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Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend

1. The negative spin by this board on anything relating to Charlie Strong is far more over the top than any spin being put on a person who thinks Charlie MIGHT deserve to be our coach next year. Good grief, Baylor was ranked in the top ten, is still ranked in the top 20, had beaten OSU, a good team that just beat WVU, was playing with confidence from being undefeated and was playing for a playoff chance. Running down our opponents when we win is the height of hypocrisy.

2. Tom Herman may be the next Urban Meyer. Far more likely, he wont be. That's the realistic odds for any young coach coming up. What he is right now is a guy who coaches a team with enough talent to beat OU, but cant game plan and motivate his team to beat a far weaker team like SMU or an average team like Navy. Anyone who thinks Herman is a shoo in the be better than Strong is delusional.

3. Charlie has clear strengths and weaknesses as a head coach. That said, if you took all the posters and mods on OB and added their football knowledge together, it wouldn't equal that of Strong and his staff. Its fun to chat here about strategy, game decisions, etc. But those posters here who thing they know more football than Strong as delusional as the Herman fanatics. I expect lots of pushback from this statement, so I will just wait for those who think otherwise to show me their national championship ring while being a head coach, coordinator, coach, grad assistant or waterboy.
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Swoopes is backup RB because Porter is a JAG. He's shown no burst, no wiggle, no elusiveness, no power, doesn't run thru arm tackles or bounce off defenders, doesn't move the pile. Part of his problem could be his tentativeness and lack of decisiveness, that could be hiding a little burst he has that we won't see until he runs with authority. He looks like a post-achilles injury Jonathan Gray, at best.

We need to recruit two good RBs.
 
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I still say that all of this negative reporting affects the team....you have been more negative lately than ever before, any reason why?....when Charlie first started and released all of the players to get rid of the "thugs" everyone was saying then that 2017 would be the year things fell in place but you seem to have forgotten that....just fire the coaches and start all over.....remember before hyping another coach, the one at Houston, Charlies last 2 years a Louisville were amazing and lool at him now.....Herman is not a sure thing....so prepare yourself to start the fire the coach campaign all over again 2019-2020.....
 
This program needs consistency in the coaching staff. I don't know where it was ever determined that a coach should only get three years to recruit, train, and win to stay in his job and Texas is not an exception. We have a coach who has great character, has shown he can recruit the players, and i believe that he will definitely win in another year.

If you are looking for consistency in the coaching staff, I'm not sure Charlie Strong is your guy. I mean, you're kidding right? This is a guy who has demoted a coordinator DURING each of his last two seasons. Nevermind the long list of discarded position coaches. I've never seen such coaching carnage in a 3 year period in all my many years of following Texas football.
 
If you are looking for consistency in the coaching staff, I'm not sure Charlie Strong is your guy. I mean, you're kidding right? This is a guy who has demoted a coordinator DURING each of his last two seasons. Nevermind the long list of discarded position coaches. I've never seen such coaching carnage in a 3 year period in all my many years of following Texas football.

I completely agree with you but here's a devil's advocate position:

Charlie shows up, he brings his guys thinking they're good enough for the job. First year he has a veteran defense and they do...ok. Watson is horrible and the offense crashes and burns. He talks to Watson, thinks it on track.

Season two, Watson crashes and burns - Charlie chucks him overboard. Norvell does a ok job with what he has and the situation he's in. Bedford shits the bed with a freshman heavy defense. Charlie talks to Bedford.

Season three - Bedford shits the bed again, this time with mostly sophomores and over the guardrail he goes. Norvell is out in favor of Gilbert. Offense shows signs of life but still needs two liters on a canula.

All that to say - What if what we're watching is Charlie Strong doing some serious on the job learning? I mean, he obviously didn't realize he was so unprepared. He tears the program down to the studs because he thinks he's better than everyone else (obviously) and now it's just a waiting game for him to get the right coaches in place with players that get it.

What if we are watching a coach whose style is slow and methodical instead of the sharper, quicker acting coaches whose names we know (Myer, Saban, etc). In fairness though, those are cream of the crop coaches, which Charlie is not. He is what he is, and with time maybe he gets it right.

Obviously mixed in with that are position coaches leaving with no warning, or leaving for better jobs, or leaving because they're a bagman for someone. Most of that is just unpredictable anyway so we really have to look past it. It certainly wasn't the money that was the issue.

5 million to throw coaches at a dartboard is quite a bit too steep though.
 
