Forgive me for leading off this week with something other than offensive coordinator discussion, but I wanted to pass along a message heading into the holidays and I didn't want to bury it at the bottom of the column.
From the bottom of my heart, I just wanted two say two things ...
1. Thank you.
2. I love you guys.
I know that we'll sometimes strongly bicker about a myriad of different topics, but I hope you know that there's a special place in my heart and all of Orangebloods for the loyalty and faith so many of you have put in us for such a long time.
Here's to a Merry Christmas and a New Year that is 10 times better.
No. 2 - Intel on your next OC?
In case you weren't paying attention on Sunday morning, E.F. Hutton Richardson provided a pretty big hint about the direction of Tom Herman's offensive coordinator search.
Given that Ohio State co-offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich has emerged as the leading candidate for the position, I thought it would be a good idea to clear up a few details about his career in Stillwater as an assistant under Mike Gundy, which is why I spoke with several Oklahoma State insiders/sources on Sunday.
Here's what they told me.
1. Yurcich absolutely called plays on game-days with Oklahoma State. According to those with whom I've spoken, it seems like Gundy carried a ton of influence during the week in meeting rooms and with regards to game-plans, but Yurcich called the shots on the day of games.
2. In the minds of those I spoke with, they felt like Oklahoma State's offense during Yurcich's tenure was mostly a Gundy offense and that proof of that existed with the 2019 Cowboys offense. Other than the adjustments made to fit the strengths of Spencer Sanders, OSU insiders claim the 2019 offense was a continuation of the offense in previous seasons.
3. Per my sources, Gundy called plays in the Alamo Bowl following Dana Holgorsen's departure at the end of the 2010 season and struggled with that assignment. Yet, for the better part of the next two seasons, Gundy remained the play-caller. That control remained for a lot of Yurcich's first season in Stillwater in 2013. Part of the issue is that Gundy transitioned away from Holgorsen's offense and it took some time for the comfort level to exist upon those changes.
4. There's a general feeling in Stillwater that we still haven't completely seen what the Yurcich offense looks like because of the control Gundy has on that side of the ball, even if he had been calling almost all of the plays. I was told the same feeling exists about new offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson's offense. Oklahoma State plays Gundy-ball and because of the problems created with Holgorsen's departure nearly a decade ago, we'll probably always see Oklahoma State play Gundy-ball.
5. The overall opinion of Yurcich is very positive from conversations with my sources. "I think Yurcich is a really smart OC. Think he was in fact over his head a bit the first year, but was fine after. Constrained by a micro managing HC," one source said.
6. The end of his tenure at Oklahoma State arrived with both sides ready to move on. There's a feeling behind the scenes that Yurcich and Gundy didn't see eye to eye on the direction of the offense. "It was time to do something different on both ends, I think," another source said.
7. In terms of being a recruiter, Yurcich wasn't really viewed as a plus-recruiter during his time in Stillwater.
No. 3 - Five players that should be the most-excited about the hire of Chris Ash ...
1. DE Marquez Bimage - The hire of Ash and the turn to a four-man front should give the former Brenham star a new lease on his football life. He flashed a little of his upside in the season-finale when he was turned loose as a pass rusher outside of the tackle's outside shoulder. Don't be shocked if he has a senior season explosion.
2. DT Moro Ojomo - Mostly reduced to back-up nose-tackle action behind Keondre Coburn, Ojomo will finally be in the defensive scheme in which he was born to play.
3. LB Joseph Ossai - Finally, he's going to be turned loose to attack. Like Sergio Kindle before him, don't ask a thoroughbred to run backwards, let him run forward.
4. DB Caden Sterns - This kid is too good to have been stuck in neutral for much of the last 1 1/2 seasons. I expect the hire of Ash be just what Sterns need to take the next step.
5. DB BJ Foster - See Sterns. He needs someone to help him take the next step as a player, the step that was never taken this season.
No. 4 - A Blast From The Past ...
Once upon a time not too long ago, I was pretty over the moon on San Antonio Brennan pass-rusher Derick Roberson, who signed with the Longhorns back in 2014.
Incredibly athletic, with a great first step and a frame with plenty of room to fill out, I had Roberson ranked as high as No. 2 on my Lone Star Recruiting Top 100 list before eventually placing him at No. 9 on the list.
His career at Texas never really got off the ground because of concussion issues stemming from an off-season car accident, which is why he eventually landed at Sam Houston State. After a 15-sack senior season with the Bearkats, Roberson went undrafted and signed with Tennessee as a free agent.
After spending most of the season on the practice squad, Roberson was named to the 53-man roster on November 26. In his second career game on Sunday, Roberson sacked future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees twice.
Boy, could the Longhorns have used him for much of the last half-decade.
No. 5 - Problem in Providence ...
In the grand scheme of things, I don't know that Saturday's loss will make much of a difference when this season is over for the men's basketball team.
Don't get me wrong, it was a horrific loss. I just don't think it will define this season like so many of the looming conference games might in the coming months.
More than anything, the 70-48 loss was a reminder for Texas fans that have been slow to come around to this team's 9-1 start as to why they've been slow to come around to this team.
You can change the assistants and you can change the players, but at this point you cannot change the fact that Shaka Smart hasn't earned an ounce of benefit of the doubt and Saturday was a perfect example of that.
