ADVERTISEMENT

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

That's the flaw in the Rivals rankings

Could you imagine the meltdowns if Texas had commitments from the following players out of high school:
Mahomes - 3 stars
Tannehill - 3 stars
Garappolo - 2 stars
Rodgers - 0 stars

  • Mahomes was 5-7 in his last year at Tech including a 66-10 loss to Iowa St
  • Tannehill was 6-6 in his Sr. year at a$m, including a 27-25 loss to Texas :)
  • Garappolo was 12-2 in his Sr. year at Eastern Illinois. Guessing it was more that Rivals that got his upside wrong.
  • Rodgers was a 3*. He was 10-2 (loss to Tech)
 
No. 9 - Top 10 Texas assistant coach hires of the last quarter-century ...

I'm convinced you guys are going to argue like hell with me on this one because it's even more subjective than the normally subjective lists I put out each week. Obviously, recent hires still have a chance to climb the list over time.

This isn't based on what was actually accomplished by the coaches involved. Rather it's a list based on the juice each coach arrived with based on previous accomplishments.

Let's do this.

1. Greg Robinson
2. Will Muschamp
3. Bryan Harsin
4. Gene Chizik
5. Chris Ash
6. Dick Tomey
7. Mike Yurcich
8. Manny Diaz
9. Todd Orlando
10. Major Applewhite

Just curious with Todd Orlando at #9, if UHouston had hired Orlando instead of Applewhite, then I believe Applewhite would likely have come back to Texas with Herman. Thus would @Ketchum put him on the list twice?
 
Greg Robinson did not have more juice than Muschamp. That's just silly.

This. The board was questioning the Robinson hire since he was coming off of being fired. However, the board was ecstatic with the Coach Boom hiring. And IMO, Coach Boom was Mack's best hire and the best assistant coach that I've seen on the 40.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TD TX TD VY
I agree, but nobody looked at it that way at the time.
I wouldn't say no one. It was simply misunderstood. There were a lot of people that recognized it as a great hire in real time.

I was personally very much in favor of it after it was announced.
 
I understand that point but I would always go back and try and figure out why I missed on players who ended up playing at the top of their profession. Was their a flaw in my analysis that I need to correct, did the prospects have a common trait that allowed them to succeed over their rankings, etc? I'd do this especially with quarterbacks because the way for a coach to achieve wins, fame, and money is to have an elite quarterback.
I understand that and it's part of a separate debate IMO that I'm always trying to crack.

However, there are always going to be big misses. Always. For the same reasons that a lot of these guys leave high school without major offers.
 
I'm surprised Brewster isn't in there somewhere, along with Akina, and possibly Davis.
If it were just a list of all-time great coaches, they would be. I tried to stay with the theme of the column.
 
Actually, it was my amateur MMA fam mbr. I sent it to him, just to see how he'd respond. But to be fair to him, and judging from how others responded, you evidently didn't come across as tongue-in-cheek as you thought.

But, hey, you got (and are getting) clicks, responses and even a guy like me texting what you said to others to get their take.

Good job. Keep stirring the pot, whether folk agree or not.

It's one of sundry reasons your site hasn't gone the way of the buffalo.

Hook'em.

P.S. Btw, though my guy never said anything about if or where Cowboy's ranked (you misread the post), Cerrone actually is/was #5, in his weight class at least. https://www.ufc.com/rankings
again, there's a greater point that you seem to have ignored.

Cowboy is washed and shouldn't have been at the top of a PPV main evemnt. It was insulting to put him there and I'm a Cowboy fan.

The shiny rhetoric is the shiny rhetoric, but the point is spot on IMO.
 
I love your comment about Zach Evans. I have always wondered why the ranking systems of high school kids doesn't have an "intangibles" quotient in there somewhere? Is the kids dad a coach? Is the kid a straight A student? is the kid reading to the blind in his free time? Is the kid a locker room cancer (Zach Evans)? Evans doesnt need to be a 5 star regardless of his stats. The world is filled with kids who "had all the talent in the world" but didnt have their head screwed on straight.
I think it does, but it is used inconsistently IMO.
 
How do you know he couldn’t? That’s a big assumption that doesn’t bear out in the real world right now from what I’m hearing.
a. Because he didn't.

b. It's not a big assumption, based on what I'm hearing AND seeing.
 
Just curious with Todd Orlando at #9, if UHouston had hired Orlando instead of Applewhite, then I believe Applewhite would likely have come back to Texas with Herman. Thus would @Ketchum put him on the list twice?
Probably in the same slot.
 
This. The board was questioning the Robinson hire since he was coming off of being fired. However, the board was ecstatic with the Coach Boom hiring. And IMO, Coach Boom was Mack's best hire and the best assistant coach that I've seen on the 40.
I won't quibble with you. It's close IMO.

Robinson is a better coach than Muschamp IMO.
 
John Elway. Terrell Davis.
The Broncos ranked in the NFL’s top 10 in total defense during three of Robinson’s six seasons at the club’s defensive helm, finishing seventh in ’99 (297.1 ypg), fifth in ’97 (291.9 ypg) and fourth in ’96 (279.4 ypg). Denver’s defenses were also stingy in the scoring column during his reign with the Broncos, producing three top 10 rankings in scoring defense – eighth in ’98 (19.3 ppg), sixth in ’97 (17.9 ppg) and seventh in ’96 (17.2 ppg).

The performance of Robinson’s defense throughout the ’98 playoffs was paramount to Denver’s quest for a second straight title. The Broncos allowed opponents just 53.0 rushing yards per game in the postseason and forced a remarkable 13 turnovers in just three games. Denver allowed just 25 total points during that stretch.
 
