Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (Let's have an honest talk about where things stand...)

[Ketchum]

@Ketchum

In defense of Ehlinger, I believe some of his struggles are are a direct result of the poor offensive system he has been asked to work in, especially from the OU game on. As the year has gone on, our “tipping” of the plays has continued, o line play has regressed some, and poor play calling has put the team in more predictable, come from behind scenarios.

Oh, no doubt that there are a ton of reasons at play, but the bottom line is the bottom line. He's left some plays out on the field in the last six weeks.

 

[Ketchum]

So much of 1) is your own agenda. It’s sad. I feel like we’ve been here before on your site.

But hey, stirring up the mobs of Rome is a very successful tactic and will always keep $$ flowing into this place.

Touché.

what is my agenda?

Cause I'll tell you this, nothing makes this site more money than winning and that hasn't happened in a decade. I'd like to see happiness.

 

[Ketchum]

And what about he drops yesterday. Are we going to talk about that? Weird.

The drops have been talked about.

 

[Ketchum]

#7 is not a top ten strait song

You hush your mouth!

This list has it at No.6

 

[Ketchum]

Yes I agree. I've have been wondering all season what the hell has happened to Sam? I've heard it said he hurt his ribs in the LSU game and that's he's not fully healed but he seems fine but has just regressed immensely. How can this happen to a QB that looked so great last season unless he is truely hurt and has covered it all up.

I just don't want too buy that in 6 months from the Sugar Bowl he has forgotten how to be the Elite QB he was last year, am I imagining this?

He was only elite a few times last season. The consistency from week to week is still missing.

 

[RLong68]

No. 9 - The List: Top 10 George Strait songs ...

I know this one will cause some arguments.

10. Ocean Front Property
9. Baby Blue
8. All My Exes Live in Texas
7. I Cross My Heart
6. Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
5. The Cowboy Rides Away
4. You Look So Good in Love
3. The Fireman
2. The Chair
1. Amarillo by Morning

CLEARLY limiting a Strait list to 10 is real f'n hard, but IMO, a VASTLY underrated favorite of mine is "If You're Thinking You Want a Stranger" from his debut album.

 

[Ketchum]

Didn’t even have to lock that thread this morning.

This board is beaten down

 

[Ketchum]

@Ketchum there is a Pure Country 2.

View embedded media

Maybe there needs to be a Pure Country 3

 

[RLong68]

He was only elite a few times last season. The consistency from week to week is still missing.

You can't be an elite QB with inconsistent accuracy. It's been Sam's biggest problem since he first took the reins 2 years ago. FEW people wanted to acknowledge it and the few who did would get shouted down by the torch and pitchfork crowd. But he's just not an accurate QB and frankly it's hard to see him really becoming one. It will be the one thing that really holds him back.

 

[Ketchum]

@Ketchum Whatever happen to Duane Akina? Does UT still have a good relationship with him as a possibility to return? When he was our DB coach we always had All pro CB, Safeties and our special teams were the best in nation for blocked kicks and TD returns.

It’s so disappointing to see our 4 and 5 star CB, safeties not developing into elite future NFL prospects.

Duane is coaching at Stanford.

 

[Ketchum]

@Ketchum I agree with most of what you said, but I have to wonder, is the head coaching job at Texas as great as we all think it is? I mean it seems to me that if it were, why did we make the last two hires we did. The only thing with that is hindsight is always 20/20. But I have to wonder are we making this job more or at least better than it really is. Maybe we are just looking through burnt orange glasses. Maybe Im just bummed and pissed right now.

Yes, it is. There's a reason why Saban was flirting. There's a reason why Urban would take it in a heartbeat.

 

[GishMD]

Coaches in the Big 12 that are better than Herman..
Riley
Rhule
Campbell
Miles
Gundy
Patterson
Klieman

And I'd probably put him at a tie with Wells.

but Ketch wouldn’t fire Herman and hire Urban. SMH.

 

[Ketchum]

I like a lot of what you had to say in this thread but I think you are giving in to the negative posters on several points.

