Thanks for sharing, 4MN. Pretty accurate re-hash of ups/downs we suffered in the 80s/90s. I will only take issue with the author calling Applewhite an elite college QB. I respect Applewhite's role at Texas, but, suffice it to say that Ricky was the main reason he was a decent QB. RICKY was AWESOME to say the least.
Your point on talent is debatable, but, it is a valid point. I remember vividly the argument being that Akers failed immensely at not recruiting while he was on top. It is much easier to recruit the best when you are at the top of your game and it was a major "fail" not to take advantage of that. I don't know if he got lazy, complacent, or took things for granted. Then there was another theory of having jerks as recruiters whereby they would attempt to strongarm the blue chips. To this day, you hear commentators say ridiculous things like "Texas doesn't recruit, they select". That is plain stupid and creates a false arrogance pinned on Texas. Texas has arrogance in pride which I am at front and center, however, the type of arrogance Texas gets accused of is just not accurate. Recruiting is hard work. Times have changed and blue chips want to play in their first or second year. The days of red shirting and waiting for 5th year seniors to graduate before getting playing time is laughable and not relevant to the mind of top recruits.
Yes. Very true Oldhorn. That would go along with how their philosphy on recruiting was handled. A while back on this board, blh111 had posted a good article on Eric Dickerson and how he was handled. It is simply too bad, but, it's water under the bridge at this point. Think of how many wasted years those broken relationships took to reverse. I would venture to say that it took Mack Brown to fully restore the damage and get our recruiting back to where it should be.
Charlie has paid a hefty price and is solely responsible for bringing Watson to the 40. I agree, it was a big mistake. Hopefully, the Gilbert hire will put the offense on fast track. I think it will pay off for a couple of reasons. 1) Sterlin Gilbert looks to be a rising star and we all hope he is as good as advertised. 2) I am beginning to question more and more the internal strife whereby Watson/Wickline/Norvell were battling for turf. I don't have any inside info, but, it is a very common occurrence for this to occur in any business. If this was happening, then, no matter how good our QBs were, it would have been difficult for them to succeed.
