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(Buy) I've been as critical of Del Conte as just about anyone, but I'll be the first to say that he's also very, very good at a key number of aspects of his job. What he's done as a fundraiser should never be underestimated.
I'm going to keep asking that question until Texas takes that next step. Hopefully, for all us, Sarkisian has the answerAnwar likes to ask that type of question all the time.
It's a fair question to ask. If this were a group of non-Texas fans, they'd be laughing at the notion of talking about dethroning OU before the other thing has happened first.I'm going to keep asking that question until Texas takes that next step. Hopefully, for all us, Sarkisian has the answer
Yes. They have developed some specialized stilts for him that adds half a foot while not taking away his speed and mobility. Championship!!!But can his Qb see over the line of scrimmage and see him?
To be clear: I don't think we are close to playoff, much less natty, contention.The last steps are the hardest to take.
I'm not sure that Texas is nearly as close as some of you believe. The "we almost did it three years ago" mantra reveals a lot in an unintentional way.
I agree with all of that, especially if it was apples to apples. This staff lifts last year's team to a better finish line IMO.To be clear: I don't think we are close to playoff, much less natty, contention.
I do, however, think we have been held back by a moribund scheme and anemic game planning/play calling. I do think we have the talent on campus to field a much better, more exciting and more competitive product on the field next year.
The steps we need to be looking at are:
1) Separate ourselves from the rest of the conference (besides OU) as one of the two clear big dogs in the B12. Despite Iowa State being the best they will probably ever be, we might do this in 2021, and it should certainly be within our grasp by 2022.
2) Get back to beating OU more often than not. What I really mean here is that when we beat OU it should not be an upset, and when they beat us it should be. We are definitely at least 2-3 years away from this one.
3) NOW we can start thinking about winning the conference and getting a playoff spot. Again, optimistically this is a 2-3 year goal at least
4) Until we do the above, all the talk of what it takes to be a Natty contender is just a little silly.
So yeah @Ketchum I agree we are not close to the end goal. But I do think we can make major progress within the B12 in the immediate future, and I think we absolutely need to do that now if we want to be in a position to get our recruiting up to the standard of a truly national contender.
** edit: It would be a huge help if we could improve quickly enough to keep from getting totally pantsed by Bama when that home and home rolls around. We don't need to win, we just need to be competitive and look better than Aggsy against them.
great one, thanks for linking!@Ketchum
I get not including it, but Willie & Paula Nelson singing "Have you seen the rain" is a Top 3 Willie song for me.
5-Stars Signed by Notre DameGet at least 3 five stars every cycle or you won’t be in the playoffs.
I couldn't agree more. The schedule sets up for a potentially tough season. I'm less concerned with the W/L outcome than with the actual product on the field.I agree with all of that, especially if it was apples to apples. This staff lifts last year's team to a better finish line IMO.
My concern is that this team isn't as good on paper as last year's at this point and there are some major personnel concerns that I'm still not sure get answered in ways that lead to more than a game of improvement in the W/L column.
How many elite players does Texas need to beat TCU, Oklahoma State, and Iowa State consistently?
I need to frame this.I couldn't agree more. The schedule sets up for a potentially tough season. I'm less concerned with the W/L outcome than in the product on the field.
I'm expecting an aggressive offense that will do a better job of attacking weaknesses in opposing defenses. I'm also expecting growing pains with a new QB and a lot of uncertainty in the OL/WR corps.
I'm expecting improvement and a more aggressive defense, with some concerns at LB and in the secondary (the talent is there in the backfield, but can we translate it to productivity?) I also expect the D to be in a few sudden change situations as we work out the kinks in the offense.
What I'm hoping for is (1) cleaner, more disciplined play, (2) a more aggressive and fun style of play on both sides of the ball, and (3) hopefully a team that's not afraid to run up big numbers and lopsided wins when they get a chance.
If your willing to travel that far... Take a trip on 45 south to Cavelcade and go to Taqueria Laredo. It's a gritty place ( Think East Austin .. on steroids).Completely not in the Woodlands but you need to check out Tacos A Go Go - I'll vouch for the al pastor and the pork guisada, get the smokey sauce. They have locations in the heights and downtown. Be prepared to need a few napkins as both tacos are served in an almost stew state.
Have we ever seen Texas have elite coaching in the last 25 years?In the "which is more important; elite coaching or elite players" debate, I'll just throw this tidbit out there:
With the Vince and Colt teams, we went to/won the Natty game and Greg Davis was the architect that led to Texas having some of the best offenses in the country those years. Without Vince and Colt, Texas fired Greg Davis... and then Iowa fired him too.
Elite players can overcome mediocre coaching. I'm not sure the inverse is true.
Further talking points; Scott Frost had tons of talent (relevant to his conference) at UCF and then he goes to Nebraska and it looks like he's going to fail hard.
Turns out, it's tough to be an elite coach when you have mediocre players.
Ssshhhhhh!!!!!Lol @ dudes always getting bent over Geoff’s top 10 lists.
I think that's part of my argument. We've seen Texas have a lot of success. But the road is littered with coaches who appear elite one minute and not so much the next. I think you can label about half the 5 stars as turning out to be elite players. Maybe even only 25%.Have we ever seen Texas have elite coaching in the last 25 years?
Yup. I don't think outside of Muschamp or Robinson that I have ever seen the actual coaching of this program applauded by the fan base the way an OU fan looks at Riley.I think that's part of my argument. We've seen Texas have a lot of success. But the road is littered with coaches who appear elite one minute and not so much the next. I think you can label about half the 5 stars as turning out to be elite players. Maybe even only 25%.
But the number of elite coaches seems to be about 5. Saban, Dabo, Riley (and probably Meyer and Stoops.) Maybe Chris Peterson... maybe. I think clearly too soon to call Ryan Day elite but it's possible down the road.
But at one point we thought Harbaugh, Chip Kelly, Jim Kelly were elite and nobody thinks of them as elite now. A&M thinks Jimbo is but they haven't won their division yet with him.
There just aren't more than a handful of can't-miss coaches.
I enjoyed the last two games. Didn't you? What was the difference?This.
We have gotten way too accustomed to seeing our talent underperform, and lose to less talented teams. While Ketch is right that we need elite talent to compete for the playoffs, we were plenty talented last year to beat every team on the schedule, including OU.
What we need is a little better development, but mostly we need a better offensive & defensive scheme to take advantage of our strengths, and better game plans to exploit mismatches against our opponents.
Talent aside, what we put on the field last year was not a good product. We were not fun to watch and didn't really dominate anyone, even in games where we were clearly better across the board. If we start playing an exciting, aggressive brand of football like Sark & PK are trying to do, I believe we will win games and be fun to watch. And if that happens, recruiting should really go through the roof.
Both were quite different.I enjoyed the last two games. Didn't you? What was the difference?