The BMD's in Houston want Tom Herman. Anything that takes place that achieves that goal is a win.
Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (The ice is as thin as it gets)
- Thread starter Ketchum
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Doesn't hurt to have the best defensive player in college football. Miles is a monster. But yeah, coaching matters. Despite some play calling and personnel issues/concerns, look at what our offense has become since last year...with a true frosh running point. Again, coaching matters.
One of the biggest BMD in Houston. Has NOT contacted Herman or anybody connected to him yet. Nor will he, he trust Fenves. But he has voiced his opinion numerous times over the past 6 months.
Coach Strong will be moving on in December.
(Let the record reflect that I am a full year late with last novemeber's prediction.)
Ketch, really solid write-up. Captain Obvious statement: this is extremely disheartening to be in this position. But it is what it is. I along with what appears to be errrybody have accepted reality. A reality that says Charlie is an absolutely horrible head coach.
I think with each and every week that passes, the narrative may change about WHEN Strong is relieved of his duties. I say that because optics and perception matter. If we get our asses handed to us this weekend and lose to Iowa State...recruiting is going to take a monster hit. It is already looking like Charlie is losing the locker room which to me is the death nail. You (Fenves) cannot allow the program to be a punch line if we keep getting embarrassed. Pull the plug during the season and allow your current players and recruits the chance to understand this is not acceptable, we are better than this and we will get it right. Even if you can't theoretically hire the next guy before January.
If on the flip side, Strong somehow makes this team competitive for most of the season, maybe you don't need to fire him during the season even if the losses pile up. It may be viewed as being respectful to the man that is universally respected.
If it were up to me and we lose by something north of 17 points to OU, I would fire him. I think the most importantly (weirdly enough) is managing the public persona of the program in when you fire him. Not a chance he should come back next year. Just a matter of when.
I think with each and every week that passes, the narrative may change about WHEN Strong is relieved of his duties. I say that because optics and perception matter. If we get our asses handed to us this weekend and lose to Iowa State...recruiting is going to take a monster hit. It is already looking like Charlie is losing the locker room which to me is the death nail. You (Fenves) cannot allow the program to be a punch line if we keep getting embarrassed. Pull the plug during the season and allow your current players and recruits the chance to understand this is not acceptable, we are better than this and we will get it right. Even if you can't theoretically hire the next guy before January.
If on the flip side, Strong somehow makes this team competitive for most of the season, maybe you don't need to fire him during the season even if the losses pile up. It may be viewed as being respectful to the man that is universally respected.
If it were up to me and we lose by something north of 17 points to OU, I would fire him. I think the most importantly (weirdly enough) is managing the public persona of the program in when you fire him. Not a chance he should come back next year. Just a matter of when.
Jason Washington is special teams coordinator at U of H, and they are solid. Of course, in addition to Major as QBs/OC Herman has Oscar Giles (Asst. Head Coach, D line) and Darrell Wyatt (WRs, recruiting coordinator) on his staff. And Charlie kept only Bruce Chambers...
Ketch two questions for you,
What makes everyone think Herman will stay in Texas or is a Texas boy considering he grew up California and went to college there(has spent less than 11 of his 41 years in Texas). Don't you think USC would be a more attractive option considering he would be closer to his family?
Why do you think Charlie will retain Bedford considering that his comments regarding the abilities of underclassmen and Malik seem to have cause his players to not want to play for him. If he is really the cancer of the defense that is being reported don't you think the best thing to get this defense back track is to cut him out?
What makes everyone think Herman will stay in Texas or is a Texas boy considering he grew up California and went to college there(has spent less than 11 of his 41 years in Texas). Don't you think USC would be a more attractive option considering he would be closer to his family?
Why do you think Charlie will retain Bedford considering that his comments regarding the abilities of underclassmen and Malik seem to have cause his players to not want to play for him. If he is really the cancer of the defense that is being reported don't you think the best thing to get this defense back track is to cut him out?
"I didn’t think we’d end up saying this as of a few years ago, but Phil Mickelson has carved out a very nice Ryder Cup career. His match against Sergio featured some of the best play I’ve seen all year."
He's below .500 overall. He's .500 in singles matches. And his team record is 3-8.
He's below .500 overall. He's .500 in singles matches. And his team record is 3-8.
"......... looking like Charlie is losing the locker room which to me is the death nail. "
At least we have a new OBism. (Or at least new to me.)
At least we have a new OBism. (Or at least new to me.)
a. We'll see. I don't have a ton of insight into his thinking right now.
b. A demotion is the same thing as cutting him loose. It's just making sure the team isn't down a coach/voice for the rest of the season.
From Golf Magazine:
Phil's resume can be broken into two parts. From 1995-2010, Mickelson has a 11-17-6 record. From 2012-16, his record is 7-3-1. (He's the Americans' leading point-earner in those three years.) The recent success coordinates with a drop in the world rankings; Mickelson has preformed better the lower he’s ranked entering the event. He was miserable in 2004 and '06 when he was the fourth and second-ranked player in the world. He has been fantastic the last three years when his highest ranking was 11th. The uptick in personal performance hadn't translated into a U.S. victory until this week.
