight win streak and Conor is arguably the most dangerous fighters in 2 separate weight divisions history. Cowboy is one of the greatest fighters to never hold a belt. That guy needs to brush up on his facts.

Since when is #5 in the world in any sport a jobber or an easy night out?"

Don’t bring facts to Ketchum’s Sherdogs research.

 

[J Tull]

Kinda weak write up b/f buy/sell, IMO. Consecutive top 3 recruiting classes don't add up to your take re recruiting, and though we won't be top 3 this year, if we get Collins and Princely we should jump Okie and finish maybe 7 or 8. If we get to 20 recruits (including Collins and Princely) we might squeak into top 5 or 6. 3 top ten classes in a row (say 3, 3 and 8) should be enough to win 10 games or more IF they are well developed once they get here.

Could have written 'We now have a better staff with better developers of talent, but we'll see about recruiting and know much more about this program in 12 months' and saved a bunch of typing to get to the same place. Seemed unnecessarily long, though maybe it's b/c I have read some of the same things already on OB.

Agree to disagree on the length and some particulars. No big deal, they can't all be gems.

 

[bkrichmd1]

The Longhorns are currently trying to clear the first tier and it's what the 2020 season is all about. Once that is accomplished, you can move onto trying to tackle the second tier, which is going to take more time than clearing the first tier.

I think Herman’s issue is he believed he had the guys to recruits and failed horribly at development. He paid for it this year. This coming year...it’s all about development. Getting development and better coaching will push this team to the conference championship. And if we’re lucky to not have lost more than one game and win that championship we’re playing in the CFP. There’s you’re possibilities. You can live in probabilities or possibilities. If Texas lands in the probability and fail then it really doesn’t matter how good these guys are as recruiters. If they land in the possibilities and are successful then you’ll be able to change your assessment about the Brock’s.

 

[bkrichmd1]

What those coaches accomplished has nothing to do with the fact that they were viewed as much higher-level hires in real time when they were made, which was my point when reviewing the hires of this off-season.

Of course there’s always the idea that Herman is trying to find the guys that can deliver instead of hiring the shiny bright object.

 

[bkrichmd1]

Look, I get the infatuation with recruiting, but we’re all underestimating just how important development is and will always be.

Yes. Texas is down. Still, look at the decent classes Strong brought in, and look at the top national classes that Herman has brought in.

How many 5 stars are in our secondary currently? Several. Where do they rank as a unit again?

Now, go back to Mack’s peak time. He was Mr February. You’d be hard pressed to find a 3 deep roster with more talent than Texas.

Why didn’t we win more conference titles? Why did we only play for it all twice?

@Ketchum. You got your pick for #1 assistant right because why? Robinson brought toughness and DEVELOPMENT. We finally reached the mountain top then and life was certainly made easier for Chizak and Muschamp after.

What was the knock on Texas that whole time? That we were soft and lacked development.

If we have been able to bank a couple of Top 5 classes the last couple of years based on hope, and we’re going to bank a top 10 this year with the same, that means our logo does a lot of heavy lifting. At this point when you’re already superior, you only get incrementally better. An extra tenth of a second when you’re running is huge, though. Incrementally better in recruiting means you pick up an extra 4 or 5 star or more.

Development gets you where you want to go. We have historically recruited quite well. We’re kind of at the definition of insanity point now and have been for a while. How about we coach them up?

Spot on...Even the best players have to be developed. These kids comes to college ready to be coached. Recruiting analyst rank them and if they don’t pan out in college because of lack of development then for some reason they are a bust. I’m with you, I’m ready to see our players improve. If we start winning getting good recruits will follow.

 

[Texas_Fight512]

Ketch, thanks for your work as always. I find your opinion on Texas not being the “behemoth” anymore pretty interesting (I know you discussed this in your podcast as well). To me, Texas has lived up to that in this recent round of hiring. Texas beat OSU for Ash and poached Yurcich from OSU - a perennial football power. Texas also plucked a coach from SC (power 5 and SEC) like it was nothing and even took a coach from our rival OU. That’s 2 playoff teams we had no problem acquiring coaches from. To me, seems like Texas is still a destination powerhouse. Thanks for the thought provoking discussion!

 

[Universal Horn]

I just want coaches that are smart and lethal...go for the jugular every series and don’t beat themselves with stupid schemes and penalties.

I have a feeling I’ll be able to tell if this new batch of coaches fit that need within the first six games this fall.

 

[rvrrun]

no more koolaid for me for a LONG time...i’ll believe it when i see it

 

[HornHammer]

Wish we'd get burnt orange back. DKR set a new tradition & we should honor it.

Looking at the orange we use today...ugh!

 

[Horn1515]

If we lose the Brockermeyers we lose more than outstanding players. We lose good people.

I suspect our record next year will tell us if this new staff is any good. Until then I believe I will pass on the discussion regarding "is our new staff any good".

 

[YodelingHorn]

It's time for the deluded to wake up and realize that Texas football might have been a behemoth in the past and it might become that again one day in the future, but in the present, Texas football isn't quite close to that, which means that it is unrealistic to think that it can walk around acting like it is bigger than it really is.

The biggest miss for Texas football over the past decade is that it hasn’t yet swung for the fences in terms of hiring a head coach. There’s no doubt in my mind that Texas could hire, and pay, any head football coach in the market today. The problem is that there seems to be a permanent sense of paralysis by analysis (combined with political correctness) that always leads to an unproven hire. Texas is always brining a knife to a bazooka fight (see SEC) and, well, here we find ourselves. It all begins with the head coach — quality assistants, elite recruits and consistent winning. Simple \m/

 

[anon_rlda7mti97la9]

Those big name hires Mack made where big time failures
Maybe you're delusion was believing that the only qualified coaches are at other big time programs. Neither Wyatt, Searles, or Davis could save Mack's bacon and they all where soon after coaching elsewhere.
Herman may have put together a great staff, time will tell, just because he didnt lure them all from Bama and Georgia doesn't mean they aren't quality coaches

What those coaches accomplished has nothing to do with the fact that they were viewed as much higher-level hires in real time when they were made, which was my point when reviewing the hires of this off-season.

This is what I don’t get @Ketchum. He hired away a guy from OSU, another guy from OSU (you ranked both hires in Top 10.) Valai has spent time at Georgia, Boulware has been at OU, and both guys have DFW backgrounds (something you have been personally pining for for years.) But thats 4/6 hires with backgrounds at programs that are among the best of the best. The other two are from South Carolina and Kansas State, P5 programs. Top assistant coaches are getting head coaching jobs these days. Jeff Scott USF. Hafley Ohio State. Aranda Baylor. I know you’re a smart, rational guy Ketch- that can’t possibly be the level you’re expecting, right?

No program in the country could hire away a Dave Aranda/Jeff Scott type, and we got two guys pretty damn close to that level with Ash and Yurcich. I don’t get what you expected, we are going to hire big time coordinators from big time programs to be position coaches across the board? What? Nobody in college football can do that. It has nothing to do with the brand of Texas.

I think you were a bit overly negative in this column. Herman made some damn good hires, and you yourself rated two of them as Top 10 hires this decade for Texas football. I think you try to stir up the masses sometimes for no reason.