Your opinion of GD

by TheElusiveShadow on Jul 8, 2008 12:42 PM CDT Comment 39 comments

I'm not trying to steal PB's glory, so this by no means is any analysis about Greg Davis. But I thought it'd be interesting, before PB rids himself of his guest and really goes into the nuts and bolts about Davis, to get people's opinions on our beloved offensive coordinator. The man has obviously been through a lot of criticism over the years, from fans and media alike.

Feel free to explain your answers or add new options not listed in the poll.

Personally, I think GD gets way too much blame, but I don't think he's a stellar coordinator and he does tick me off from time to time. He's had some memorably bad games. I do think he's a fairly good quarterbacks coach.

Perhaps our opinions will change after PB's analysis. Who knows.

Poll

What do think about Greg Davis?

One of the better coordinators in college football

5 votes

Good coordinator, good QB coach

14 votes

Mediocre coordinator, good QB coach

54 votes

Overall, mediocre.

29 votes

Greg Davis sucks. Get me another OC now.

17 votes

119 votes | Poll has closed

All comments, FanPosts, and FanShots are the views of the reader-authors who create them.

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Comments

Can we get an option

involving pitchforks, torches and an unruly mob?

by learned hand on Jul 8, 2008 12:46 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Let's wait on this

Seriously, the stat reviews are gonna start rolling out.

Let’s hold off on this a couple weeks, so the discussion doesn’t get redundant.

Or not – feel free to do as you like. But that’d be my 2 cents.

--PB--

by Peter Bean on Jul 8, 2008 12:47 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I just wanted to gauge people's opinions before you posted

I didn’t really want to start a big discussion/debate, though I understand one might turn up here. I think people have a wide range of opinions on GD but haven’t really done any analysis like you are going to give. It’ll be interesting to see if what you post changes people’s impressions.

by TheElusiveShadow on Jul 8, 2008 12:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

If you want

You can just close the comment section here to prevent any large discussion and just leave the poll up. Or do I do that? I don’t know. I didn’t see an option for that.

by TheElusiveShadow on Jul 8, 2008 12:52 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

GD

There’s not many people that I hate in life, that I’ve never met in real life. GD gets that honor.

by texasfan05 on Jul 8, 2008 1:48 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

GD

I think GD is alright, he’s just going through some growing pains. I think he’s mastered the offense with a mobile QB, and is working on a offense with a pro-style QB (or is he).

by Longhorns84 on Jul 8, 2008 2:10 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm sure a quick criticism

would be that GD is not new on the job. He’s been here for a decade, and for the most part, never had a mobile QB like VY. If it is in fact true he hasn’t mastered an offense with a pro-style QB, then his critics will point out how this is inexcusable considering his experience and the players he had.

by TheElusiveShadow on Jul 8, 2008 2:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bubble Screen

fuckshitcockballs!!!!
I’ll call him frustrating

by tvr'11 on Jul 8, 2008 2:37 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

the best way to sum up was this quote from a drunk frat guy in the student section

“If he calls one more g-damn bubble screen, I’m going to f’ing kill greg davis!”

pardon the french.

by jc25 on Jul 8, 2008 4:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wish there was

a space in between mediocre and good. The offensive numbers are pretty damn good year in, year out. His most glaring defect, as we are all aware, is his milquetoast play-calling in “big games.”

Disciplina Praesidium Civitatis.

by zamm on Jul 9, 2008 10:54 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Well...

The results aren’t unexpected at all. It seems most people here give Davis credit for at least being a decent QB coach, but the vast majority question his overall abilities as an offensive coordinator. Not a big surprise. I expected the results on BON to be a bit more moderate than typical “I hate Greg Davis” rants that we hear from enraged fans at the stadium. We’ll see if PB’s analysis changes anyone’s thoughts for the better or worse.

by TheElusiveShadow on Jul 9, 2008 1:44 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

He's pretty good, I guess . . .