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This program needs consistency in the coaching staff. I don't know where it was ever determined that a coach should only get three years to recruit, train, and win to stay in his job and Texas is not an exception. We have a coach who has great character, has shown he can recruit the players, and i believe that he will definitely win in another year.
The fire CS crowd want to lay Mack Brown's last 5 years at the feet of Coach Strong and bitch when they don't get immediate gratification. "We haven't been relevant for 10 years" and are in college football purgatory can NOT be legit reasons to fire a coach new to the situation Not when he is adored by his players and their parents.
 
I completely agree with you but here's a devil's advocate position:

Charlie shows up, he brings his guys thinking they're good enough for the job. First year he has a veteran defense and they do...ok. Watson is horrible and the offense crashes and burns. He talks to Watson, thinks it on track.

Season two, Watson crashes and burns - Charlie chucks him overboard. Norvell does a ok job with what he has and the situation he's in. Bedford shits the bed with a freshman heavy defense. Charlie talks to Bedford.

Season three - Bedford shits the bed again, this time with mostly sophomores and over the guardrail he goes. Norvell is out in favor of Gilbert. Offense shows signs of life but still needs two liters on a canula.

All that to say - What if what we're watching is Charlie Strong doing some serious on the job learning? I mean, he obviously didn't realize he was so unprepared. He tears the program down to the studs because he thinks he's better than everyone else (obviously) and now it's just a waiting game for him to get the right coaches in place with players that get it.

What if we are watching a coach whose style is slow and methodical instead of the sharper, quicker acting coaches whose names we know (Myer, Saban, etc). In fairness though, those are cream of the crop coaches, which Charlie is not. He is what he is, and with time maybe he gets it right.

Obviously mixed in with that are position coaches leaving with no warning, or leaving for better jobs, or leaving because they're a bagman for someone. Most of that is just unpredictable anyway so we really have to look past it. It certainly wasn't the money that was the issue.

5 million to throw coaches at a dartboard is quite a bit too steep though.

Everything you described shouldn't be happening with a coach making 5 million a year at a top 2 job. Nothing he's shown in almost 3 years suggests he's even close to elite
 
Number 7: I'm struggling to enjoy this college football season. Since 2003, I've spent my Saturday's during football season watching and enjoying the games, and not just UT. But this season feels different. Maybe I've had my fill of SEC talk on the major networks. Maybe it's because we are 3 seasons into a struggle. Maybe it's just that the Big 12 is a tire fire. But it's not fun this year and I find myself doing other things than sitting in my recliner on Saturday's.
 
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I completely agree with you but here's a devil's advocate position:

Charlie shows up, he brings his guys thinking they're good enough for the job. First year he has a veteran defense and they do...ok. Watson is horrible and the offense crashes and burns. He talks to Watson, thinks it on track.

Season two, Watson crashes and burns - Charlie chucks him overboard. Norvell does a ok job with what he has and the situation he's in. Bedford shits the bed with a freshman heavy defense. Charlie talks to Bedford.

Season three - Bedford shits the bed again, this time with mostly sophomores and over the guardrail he goes. Norvell is out in favor of Gilbert. Offense shows signs of life but still needs two liters on a canula.

All that to say - What if what we're watching is Charlie Strong doing some serious on the job learning? I mean, he obviously didn't realize he was so unprepared. He tears the program down to the studs because he thinks he's better than everyone else (obviously) and now it's just a waiting game for him to get the right coaches in place with players that get it.

What if we are watching a coach whose style is slow and methodical instead of the sharper, quicker acting coaches whose names we know (Myer, Saban, etc). In fairness though, those are cream of the crop coaches, which Charlie is not. He is what he is, and with time maybe he gets it right.

Obviously mixed in with that are position coaches leaving with no warning, or leaving for better jobs, or leaving because they're a bagman for someone. Most of that is just unpredictable anyway so we really have to look past it. It certainly wasn't the money that was the issue.

5 million to throw coaches at a dartboard is quite a bit too steep though.

After 3 years, Strong shouldn't be on training wheels anymore. What year do they come off?
 
Number 7: I'm struggling to enjoy this college football season. Since 2003, I've spent my Saturday's during football season watching and enjoying the games, and not just UT. But this season feels different. Maybe I've had my fill of SEC talk on the major networks. Maybe it's because we are 3 seasons into a struggle. Maybe it's just that the Big 12 is a tire fire. But it's not fun this year and I find myself doing other things than sitting in my recliner on Saturday's.
Same here. I slept through the first half on Saturday and don't regret it at all.
 
personally I think this was one of the best write ups. Hard to agree on all topics on such a diverse discussion or report,

but IMO, you nailed every topic
 
Tim Herman?

OB needs a new proofreader like Charlie Strong needs a new defensive coordinator.
 
Defense is predominantly freshmen, sophomores.
Another year of experience and new DC..This defensive unit will be much better in 2017. Just seeing this via glass half full perspective.

