Greg Davis Review, Part 1: John Mackovic At Texas

by Peter Bean on Jun 29, 2008 2:53 AM CDT in Football Comment 23 comments

John Mackovic is not remembered especially fondly by Longhorns fans, but his career in Austin wasn't without accomplishment. When he took over the program from David McWilliams in 1992, the Longhorns immediately upped their scoring average nearly nine points per game, to 26.5. In his fourth season, 1995, he tied Oklahoma, finished 7-0 in the SWC, and took Texas to the Sugar Bowl. And a year later, of course, he gave Texas football fans one of the great memories in program history:

"What a call by Mackovic!"

Unfortunately for John Mackovic, the wheels came off in 1997 when Texas finished a woeful 4-7 overall, 2-6 in conference, including an embarrassing loss to the Baylor Bears. That was more than enough excuse for Deloss Dodds to show him the door, an ouster for which many movers and shakers near the program had been eager, anyway. The cerebral, reserved, decidedly not-Texan coach was perceived by many as an effete, wine-sipping softy who was out of touch with the values of Texas football.

Truthfully, he probably was, and though Mackovic recruited significantly better than his predecessor, he was throughout his career (Texas and otherwise) plagued by an inability to relate to football culture. He didn't relate especially well with players, and he definitely didn't fit in with the Good Ol' Boys who fund the Texas football machine.

But how did he do as an offensive coach?

TEXAS OFFENSE UNDER JOHN MACKOVIC

Though Texas fans largely remember Mackovic for his team's miserable 1997 showing, the offensive trend before the collapse was largely upward:

What's really odd is that personnel-wise 1997 should have been a good year for Mackovic, with Ricky Williams a junior and James Brown a senior. But just as his star tailback was setting the stage for a senior-year Heisman run, the quarterback who had rescued the two previous seasons finally turned into a pumpkin.

James Brown's theretofore remarkable Texas career ended horribly, as he completed just 49.8% of his passes in 1997, including a mere 5 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. The offense became predictable, the defense was atrocious, and Texas fans watched in horror as Baylor fans tore down goal posts.

Mackovic's fate was sealed and by December, Mack Brown had been introduced as the school's new football coach. With James Brown graduating, Brown and his offensive coordinator Greg Davis set to work on trying to get Ricky Williams to stay for his senior season. Senior Richard Walton, upstaged his first three years by James Brown, would return as the team's presumptive signal caller.

The Greg Davis Era was set to begin...

THE GREG DAVIS REVIEW, PART 1

Greg Davis' Pre-Texas Career
John Mackovic at Texas

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to be fair

James Brown was either injured or recovering from injury in ‘97. I distinctly remember stories about him being prohibited from throwing the ball in the offseason, then only being allowed to throw a lighweight Nerf football during rehab, b/c he had some shoulder problem.
The real story during the ‘97 season was the defense, which was decimated by injuries. Shaun Rogers – injured. The best DL who has ever worn the uniform for texas (IMO) – Casey Hampton – injured.
Leonard Davis, who was so poor at DT against 1A competition in HS they moved him to LB, was playing DT for texas. Just like in HS, he couldn’t handle offensive linemen getting leverage on him, and he was horrible.
texas was especially atrocious against the run, and that ‘97 team set records for defensive futility that wouldn’t be broken until the ‘07 squad came along.

by Beergut on Jun 29, 2008 3:11 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Don't forget the biggest injury that year

Mackovic’s post concussion syndrome.

by Wells on Jun 29, 2008 6:33 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I believe his "shrouded in a fog" season was earlier

the ‘94 season, perhaps?
I know it wasn’t the ‘97 season.

by Beergut on Jun 29, 2008 4:41 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It was '94. nt

by whills on Jun 29, 2008 5:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Right

I guess I just wanted to remember it that way.

by Wells on Jun 29, 2008 8:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Injury plagued season

Yes, everyone seems to remember the 4-7 record but forget the number of injuries on the team. I think a lot of players try to play through them if their coach is worth it. Clearly Mackovic wasn’t worth the fight. Didn’t Texas lose to Rice in the rain? All in all, he makes for a pretty good OC, not a head coach. Look at what he did at Arizona. ESPN must kick themselves for following Arizona during his inaugural season. Aside from his oft complained administrative demeanor, what I disliked most was his lack of teaching fundamentals like blocking, tackling, pursuit angles, and his lack of interest on the defensive side of the ball. Both home and away losses to ND were completely due to lack of fundamentals. You can’t just recruit talent, you’ve got to train them. Something the current coaching staff seemed to be lacking last season. Hopefully this is not the case this season.

Texas vs. Nebraska in the first Big XII championship….one of my all time favorite games. Btw, I’ve often heard announcers refer to Texas vs Michigan as Texas first BCS bowl game. Why wasn’t the Texas vs Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl considered the first and Penn St vs Texas in the Fiesta Bowl considered the second? Are they referring to the Rose Bowl game as the first Texas victory in a BCS bowl, or are they referring to Mack Brown’s first BCS bowl, or was the BCS not officially manifest yet (I think originally it was just Orange, Sugar, and Fiesta bowls…Rose bowl was not included), or are they just plain wrong?

Hook'em

by longhorns1 on Jun 29, 2008 10:02 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

the latter

The “BCS” wasnt around as we know it now. They were “Alliance Bowls” or something like that.

by the other Andrew on Jun 29, 2008 10:07 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was there

Look at what he did at Arizona.