First - This team doesn't have many seniors or juniors and those that are true juniors should have been red-shirted.
That leaves red-shirt sophomores from the transition class of 2017, true sophomores from the class of 2018, red-shirt freshmen from the class of 2018 and Freshmen from the class of 2019. Some of these freshmen are being red-shirted for the good of the team.

Second - If you look at Alex's projected rosters for 2020, the team will have most of the team back for the next two years.

Third - Herman will hire coaches that he couldn't have hired as a new coach at the Texas level. He can now as he has proven he can win and he is loyal to his staff.

Those are facts. Now for my opinions.
Herman is a great CEO and he needs some help from his staff and I think he will make the right decisions and go with them.

I think because we overachieved in 2018 we expected too much from this young team. However this young team fought hard even when they were down and could have quit.

Our coaches are good men that are trying to make our players better football players, but more importantly, better men. They could be better coaches but they are good men and they deserve our respect.

First - Attrition has everything to do with the amount of upperclassmen on the roster. Herman hasn't been able to control it any more than Charlie or Mack did. It's not just bad luck.

Second - That's not automatically a good thing.

Third - lol

Your opinions

a. what makes Tom a great CEO?

b. This team ands staff set the expectations as much as fans did.

c. What does the coaches being good men have to do with anything? Also, how do we know they are all good men?

 

[Ketchum]

@Ketchum Geoff, why would an elite coordinator come to work for Tom now?

He has no track record of developing assistant coaches, and he’s a dead man walking.

CTH missed his get out of jail free card last year. That’s when he should’ve fired Warehime and Beck… Coming off of sugar bowl victory. It’s too late now.

Lots of money and the springboard that having success here would create.

 

[DiCehawk]

​

(Sell) I think he just played that last offensive series by the book instead of leaning on what his offense had actually been able to do well in Ames. One of the real frustrating aspects of Herman's coaching is that he seems stuck in-between being a new-age coach or an old-school coach with his decision-making and game-management.

​

That's not what any book says to do, though. there were 4 full minutes left on the clock and Iowa State had all 3 timeouts left. Texas needed 3-4 first downs to put the game away. The only way that series was played according to the "book" was if there were 30 seconds left (instead of 4 minutes) with Iowa State having all 3 timeouts left.

 

[Ketchum]

Blah blah blah! Could only read about 1/4 of this crap before I threw up in my own mouth. Herman is not the guy! Move on now and save us some time and misery!

We were behind 7-0 right off the bat and it felt like we were behind 100-0. This Herman team is hard to watch.

PREDICTABLE is an understatement!

Should I just use pictures next time?

 

[Ketchum]

Coming off an amazing Sugar Bowl victory we are ready to fire Tom?

No, few are really saying that. However, we can't close our eyes to the reality of where things stand.

 

[WhatAboutEggs]

@Ketchum We talk a lot about how things are "different" at Texas: Higher expectations, other schools always circle the calendar when they play us, etc. Do other blue blood programs not have to deal with that? Or are we so close to our program that we think our hurdles are unique?

Is winning "harder" at Texas than other top tier programs?

 

[Ketchum]

That is a fair point. How do you think,Ketch, this affects our pitch to recruits? Is LHN really a venue for players to profit off of the new rules?

It remains to be seen.

I don't expect it to save anyone. These other schools have plenty of cash, too, as proven by the last 40 years

 

[dallashorn02]

Herman is supposed to be a Big 12 type of OC.

I would contend his needing to hire an OC is the biggest reason why you'd have to label his hire as a mistake.

HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE THE ELITE OC!

Herman's offensive genius is the gravy train of Urban Meyer. He's accomplished very little on his own.

 

[aldavisspeed]

X100 on PC2. Lefty’s Gone (my personal fav) and 80 Proof Bottle of Tear Stopper are top 10 easy

 

[Ketchum]

Loved the George Strait list. I think you nailed it.

I also agree with you and EM. I think he has to part with Beck and bring in his Brady or Riley, who can add creativity and tempo to a very nuts and bolts RPO offense and truly coach up the QB. Although I still think the guy is a decent DC, I think at this point he'll probably have to part with TO just for PR purposes. Then after he hires his two coordinators/assistant head coaches, let them keep the assistant coaches they want to keep and get rid of those they want to replace.