Nope! As Ketch stated, stop looking for reasons to find false hope. The youth excuse is just that, an excuse. Plenty of good team around the country with just as much youth who are better coached and prepared teams. Hiring a new DC at the eleventh hour doesn't change the fact that Charlie is in over his head. A new DC isn't going to adjust the details and game management issues that have plagued Charlie Strong since he arrived in Austin. Not to mention having Charlie back for a 4th year without an extension is having a lame duck coach, which affects moral and recruiting. I am pulling for the Horns to win out, but that isn't going to change Charlie'' fate IMO.
 
At best it needs to be a light sell on the question of Charlie being back at 8-5 with a bowl win.
 
LOL @Ketchum - I think the fans of this program are quite capable of evaluating and deciding when they can dream big, what expectations they'll have of the team and what they see as far as what the future may or may not hold.

Dak definitely took a big step forward in his evolution of being a true NFL quarterback. With a hated rival one quarter away from bringing Cowboy faithful back to earth, Dak led the Cowboys to 16 unanswered points and sent the hated Eagles back to Philly fighting for second place. Greatness.

Can't get too high or too low but I was almost completely out of faith after the clubbing the Indians put on the Cubs on Saturday. On Sunday, the young Cubs gave all of us at least on more game to hope and dream.
 
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Aggie #7- Blasphemy!!

a 2 loss sooner is #10, FUN-NY!
 
I think the Cubs are going to come back and take both games in Cleveland to win the Series. It will follow the same pattern as the 1979 World Series, where the Pirates, down 3-1 in games, won Game 5 at home and then took two games in Baltimore.
 
1 Bonny and Boyd are the best corners we have, doghouse or no doghouse.
2 If you want to pay attention to the SEC other than Bama, watch out for Auburn...they are playing hot right now.
 
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Name one team in the top 25 who doesn't have an all conference junior or senior and is starting over 66 percent freshman and sophomores. I know who your quoting but that was not a completely accurate statment. The funny thing about statements and numbers you can twist them to make any point just like I am doing above.
 
The fire CS crowd want to lay Mack Brown's last 5 years at the feet of Coach Strong and bitch when they don't get immediate gratification. "We haven't been relevant for 10 years" and are in college football purgatory can NOT be legit reasons to fire a coach new to the situation Not when he is adored by his players and their parents.
Adored? That's so cute. I hope they carry him off the field after the Tech game.
 
Good summary. We can enjoy this win while still recognizing the purgatory reality.

Your point about the Charmin-soft B12 lines up with what you, Alex, PDX, and a few others have laid out in detail concerning the conference's weakening recruiting position year after year. No matter how good some of the coaches may be, the lessening talent levels across the board were going to catch up with the conference eventually.

The growing talent gap between us and the SEC/B1G alphas has been growing more apparent over the past season and a half. One wonders how long that will continue.

What does that say about Texas high school players, which the Big 12 is largely populated with?
 
The stadium is full, the big xii is weak, the AD is leading cheers for Charlie going up the ramp. It's easy to talk yourself into another year if you're a UT official.

...And one time golden boy Tim Herman lost to or struggled to beat Navy, Tulsa, SMU, and C. Florida.
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I don't see atm beating a Wisky team either at home or on the road. The only real team they've faced took 'em to the shed.
 
Saturday is obviously huge for Charlie. It's precisely the type of game he has struggled with in preparing for his team. A not completely shitty opponent getting us at home. At 11am no less. Yes, probably a lot of us are expecting to see the same movie again. However, if we get the W then it's home for WVU with a real chance to tack on another quality win. I'm not saying all that because I think he should stay or he should go. Just looking at it realistically.
 
Why do people want Strong want him to win and stay most?
A. His core values?
B. He is the first black head coach at TX?
C. He is a top recruiter?
D. He loves the university?
E. He is a nice guy and does things the right way?
F. He is the best coach for the job and gets the most out of what he has?
Man this is a good exercise.

I like D and E, I love A and C, I believe in 2016 B should be irrelevant, but F is for farce. He is not a good HC. I wish we could keep him as a D Line coach or something but obviously the world doesn't work that way.
 
Love Charlie Strong the man, not too fond of his as our HC. If we were losing the 1 score games in a clean well coached manner then I might think differently but then again if we payed is a clean well coached manner we might be 7-1 or 6-2.
Do you really know him as a man?
 
You know how you know I am an Orangeblood? Because I know from memory that Earl rushed for 1744 his Heisman year so D'onta would be 17 yards behind him, not 7 as you wrote. A minor correction and point is well taken.
 
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