I was living in Tucson when he came to UofA. I was telling everybody that he was a pretty damn good coach and I felt he had elevated the Texas program into national significance again. Of course, his wonderful personality was exposed again and I never witnessed such pure mutiny on a sports team before. Mackovic had zero control and even less respect. What a shame he is such an egocentric ass…

Brown Control to Major Applewhite...

by bfaut86 on Jun 30, 2008 10:48 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

YouTube Video

I love how just before the snap he says “no question whats about to happen.”

by Wells on Jun 29, 2008 6:42 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

1996

Eternal thanks for beating Nebraska in ‘96. Some Gator fans I know are still casual Longhorns fans because of that.

by Year2 on Jun 29, 2008 9:10 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

"what a call by mackovic"

Wasnt the call by mackovic for James brown to run for it on the roll out?

by the other Andrew on Jun 29, 2008 11:06 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Mackovic could recruit

While I couldn’t stand his personality, J.Mackovic sure could recruit some prime talent! He and his staff recruited these players to UT and developed their skills for the NFL.

Chris Akins
Tony Brackens
Chris Carter
Leonard Davis
Phil Dawson
Pat Fitzgerald
Casey Hampton
Jay Humphrey
Quentin Jammer
Wane McGarity
Shaun Rogers
Bryant Westbrook
Marcus Wilkins
Mike Williams
Ricky Williams
Cedric Woodard

Then there were these players recruited by D.McWilliams, yet had their skills developed by the Mackovic staff.

Taje Allen
Mike Adams
Tony Brackens
Blake Brockermeyer
John Elmore
Van Malone
Dan Neil
Lovell Pinkney
Winfred Tubbs

Then there was one of my all-time favorites Aaron Humphrey, the only Mack Brown era player to put up consecutive 10-sack seasons.

--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---

by HornChamps on Jun 29, 2008 2:08 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

corrections

Chris Akins was drafted by mistake, and never played a down in the NFL due to a congenital knee injury. I wouldn’t count him as an NFL player.
Lovell Pinkney was most definitely a Mackovic recruit, as was Mike Adams.
Mike Williams was part of Brown’s first recruiting class, so I don’t know if you give credit for that to Brown or Mackovic, b/c I don’t know when he committed.
Mackovic got texas back into the inner city high schools in recruiting, so you have to give him credit for that.

by Beergut on Jun 29, 2008 4:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You're forgeting Major Applewhite

who would take over for Richard Walton early in the season and give Mack a big break when he didn’t have an established QB.

by whills on Jun 29, 2008 5:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

This probably gave Greg Davis a leg up, too.

He got a player that probably made things much easier in a transition season.

by whills on Jun 29, 2008 5:35 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Priest ?

Kept looking for Priest Holmes but can’t see him?

AH is one of my all-time unfavorites, sorry. Great hitter & defender, just too many drives extended due to his penchant for the cheap-shot. Cost us particularly against Colorado 1 year, kept too many games close because of that.

by HalfmileHorn on Jul 7, 2008 9:42 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I get Brent...

But who was the other announcer? Sounds like a young Lee Corso.

by Horn Brain on Jun 29, 2008 3:42 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Dick Vermeil

Dick Vermeil was Musburger’s broadcast partner for college football games during the mid 1990s when he was in between head coaching jobs in the NFL. Doing the color analysis for that Texas-Nebraska inaugural Big XII title game probably helped Vermeil make the decision to sign Priest Holmes when Vermeil took the Kansas City Chiefs head coaching job and Holmes was a free agent. That and his success as the Raven’s running back during their Super Bowl season.

by ScottS on Jun 29, 2008 10:43 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really liked James Brown.

He was a versatile players who had run for over 2,000 yards and passed for an equal amount his senior year in HS. But in his last two years Brown didn’t get the type of decision Mack/Davis would make to unleash VY. He was pushed into being the roto-QB that Mackovic’s system demanded, not the freewheeling intuitive player he was (which won the first OU game he played in).

My own perception was that his injuries seemingly increased as he was being forced into Mackovic’s box.

However, the final SWC game against A&M in which he played with a badly sprained ankle was one of the most courageous performances in Texas football history. I have that game taped and watch it every year. That snapped a 31-game home winning streak for the Aggies and was the first win by Texas there in 13 years, plus the 16-6 victory captured the final SWC championship.

by whills on Jun 29, 2008 5:57 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

That would definitely be the optimists assessment of JB

but on the not-so-rosy side of the coin…

Here are my memories of JB (no statistics cited, so as not to confuse opinion colored recollection with actual facts) –

JB was chronically inconsistent. He routinely forced plays. He never realized that taking a sack or throwing the ball away might be the smart play. While there was no doubt that he was truly athletically gifted, his inconsistent play and poor decision making led to too many stalled drives.

That, to me at least, is the reason that I revere Applewhite so much. While he wasn’t nearly as athletic as JB, he usually did make the smart play.

by Brandon 97 on Jun 30, 2008 10:02 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I've always felt that sprained ankle was exaggerated

it wasn’t like he was limping on the field or something

Byron Leftwich he was not.,

by Beergut on Jun 30, 2008 1:55 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It wasn't like he was running or cutting normally either.

You lost the sonofabitch and that’s that.

Drink one on me and cry a little more.

by whills on Jul 3, 2008 8:09 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

two things about JB

In 1997 Brown injured his ankle in the season opener against Rutgers and never fully recovered. Also, he also had absolutely no one to throw to. His best WR was a true freshman, who was a converted linebacker (Cavil).

The Baylor loss gave rise to the infamous “it wasn’t in the game plan” response from Mackovic after he was questioned about not calling a QB sneak on 4th and 1. As I recall, on the last drive, with Ricky ripping off 7 yards a pop, Mackovic inexplicably called three long pass plays once Texas reached Baylor’s side of the 50. After three incompletes, he hoped Phil Dawson could bail him out yet again with a long-distance FG. Missed.

by JUICE1985 on Jul 1, 2008 9:39 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs