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More attention to special teams
We don’t know for sure if the special teams have really improved (though it would be hard not too after last season), however, one good sign is how much time Herman and his staff are spending with the group.
The Longhorns have spent a significant amount of time working on punting, kick returns, kickoffs, pretty much everything through the first nine practices this spring. That’s a sign of Herman’s commitment to detail, making sure everything is covered and covered right. Add on top of that the addition of kicker Josh Rowland, who was the first commitment at Texas under Herman, and the Longhorns have put an emphasis on creating a big improvement on special teams.
Texas, of course, is coming off a season that saw five kicks blocked and no deep returns on either kickoffs or punts. The last time Texas returned a kickoff for a touchdown was on a D.J. Monroe run in September 2012. A punt return for a touchdown came slightly more recent in September 2015.
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All of them; with Craig Naivar serving as both Safeties Coach and Special Teams Coordinator.Do we know which coaches are involved with special teams?
Godz posting at 3am, dude you can't sleep or what? lol
Give it to us straight.... Need some reality from all this kool-aid I've been drinking.Ugh....... so, ya'll ain't gonna be happy with what I've seen but-- I will break it down for you tomorrow at some point.
Honestly, it's hard to take your eyes off of 55. He's so good he makes the rest of our line look like scrubs. It's like driving up A1A in South Florida and looking across the way at the Kennedy space center and seeing that building where they used to house the moon rockets and space shuttle. You can tell it's a big building from afar, but you don't have anyway of understanding how MASSIVE it is until you get up on it because there's nothing nearby it for you to judge it's actual size.... that's Connor Williams. He's SO much better than the rest of the OL that you have no perspective on everybody else. It's like Santa Claus vs the elves.Thanks for the write up.
No surprise with Conner Williams, but what about the rest of the OL?
Any thoughts about them as a unit?
Thanks for the update. 2 questions: (a) How does S Brandon Jones look? I'll be surprised if he's not first team all conference at least by 2018. (b) Just reading through your comments - is talent level low? Obviously they are coming off a losing season, but the one positive I read about Strong was the recruiting and closing skills, and those guys are now a year older.So here's the deal:
We are either of REALLY good on D or our offense is worse than charlie's first year. Remember that spring scrimmage year one? Remember how you just wanted to puke all over your shoes after that spring game? Ya...... sort of like that. Beuchele is just not progressing. He hasn't gotten a lick stronger and still can't throw the out worth a crap. He gets a little happy feet if he lingers in the pocket and his throws lack zip. He probably had 10 balls tipped or knocked down by LBs and DBs. Ehlinger or however you spell it likes to use his feet. He's quick, but runs pretty high and though he has escapability, I'm curious if he has learned how to slide yet. He will get his head taken off if he does that on Saturdays. Ehlinger also seems kind of like a........... bit of a goofball..... just dorky, I guess. Maybe it's the Westlake coddling in him.... I'm not sure. His arm is better than Shane and so are his legs, but he hasn't started to click with the offense yet.
The DBs look better but I think it's because the wrs are still subpar. Our 2001 wr core would butt rape these guys. They look to be running crisper routes but I can tell some of them are getting frustrated with balls being over/under thrown and balls being batted away. They are crisp at first but as play goes on they are easily frustrated and it shows up in their route running. We just aren't very mentally tough at our skill positions.
OL-- that conner kid is a 1st round tackle. Period. He's the best tackle I have seen since Blake Brockermeyer. He kick step is unreal, he gets his butt down in his rocker, his punch will stone you cold in your tracks, he's got feet the size of canoes but moves like a ballet dancer. He has all the tools. After this season he will be NFL starter ready. Man child.
Running backs..... meh..... I will hold off until the fall to rule on them. Too many factors to get an accurate judgment.
Dline is average. Decent push, we are better on the edge but we need more ass in the middle. Ford CAN be a player but he needs more tools in his tool box. He reminds me of Thomas Baskin. Lbs are our strength, we move laterally with anybody. It's not the lateral I am worried about, it's the forward and back. It's like we are still learning how to fill gaps and who has what gap responsibility. There's constant chatter between the lbs and the dline, when the offense comes to the line. Either it's confusion or masked distraction of the O. Not sure yet which.
Dbs.......... its a toss up. I didn't see anybody really get off page like I have in the past with GDDH, that guy could fvck up any coverage, but these guys seem to be on the same page. I think it's because we've simplified our coverages a bit. Without seeing the film I am spit balling here but it doesn't look like we are doing a lot of "cover 2 man under", instead, it looks more like straight zone or straight man.
There's a vibe I got though, one of organization. Guys just seem to be more "on the same page" than they have been the last 3 years. Everyone, for the most part, knows where they are supposed to be ---- getting there is still being improved--- but they seem to KNOW where to be.
The jury is really still out until fall, but I wouldn't look to see a sparkling spring game, but I don't think it will be the disaster that charlie's first and second year were.
I guess we will see soon.
I like the fact that the players know what to do. Strong never could get them to know that. How was the coaching compared to what you saw with Strong? Unfortunately they are stuck with the QBs they have for now. Hopefully they can coach them.
It's not that I am not a fan of Herman. It's that I question whether he is ready for this enormous test. I was adamant that Charlie would never make it here and it was obvious from day one, to the objective eye. Herman can have success here, I just wish he had a few seasons at a UCLA or an Iowa or a Virginia Tech first.clob isn't a fan of Herman's, but he's a big upgrade over Strong. Strong just flat out couldn't coach at Texas.