Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend

[dport512]

Zero nuance in that remark. The offensive line situation was a disaster of his making. The recruiting along the defensive line was weak in the final years. The quarterback situation was mostly a disaster. Few playmakers on offense.

Seriously, let's not play like Mack's role in this is tiny. And this comes from a guy saying it's time to stop talking about Mack's failures.

You don't think Searels could have put together a decent line with the guys we've got + James, Estelle, Harrison, Hammad and a JUCO or 2 that wasn't a project like Nickelson?

I haven't seen much VT outside of that Ohio St game earlier this year, but their line looked alright.

 

[Santiam]

Who is better than Alabama? You forgot that part.

Alabama beat a traditional SEC team in Georgia. Their defense feast on teams like Georgia. Let's see how they do against teams like A&M that tend to give them fits. That game which I believe is in Collie Station should be a dandy.

 

[Mrrman]

yeah Baylor and TCU being better than Bama is a pretty uneducated and obviously emotionally based statement. TCU has struggled against almost everyone they've played except Texas and Baylor doesn't deserve any credit for anything until they grow a pair and play a quaility OOC opponent. Until that happens, there is no reason to not expect a repeat of their bowl game last year where they get exposed as soon as they play a quality team outside the Big 12. They could end up undefeated and I still wouldn't vote them into the playoff because they don't care to earn their spot.

 

[drunk randoke]

Texas football has broken my soul.

 

[HornHammer]

Agreed on Martian (good) & Sicario (great)

 

[Califashorn]

Strong has lost us a lot of us. We gave him the benefit of the doubt, but his performance deserves an F. No signature wins, horrible game management, oblivious to understanding offenses, loyal to a fault, culture change that went from bad to worse...he's just not the guy for this team.

 

[wachorn]

WTF on part A the 3 parter. Is that Common Core stuff?

 

[asics]

"
If you need a metaphor that isn’t 30 years old, it’s like he’s trying to win at Madden with a controller that has a bunch of buttons that don’t work.

Some of the buttons don't work because CS disabled them when he took the job by bringing in Watson and an overall average coaching staff.

 

[ball911]

Yes, the previous experience line of thought that prevented Texas from going after Bob Stoops when it had the chance, will prevent Texas from going for one of the best young minds in college football...Herman...should it come to that.

 

[TilGabriel]

I think the thing that has bothered me about the Strong era is that when we've had extra time to prepare we go backwards in the game. It reminds me of a story a Tech coach had about Texas week. He said we used to tell'em that boys its Texas week gotta beat down, focus. Then they'd play tight in the game. It's SO important. He said then we realized what we were doing and spent next year doing the opposite. Land they played loose and won. I feel like we're playing tight and get stuck in the hang dog here we go again mindset once things don't go our way. It's a reflection of the pressure the coaches are applying, making them dance by numbers. Being a scold.

At this point there are no signature wins, just some signature close calls, a bunch of blowouts , and a team so statistically bad on defense it makes Diaz look like the golden child.

We're in an unrecoverable death spiral. I like Charlie and think he'll have a good career somewhere else. It won't be because he didn't care. Just not a good fit.

 

[moblack82]

Some of the buttons don't work because CS disabled them when he took the job by bringing in Watson and an overall average coaching staff.

I remember when he brought his staff in folks were excited that he had guys who had out of state roots to recruit. Guys who had Florida, and Cali ties. He needed to hire a top flight OC who knew how to score points.

 

[RickNelson]

I don't remember feeling this crappy about our team before. Even in 1997 when we got rid of Mackovic.

Ironically, the worst I ever felt about this team was McWilliams last year when they lost 50-7 to Baylor at home. The Boyd tweet reminded me of the players after that game high-fiving Baylor players and laughing it up.

There are too many similarities between Strong and McWilliams: Both are great guys and great defensive coordinators who were hired after decent success at lesser programs who then immediately dug their own graves by bringing over their staffs who were unqualified to recruit and coach at the higher level/ The result was a recruiting program that brought in some good players but left huge holes at key positions and particularly on the offensive and defensive lines. Being defensive guys, they completely turned over the offense to guys who couldn't handle the job, Both came in with an incredible amount of goodwill and patience which they squandered through regression and record-setting blowouts. Both kept their jobs longer than they otherwise would have but for external circumstances, in McWilliams case because DKR loved him and in Strong's case because of the perception of disarray from changing coaches so soon again after the hamfisted way Texas handled Brown's firing and because the media would be writing bs stories for years about how Strong could not get a fair shake in notoriously conservative Austin, Texas..

Like McWillaims, Strong will get a chance to finish his contract if he brings in a new offensive staff, gets a couple of superstar Texas recruiters, and hires someone to build a real recruiting department such as the one Suddes built under Brown so that at the very least someone will handle the recruiting events like "Under the Lights" in a professional manner.

 

[cm1308]

(BUY or SELL) Charlie brings in the type of coaching talent next year to help this team?

(Sell) Strong isn’t an offensive coach and based on his previous hires on that side of the ball, it’s hard to call the situation anything better than 50-50.

If Strong won't bring in an elite offensive coordinator, he should be fired. In fact, it should be a condition of his continued employment past this season. The offensive struggles are in no small part attributable to his decision to use "his guy" Watson instead of recognizing the step-up in class. As mentioned in another post, his lame-duck status is already going to make filling that position much more challenging than it could have been. He has squandered two years on the side of the football that drives the Big 12.

 

[asics]

Yes, the previous experience line of thought that prevented Texas from going after Bob Stoops when it had the chance, will prevent Texas from going for one of the best young minds in college football...Herman...should it come to that.

Agreed.

 

[Dank Bank]

LMAO @ Bama being #1. Every ****in year they lose a game then knock over a paper tiger like Mark Richt and are suddenly Jesus on Wheels. Every single year.

That Top 10 is a complete joke, Ketch. I'm now angry at 7:53AM because your rankings are so insane.

 

[MEP1992]

I feel your longhorn and cowboy pain... i dont know what to wear. .....

 

[Ketchum]

ketch, you may have said elsewhere and I missed it, or you may just be unwilling to say at this time, but I'd like your answer to the following question as of today...Assuming this year finishes on the course we all expect (3-9 or 4-8 finish with a couple more blow outs at least), would you fire CS and move on? To be honest, I would, simply because I see a coach who at his best will probably win 9-10 games in a season in this conference. I don't think CS has a ceiling that is acceptable, given the disarray and poor decision making that have been demonstrated thus far. I understand the issues noted above, but honestly, I think for the long term, this would be the best course. What say you?

Easy for me to say yes, I'm not responsible for the $15 left on his deal.

 

[Ketchum]

What are your thoughts on him as a coach in general?

He's growing on the job. I think he's perfect for Clemson.

 

[Ketchum]

If Baylor or TCU played Bama, Bama would lose 8 times out of 10.

lulz. Agree to disagree.

 

[Ketchum]

Ketch that is so funny I showed my 10 year old what I meant when I said "Watchu talkin' bout Willis" this weekend with that clip you posted. He ended up watching about 6 episodes of Different Strokes after seeing it. Its his new favorite show. Youtube is so great for things like that.

YES!!!!!

 

[Ketchum]

LMAO @ Bama being #1. Every ****in year they lose a game then knock over a paper tiger like Mark Richt and are suddenly Jesus on Wheels. Every single year.

That Top 10 is a complete joke, Ketch. I'm now angry at 7:53AM because your rankings are so insane.

Man, you can throw the top 10 up in the air, let it fall in any order and it's just as good as anything else. I feel like Bama is the best team, hence my decision. Let me see your top 10.

 

[Ketchum]

Aggies are your 4th best team lol the same Aggies that barely beat an Arky team that got beat bad by Tech lol Ok

Look at the full body of work this season.

 

[Ketchum]

This is the worst type of thinking, thinking you know more than actual results, when in fact you don't. It's not just you, many of the media and these rankers think their predictions matter more than previous data, when in fact we've seen them wrong time and time again. Hell, you said the same thing about Bama last year before they took on Ohio State, how did that work for you? Stop this crazy thinking and take a smarter approach.

The Top 10 is a rhetorical item at this point. There is no true No.1, No.2, etc...

 

[TilGabriel]

Yes, he would obviously be Briles and Patterson good, because it took both those coaches five to six years each to make their programs competitive from crap, which is what Strong inherited from Mack. It only took Royal five years to win ten games at Texas. Heck, he lost three or more games in ten of his twenty seasons at Texas, and he was the greatest Texas coach in history.

Royal never had a losing season. Seems like that's all we've had for near a decade. I agree you can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh@t, but we're also trending the wrong way even on the five year plan. These games have been uncompetitive not just loses.

 

[Ketchum]

They beat a team that they were tailor made to defeat a team that wants to run the ball between the tackles as their first, second and third options. Their win Saturday wasn't much different than their win over Wisconsin. Team with a big name from a power 5 conference that never had a chance. Bama makes a killing on beating up on teams like this to open every season(ie Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Michigan, etc). The only team that has a shot at beating Bama with that style is LSU & they'd have to do it in a 9-6 or 13-10 type of game. Frankly, there have been quite a few more teams that have been far more impressive.

In the biggest home game in recent memory for Georgia, Alabama went between the hedges and totally destroyed and humiliated them. Let's not act like that happens every day.

 

[Dank Bank]

Man, you can throw the top 10 up in the air, let it fall in any order and it's just as good as anything else. I feel like Bama is the best team, hence my decision. Let me see your top 10.

1. Penis
2. Penis
3. Penis
4. Penis
5. Penis
6. Penis
7. Penis
8. Penis
9. Penis
10. Alabama

 

[jspirohorn]

I know this will sound trite but I think our coaches inability to show up on time at press conferences is telling. It shows they are not organized enough not to keep other people waiting and get on to the next part of their day. Think about it like habitually showing up late to important meetings.

 

[Ketchum]

And lost to Toledo. And they just beat the same Miss. State team that struggled with Southern Mississippi. Lulz. Be better Ketch

You guys that are casually dismissing A&M's start... well, I know why you'd want to, but again, they didn't beat Arizona State and Mississippi State, they smoked/outclassed them. At this early stage, that's as impressive as anyone else's resume.

 

[Ketchum]

Alabama beat a traditional SEC team in Georgia. Their defense feast on teams like Georgia. Let's see how they do against teams like A&M that tend to give them fits. That game which I believe is in Collie Station should be a dandy.

They didn't beat them. They humiliated them. The difference in the way you're painting what happened matters.

 

[Ketchum]

Some of the buttons don't work because CS disabled them when he took the job by bringing in Watson and an overall average coaching staff.

completely fair.