Hook'em

I think Beck has more security than Orlando.

 

[Ketchum]

↑
Tom Herman is one of the top 5 best coaches in the Big 12 currently???

(Sell) It's close, but I'd have to Lincoln Riley, Matt Rhule, Mike Gundy, Les Miles and Matt Campbell ahead of him.

_______________________________________________________


In year three, if baylor, isu, kansas and osu have the edge in coaching you absolutely have to make a change. I'd argue TCU does as well. That puts Herman at 7 in a very meh conference. Inexcusable and hiring top coordinators may not fix that.

I forgot about Gary.

 

[Ketchum]

I'm burned out talking about the mess that is our football team but you are way underestimating the affect that the crappy play calling and scheme is having on Sam and our offense in general. We need to open it up the next couple games and just throw the ball all over the place. 2 to 1 pass/run ratio. Enough of this conservative garbage like the first half yesterday. Talk about hand cuffing our offense.
As for George's list. I'd put Troubadour and She'll Leave You With a Smile on there in place of at least a couple on there. I could come of with quite a few others if I thought long enough about it. He has so many great ones. I know Baby Blue has great meaning but it's kind of a boring song. Maybe I've just heard it too many times.

I love Baby Blue, especially since I feel like it gets played less and less as the years pass.

 

[Ketchum]

Spot on the diva recruits. We need folks in the trenches.

Finding ands then landing them has been the rub for most of the decade.

 

[Ketchum]

Let's combine George Strait and the current Orangebloods' attitude....

"Let's Fall to pieces Together"

Pardon me, you left your tears on the jukebox
And I'm afraid they got mixed up with mine
I don't mean to pry, it's just that I
Noticed you goin' out of your mind
It looks like were two of a kind
Let's fall to pieces together
Why should we both fall apart
Let's fall to pieces together
Right here in each other's arms
Alone is much better together
When the worst is still yet to come
So let's share the rest, of the tears that are left
From two hearts that just came undone
Why should we go crazy alone

 

[Ketchum]

I guess worst case we can always have Fenves go personally recruit candidates. FML.

 

[Ketchum]

Careful. Some on here will jump your sh*t for REMOTELY being constructively critical and will quickly fire off with the "it's not Sam it's the scheme, coaching matters."

All of that is true.

What is also true is that he has left plays out on the field throughout conference play.

 

[Ketchum]

His is the situation NONE of the "he needs to return to school" crowd thinks about. CJ's return as a senior has been nothing short of a disaster for his draft hopes.

If he runs well, his draft stock with be fine. If he runs average times, he's in trouble.

 

[Ketchum]

@Ketchum end of 2020. Texas finishes 8-4. CDC fires Herman.

who is your first call?

Can I call Lincoln Riley?

 

[TD TX TD VY]

If he runs well, his draft stock with be fine. If he runs average times, he's in trouble.

I'll be floored if he runs any better than 4.65.

 

[DanielSucks]

Sam with a qb rating of “only” 150.
Deshaun Watson won a title and is a Clemson legend. QB rating of 151 that season.
Sometimes, QBs need help. Scheme and talented teammates matter.

 

[Ketchum]

That's just untrue. The defense held their high octane offense to two TDs less than their average and our offense has been terrific until some misguided fool decided to establish the run against a stacked line.A quick adjustment we win easily, Without one dumb mistake on their field goal kick , we win, with CJ playing we win.WithoutTwo dumbass interference penalies on their last drive We win.Just bad luck happened.Move on

Lots of assuming going on there.

 

[Ketchum]

Honestly, I feel like Texas talks more money than walks. When it comes to making REAL boss moves we cower back to "can't afford it." But we can hand the f*ck out of unnecessary extensions/money.

1,000-percent agree.

 

[a_hornsfan]

@Ketchum
Do you think Chad Morris to OC would move the needle for folks? I know he had a rough stint at Arkansas but he was THE top OC before taking that awful Arkansas job.