At this point in the TH win or bust year all the blame of these coaching hires not being strong enough is on CDC. He is the one who gave a ton of slack to TH this offseason versus pushing a young inexperienced coach to choose leaders
 
I wouldn't say no one. It was simply misunderstood. There were a lot of people that recognized it as a great hire in real time.

I was personally very much in favor of it after it was announced.
Did you call it a home run like you did Muschamp?
 
At this point in the TH win or bust year all the blame of these coaching hires not being strong enough is on CDC. He is the one who gave a ton of slack to TH this offseason versus pushing a young inexperienced coach to choose leaders
I don't get why so many expect the AD to micromanage the HC's hiring duties. I doubt that is how it works at any healthy program. How can you hold TH accountable for results if he has a staff you forced on him? No, you let him do his job, and then you hold him accountable for the results.
 
This. The board was questioning the Robinson hire since he was coming off of being fired. However, the board was ecstatic with the Coach Boom hiring. And IMO, Coach Boom was Mack's best hire and the best assistant coach that I've seen on the 40.
I actually liked Robinson a bit more here. But the feeling when he was hired was definitely not one of excitement. He was widely viewed as damaged goods that Mack picked up from the scrap heap.
 
Yes, but he's an epic failure at Texas.

Those two things don't have to be mutually exclusive.
Please explain how a damn good coach fails so epically at coaching? Wouldn't the possible reasons largely be limited to recruiting mistakes or the school undermining him in some way?

There have been recruiting mistakes to be sure, and this guy can't find a pure shooter to pan out here to save his life.

But the rosters don't explain how Shaka has been so bad. In particular, his horrible playground offense is not something a damn good coach rolls out onto the court year after year.
 
I actually liked Robinson a bit more here. But the feeling when he was hired was definitely not one of excitement. He was widely viewed as damaged goods that Mack picked up from the scrap heap.
Only from people that didn't know what they were talking about.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cure4BizCancer
TeamTraction said:
B/S, The “Net talent on the field” quotient will go up from 2019 to 2020.

Talent of the two-deep goes up or down based on the additions of players not seeing the field last year, and subtraction of talent lost due to eligibility, transfer, medical, etc.

(Sell) There are players at wide receiver, offensive line and defensive line that I'm not sure Texas replaces with better players. It's not outside of the realm of possibilities, but it's no sure thing to say the least.

Welp, this is depressing. Unfortunately, I think you have a 80% chance of being spot on with this. We haven’t done well with “realms of possibilities” in the last decade.

If we back up in talent on the field this year, it may be 2022 before we can match the dirt robbers. I’m releasing my Kool Aid budget and applying those funds to the whiskey line item during next football season.

Looks like the ceiling this year will be 8 or 9 wins in yet another rebuilding year.

 
TeamTraction said:
B/S, The “Net talent on the field” quotient will go up from 2019 to 2020.

Talent of the two-deep goes up or down based on the additions of players not seeing the field last year, and subtraction of talent lost due to eligibility, transfer, medical, etc.

(Sell) There are players at wide receiver, offensive line and defensive line that I'm not sure Texas replaces with better players. It's not outside of the realm of possibilities, but it's no sure thing to say the least.

Welp, this is depressing. Unfortunately, I think you have a 80% chance of being spot on with this. We haven’t done well with “realms of possibilities” in the last decade.

If we back up in talent on the field this year, it may be 2022 before we can match the dirt robbers. I’m releasing my Kool Aid budget and applying those funds to the whiskey line item during next football season.

Looks like the ceiling this year will be 8 or 9 wins in yet another rebuilding year.
It depends on Sam. Special quarterback play can mask a variety of sins.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rtex63
I still believe Texas could attract the best of the best, even in its present state, if we had leadership that consistently demonstrated it was committed to excellence.

The culture is changing here, but we still have too many on high who seem more interested in making excuses for mediocrity than in building something special.
 

Not a single one arrives with a reputation for being a mist-maker in recruiting, let alone a rain-maker.

For the deluded out there, it was impossible not to commit to an eyeroll or 20. Of course, I include myself among the deluded.


]

Have to go with @Anwar Richardson on this one. Of course I said the same thing a couple days prior, #1 need for our new coaches is development not recruiting. And frankly it's not close IMHO. Recruiting will take 2-3 years to show on the field, if CTH hasn't fixed things and gotten us to at least a Mack Brown standard, HE GONE..

We saw the downside last year of players (especially DBs) who literally regressed. TEXAS wins on the field, recruiting largely takes care of itself.



Not a single one arrives with a reputation for being a mist-maker in recruiting, let alone a rain-maker.

For the deluded out there, it was impossible not to commit to an eyeroll or 20. Of course, I include myself among the deluded.



No. 3 - About the development discussion ...

The most exciting thing Texas football has going for itself at the moment is this truth ... Herman has a much-improved coaching staff.

* Mike Yurich >>> Tim Beck
* Chris Ash >>> Todd Orlando
* Jay Boulware >>> anything Texas cobbled together on special teams in 2019


]

Since you said "money whip". . . who do you go hire (no you can't "money whip" Kyle Shannahan) we could have realistically landed?

Granted in a perfect world, recruiting and development are not mutually exclusive.




This isn't based on what was actually accomplished by the coaches involved. Rather it's a list based on the juice each coach arrived with based on previous accomplishments.

Let's do this.

1. Greg Robinson
2. Will Muschamp
3. Bryan Harsin
4. Gene Chizik
5. Chris Ash
6. Dick Tomey
7. Mike Yurcich
8. Manny Diaz
9. Todd Orlando
10. Major Applewhite

]

How would the list differ if it was based on what they actually did at TEXAS? Clearly Ash and Yurich are incompletes today.
 
ADVERTISEMENT