Then he's managed to carve out an average Ryder Cup career. He likely only has 1 Ryder Cup left and at the end of the day, his record will be in and around .500. We know what Denny Green would say about that.
No one will dispute that, but there's no getting around the fact that in his final Ryder Cup stretch as a player, he's turned into one of the leaders and strengths on the team, something no one would have ever thought years ago.
That's the point.
One of your best (minus the fantasy football part that I skipped. Kiss my ass).
Man, I hated that it was you. I would have much rather dropped that bomb on @Y2J Longhorn this week.
I will say he will have a chance to really make a push upward for his rep when he is a Ryder Cup captain which inevitably will happen. My guess is either in '20 or '22.
I want to weigh in. During the initial stretch you cited, I think the Americans were almost indifferent about the Ryder Cup. There were rumblings about not being paid and petty differences and bickering in the locker room and it all led to a disastrous record against the motivated Europeans. Recently, the morale seems to have improved and the Americans have come to realize that to compete in the Ryder Cup they need to play as a team. Mickelson was part of both eras and it is nice to see him emerge as a leader. The 10 birdies yesterday was as good as it gets.
Sounds like he's already unofficially a captain. From that same article.
In the two years since the last Ryder Cup, Mickelson has been the galvanizing force in a gut renovation of the U.S. approach to this event. He was one of the founding members of the 11-man task force created to direct more energy and resources to the team. As a part of that group, he was instrumental in choosing Love as the captain of this year’s squad.
He, alongside vice captain Tiger Woods, banded together to put more emphasis on winning the Cup than they ever did as team anchors in the 2000s. Mickelson organized his Tuesday matches in the last two seasons with one eye toward this week. He wasn’t the captain, or even a vice-captain. He was the wise man, the leader, the alpha. For his entire career, Mickelson has been mentioned second behind Woods. This week Woods stood behind Mickelson on the range with a walkie talkie as Mickelson prepped for his opening foursomes match. The script had been flipped.
"The environment they were put in this week brought out some of their best golf that I've ever seen from [this team]," Mickelson said. "It's truly a remarkable thing to watch, and it's a fun thing to be a part of. And to see the level of accomplishment and performance that these guys had this week was just sensational."
Great write up. I did not know that history is literally repeating itself....it's somewhat bizarre. I feel really bad for Charlie because he's a really high character individual. I really believed he was the perfect hire and I stayed in his corner big time until the OSU game. I love his core values and no nonsense approach to how he treats his players. But, he is gone at the end of the season and I cannot wait to find out what's really happened this year and how and why things went south so quickly. I think we all know he picked the wrong assistants Watson and Bedford. I wonder how much tension there is with Charlie and the staff. I'm afraid things could really go off the rails if there is a tremendous amount of distrust among the staff. I think Bedford is primarily the reason we are so bad. I'll bet CS gave him full control of the defense while CS is focused on other things. I want to hear today that Bedford has been fired but based upon some intelligent posts above.....that would not make much of a difference. Bedford does like freshmen but guess what they are the better athletes we have and you must figure out a way to get them on the field.......teach them the defense even if you have to tutor them one on one. Coaching is about winning no matter what it takes.......I really hope Charlie lands on his feet as a badass DC somewhere cool.......God Bless Charlie I know he gives UT everything he has in his tank and then some. IMHO he picked the wrong guys in Watson and Bedford and has run out of time to recover from those mistakes. Getting Herman at the end of the year would be incredibly awesome.
@RLong68 - You know I'm a Mickelson honk. Let me have my day!
No doubt. FWIW, I've warmed up to him as the years have gone by and he's added to his resume, particularly that epic Open Sunday in '13 that was a round for the ages.
I really wanted him to get that point yesterday, but Sergio was sensational. Neither man deserved a loss.
I had to do a double take to make sure you weren't talking about Strong in your intro. Nice piece of context.
All I remember from the Mackovic firing was after Route 66 and him saying outloud, in an interview, with other people within ear shot, "that's a loss that Texas fans will just have to deal with...". I knew the minute he said that, he was gone. Wasn't long thereafter. I liked most of what he did for the program but what an arrogant a$$.
So history repeats? but with a good man in his stead. It's really too bad for all concerned. Everyone loves Charlie.
Mackovic was always really nice to me for the most part. I once ran into him at the Great Hills 8 movie theater and he was a chatty Cathy. Loved him some Sgt. Bilko.
@Ketchum You've got your chance this week. I hope Tom Brady and my yet to be named captain bend you over and give it to you raw, no lube... "Bite the pillow, I'm going in dry!"
Wait, the one with Steve Martin???? That movie was HARR-ible. I love the origianl show and Steve Martin, but it was not a good movie. I'm guessing he might have needed that hit in the head he got as HC at Arizona.
Three asides related to Mackovic. One, he gave the AAS a pasta e pignole recipe that was delicious and I still use it today. Two, I coached against his son at Westlake young basketball and am 1-0 against John Mackovic (I usually omit the junior part). And three, my favorite call in cursing of him came from a guy who was just so frustrated, he goes, "Why you...you...you...chardonnay drinker!" Explains the pasta recipe, doesn't it
He made Texas relevant and remarkable. Not always good remarkable.
