What's Really At Stake At The Alamo Bowl

by Peter Bean on Dec 29, 2006 1:09 AM CST in Texas Longhorns Football

I've been ambivalent about this bowl from the get-go. Should I invest much in its outcome? Should I treat it as a glorified send off for our outstanding seniors? I haven't really been able to decide.

Until today. I think - maybe - that I've got a theory. And let me back that slam dunk of a statement up with some explanation.

This bowl game is about two things. First, the seniors, for obvious reasons. We're sending off national championship winning Longhorns. Guys that will be forever etched in our memories. Selvin Young, Tim Crowder, Brian Robison, Kasey Studdard, Lyle Sendlein, Justin Blalock, Aaron Ross... 41-38, man. These guys are legends.

But aside from that, there's one more reason that this bowl matters - Duane Akina. I've said it before, and I'm convinced I'm right: the defensive coordinator job is Duane Akina's, barring a collapse in the Alamo Bowl.

Really, it's a messed up situation. Think about it for a second. Really think about it. Mack Brown surely knows whether or not he thinks Duane Akina is capable of being defensive coordinator of his football team. There's simply no possible way that Mack is thinking, at this moment, "Well, I'm pretty sure that Duane could handle this job, but let's see if things go well in the Alamo Bowl."

You don't judge Duane Akina on the Alamo Bowl any more than you'd judge Mack Brown for the 2006 Kansas State game. Mack has made his mind up - in the affirmative, I'd guess - that Akina can be Texas' man. And yet, this bowl game is Akina's debut, so to speak. It's true. Those pretty Texas girls walk out there and do that ridiculously difficult bow and - even if they topple over - it speaks nothing of what kind of lady they are. Well, this is the same story. Akina's either the guy, or not the guy. And Mack already knows.

And yet, Akina's chances of landing the job depend solely on Texas having a good defensive game. And why's that? Because if Texas loses to Iowa because the defense doesn't play well, Mack Brown will want to change the tone in the press. He'll want the buzz to be about some "savior," instead of about "the guy who clunked the Alamo Bowl." And so, in a bit of high, bizarre, drama, Duane Akina enters this game with everything to win... and lose.

That's the real story of the Alamo Bowl. Will Duane Akina get jobbed out of the defensive coordinator position or not? For his sake, I hope the defense shows up to play.

--PB--

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you make sense

but honestly, I don't know what to think about the DC situation at Texas. Something just doesn't seem right about Brown's hesitation, or the way Chizak left. And by the way he left, I mean the whole collapse of the secondary coupled with the collapse of the run defense in the A&M game coupled with him getting out of town like his pants were on fire. I know that when it's time to go it's usually best to leave quickly, but that's the way it seemed to me. Brown certainly hasn't seemed all torn up about him leaving. Did I miss somethng on the news, or am I just mis-reading the situation?

by rom on Dec 29, 2006 7:54 AM CST reply actions

Brown can't come out and trash the guy

or no hot shot DC who wants a stepping stone will come here.

I think Brown and Chizik both knew that he was leaving after this year, and when a position opened up for him, I think everyone was prepared for his depature.

by Wells on Dec 29, 2006 9:42 AM CST up reply actions

Perhaps it's still Kines

What about Akina getting the shot at head defensive coordinator (like Chizik last year) and Kines still coming in? Kines is getting up there (62), is good friends with the staff and is a great LB coach (our weakness) and could continue to act as a mentor/assistant to Akina. Kines gets to have a less stressful job, similar pay and plenty of raw materials to destroy quarterbacks with. Sounds good to me.

by mray on Dec 29, 2006 9:58 AM CST reply actions

Kines out of the running, according to Davis

"If you ask Longhorns offensive coordinator Greg Davis, Joe Kines' name can be struck from the list of candidates for UT's vacant co-defensive coordinator job.

Kines, the defensive coordinator at Alabama, and Davis are longtime friends who still talk regularly.

"I really think he's going to retire, quite honestly," said Davis, who coached with Kines in separate stints at Arkansas and Georgia in the 1990s."

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/big12/stories/MYSA122906.08C.FBCalamo.notebook.2ca2e07.html

Starting in January 2007, just another Limey Longhorn

by patienthornsfan on Dec 29, 2006 4:39 PM CST up reply actions

That's not all that's at stake

Just listening to Mack's press conferences, apparently next year's Big XII Conference Championship is also at stake because both games are being played in Alamodome? WTF?

You've got to love Jedi Mack Brown and the Longhorn PR machine...

Reporter: "Hey Mack, how bad did it suck to lose your last two games and then get snubbed by the Cotton and Gator bowls?"

Mack: "Those aren't the bowl games you're looking for."

Reporter: "They're not?"

Mack: "Did you know next year's Big XII Championship is also in the Alamodome, Iowa QB Drew Tate is from Texas, and San Antonio is the second fattest city in the United States?"

Reporter: "Okay, I'll write that in my article instead of how bad it sucks to be playing in the Alamo Bowl."

by 54b on Dec 29, 2006 10:16 AM CST reply actions

Lol

Well put - it's Jedi.

He's the ultimate spinster. Makes you wonder why he never got into politics.

by Peter Bean on Dec 29, 2006 11:14 AM CST up reply actions

Shushhhh

Don't give him any ideas until heir aparent Major is ready for the prime time.

by Wells on Dec 29, 2006 11:23 AM CST up reply actions

PR machine is correct

Mack Brown openly lobbied for that Alamo Bowl. He wanted no part of a long trip to play a 9-3 squad when he could snag a game with a pathetic 6-6 team in his backyard. This is 100% about what he considers him important legacy. While the fans are looking for Conference Championships, he just wants 6 consecutive 10-win seasons.

--- We have pansies scheduling our patsies. ---

by HornChamps on Dec 29, 2006 11:39 AM CST up reply actions

Speaking of spinning...

C'mon now, HornsChamp. Mack wants conference championships every bit as much as you or I do. He didn't -want- the Alamo Bowl, nor the negative news that's come from our falling this far. Don't kid yourself.

by Peter Bean on Dec 29, 2006 11:45 AM CST up reply actions

You right

Mac has no desire for Conference Championships. He just wants to float along with his 10 wins.
I bet he hopes that we lose to OU every year too so we dont have to worry late in the season about a championship game.

by Wells on Dec 29, 2006 11:46 AM CST up reply actions

"Let's give the other team credit"

That's my other favorit Jedi Mack response...it's unbeatable after a loss. No matter what negative question a reporter asks Mack about why his team didn't win, he always responds with, "First off, let's give the other team and their coaches credit. They played their butts off today..."

And there's nothing wrong with that response. It's a classy move and shows respect to say the other team won instead of we lost. But here's the deal, Mack never gets back to answering the original question of why his team lost.

Journalists like Chip Brown have written tons of articles about why UT went downhill this year even going as far as to blame the linebackers and Colt's reluctance to run to make other teams respect the zone read. But has Mack ever given us one explanation for the losses.

Hell no. He wants to talk about other things like the great people of San Antonio and what a tough challenge 6-6 Iowa is going to pose.

But hey, good for Mack. He's a vet and he's certainly been through the fire enough times to handle the media. I just wish we could get some straight answers some times.

by 54b on Dec 29, 2006 1:15 PM CST reply actions