With conference play starting soon, it's the cloud that follows the program to a degree. When on earth can Texas fans watch the basketball team without feeling like a trapdoor of doom will open up underneath them at a moment when they have started to believe?
I'm rooting for Shaka to get this thing going in the direction he was hired to take it, but I can't say that I believe.
I can't remember the last time I did.
No. 6 - Karen Aston's Finest Hour
Speaking of basketball programs that I don't understand, the unranked Texas Longhorns knocked off undefeated No. 1 Stanford on Sunday afternoon.
Seriously, I was literally about to type that Texas has two basketball programs that kind of mirror each other in the sense that I can't remember the last time I believed in either program and then they knock off the Cardinal.
I don't know that I believe in Aston any more after the win than I did before it, but the hope has to be that this season reached a new launching point after a 6-4 start, which included three losses by a combined 45 points to unranked teams coming into the game.
After watching this team play a few times this season, I'm just not sure what to think about the ceiling of this group.
Can Aston turn this thing around?
Here's hoping she pulls it off, but my sense is that Sunday's win will likely be more of a wild footnote than the springboard to the type of success that is expected of a coach in her eighth year.
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) I don't believe in accidents. That's not me telling you that it's officially going to be Yurcich, but I am telling you I don't believe in accidents.
(Sell) Never say never, but I would have to think there's a good chance that someone with connections to the new offensive coordinator will arrive as the wide receivers coach. Given the struggles at that position this year, bringing in someone that can turn that group around is paramount to the success of the 2020 Longhorns and I just can't imagine that someone with no real coaching experience will get the job.
(Sell) There are a number of personnel questions that need answers before I can take those types of leaps.
(Sell) Before Beaty could join the Texas staff, he's going to need a clean bill from the NCAA in its current investigation of the KU football program. It's unlikely that the NCAA's investigation is completed on a timeframe that would allow Herman to include him on this year's staff. Maybe 2021?
(Sell) You're basically asking me if I think he's going to finish his career as the third-best running back in school history (over Ced Benson, Jamaal Charles, D'Onta Foreman, etc ...) and I'm not ready to go that far.
(Sell) It's really, really, really hard to keep two quarterbacks from the same recruiting class on the roster for four seasons.
(Sell) No, he didn't regress from 2018 to 2019. I just don't think he made the type of advancement that many, including myself, thought he'd make. If you're asking if he regressed DURING the season, yeah, I'd have to say he did based on the fact that he had as many poor statistical games down the stretch as he had very good ones.
(Buy) Herman will be hunting for at least one.
(Buy) If both stay healthy, absolutely.
(Sell) I just don't believe this. Texas spends as much as anyone salries and sup
(Sell) I don't mean for this to sound snarky at all, but Shaka is a damn good coach, even if he hasn't been a damn good coach at Texas thus far. He's in the top 1% of all people in his profession, has been to the Final Four, has coached US national teams and is well-respected in his profession. I'd simply say a person can still fail at something and still be damn good at what they do. What I wouldn't stand in the way of is someone saying he's not great.
p.s. - I never chastised anyone for giving up on Shaka. I've been quite vocal about him being a failure at Texas in his tenure, especially after the disaster from two seasons ago.
No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
... I tried to watch a little college football bowl action this weekend, but I just couldn't force myself to stick with any of the games, but I did stumble upon this...
p.s. SMU lost by 24.
... Man, how good is North Shore? They sent five-star running back Zach Evans home on the eve of a state championship game and still beat a Ja'Quinden Jackson-less Duncanville by two touchdowns on Saturday.
... I cannot believe that Austin Westlake won its first title since 1996 on Saturday. Off the top of my head, I would have assumed that wasn't true, but there were a lot of bridesmaid seasons since the last one. Congrats to all the Chaps out there.
... Aledo is quite an incredible story as a football program. NINE STATE TITLES!!!!
... With the season on the line on the most important play of the season, the Cowboys left its No.1 receiver on the sideline and threw a low percentage pass to its No.2 receiver. That's as Jason Garrett as it gets. Now go away from my football team!
... Julio Jones became the fastest to 12,000 career receiving yards on Sunday, doing it in his 125th career game, which is 17 games faster than Jerry Rice (previous record-holder). Wow.
... Speaking of bad ass NFL receiver record-breaking, shout out to Michael Thomas for breaking Marvin Harrison's 17-year-old record for receptions in a single-season with one game to play. Run it up, Michael.
... Pour one out for @Alex Dunlap's fantasy football team, who ran into a Kamara/Barkley monster in our fantasy league title game.
... I'm starting to believe in the Mavericks after they punked my Sixers on Friday night. Damnit, that was hard-core.
... Kevin Love already received his Christmas present early this year.
... Ladies and gentlemen, your world champions.
No. 9 - The List: Top 10 Texas Football Players of the Decade ...
This was not nearly as much fun putting together as I thought it might be.
Read it and weep.
1. P Michael Dickson
2. DT Malcom Brown
3. DB Kenny Vaccaro
4. RB D’Onta Foreman
5. LB Jordan Hicks
6. WR Devin Duvernay
7. QB Sam Ehlinger
8. OT Connor Williams
9. DE Alex Okafor
10. DE Sam Acho
No.10 - And finally...[
Somehow I made it to Sunday without a single Star Wars spoiler entering my realm. I'm off to the see the movie right now. May the force be with me.