. . . like I know anything about what makes a good OC. Major, Simms, Mock, Vince, and Colt all put up pretty good numbers and the team has scored a bunch of points. I have more of a problem with the DESIGN of some plays, and not so much when they are called or who runs them. How #25 survived all those standing start running plays baffles me. We might find out this season how a normal human RB does rushing from a standstill. Plus, it doesn’t make much sense IMHO to have Colt run the zone read. That’s a play for Vince. I would say that GD is solid but unspectacular. Maybe that isn’t good enough for a big-time program like UT. But, really, how often has the offensive scheme or the play calling been the problem? Maybe against A&M in 2006, but not last year, and not against KSU. Maybe more points could have pulled out the A&M games, maybe. I think GD is pretty dang good and a sight better than some of the guys that came before him. His main job is keeping the offense organized and our offense almost always seems to know what it is doing. Maybe it doesn’t always work out, but they almost never look lost out there. I think last year’s Tech game and the Holiday Bowl are good indicators of GDs strengths. Count the Bubble Screens in those two games. We are spoiled, I think, by being on the edge of greatness almost every year, and sometimes beyond. If I thought we could get somebody better I’d be for trading up, but that goes for Mack and everybody else, too (including the AD).

by LSMFT on Jul 9, 2008 11:39 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The AD is retiring. nt

by whills on Jul 10, 2008 1:02 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Welcome to BON

It's a Horns' world. Even Aggies play hoops with a burnt orange ball.
Is it football season YET?

by Speedway on Jul 10, 2008 5:43 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

As for GD being a good QB coach...

...I’ll give him bad marks for whatever the hell he did/didn’t do with Colt last year

by tvr'11 on Jul 10, 2008 8:35 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

i think

most of Colt’s problems last year came from injuries and inexperience on the line….But as for GD, there were just too many frustrating moments, ala running bubble screens on 4th and short numerous times and failing miserably. He’s an average OC but I believe a program as prestigious as UT should have better.

by lazylonghorn on Jul 10, 2008 9:15 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

If Colt's problems came from inexperience on the O line...

Then GD should have taught Colt to throw the ball 10 rows up in the stands, not 10 yards down field to the guy without a longhorn on his helmet

by tvr'11 on Jul 10, 2008 11:31 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

No one's saying Colt is without fault

But anyone can tell one of the biggest differences from his freshmen year and sophomore year was the strength of the line. He had confidence the line would keep him upright his first year; he wasn’t this past. Thus, he often got jittery, broke the pocket too often, and threw ill advised balls. It doesn’t excuse his bad decisions but it does help explain his frantic play sometimes. Seriously, if I was pummeled to the ground like he often was last year, I’d be a bit jumpy in there too.

by TheElusiveShadow on Jul 10, 2008 11:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

300 pounders always make me jumpy. nt

by whills on Jul 10, 2008 9:24 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

Adjust

Isn’t that what good players do? It became pretty evident to the world that our OL was less than great last year. Obviously he knew that if his mediocre line was in the back of his head when he was donating the ball to the other team 18 times. Everybody always has excuses out the ass for Colt, but maybe hes just not that good. While I will probably rag on the guy more than any other longhorn fan in the world, I really, really, really hope that I’m wrong. It just gets old when every time the guy throws a pick you here someone say “Its ok, Colts such a nice guy”, or “I’ll take the ints because he is such a great leader, he quotes the Bible after big losses”, “I don’t mind the picks because with every interception a starving boy in singapore gets a loaf of bread”. Its annoying as hell, is he a good guy, I’m sure he is, but does that mean that every excuse ever used should bail him out…no. At the end of the day I fear that he could just be some middle of the road 2 star QB from Tuscola

by tvr'11 on Jul 11, 2008 8:11 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I havent heard anyone claim off the field excuses for Colt

What I have heard are legitimate on the field issues that suggest Colt isn’t out there in a vacuum throwing footballs through hanging tires for Viagra commercials.

Adjust? How about doubling his rushing attempts, nearly tripling his rushing yards, and still getting sacked 33% more than last year? I’m pretty sure that wasn’t his gameplan coming into the season. Which would make it a… gasp… adjustment.

No one thinks 18 picks is acceptable, there are just many people who don’t feel like Colt is completely to blame for all of them, especially when you take his freshman year* into account. Hell I cant tell if you are blaming Colt or Greg for the interceptions in your first two posts in this thread.

*On a side note, no middle of the road QB has the freshman year that Colt had. Maybe it was an aberration, or maybe 2007 was, I don’t know, we will see this year.

by BoddickerIsClutch on Jul 11, 2008 8:58 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs

I don't see where

I made an excuse for Colt at all. I said explicitly that I’m not excusing all of his bad decisions, and he made a lot of them last year. However, I was simply giving one very reasonable factor that contributed to his struggles. You seem to be denying that we can divide blame to other players like the O-linemen, which frankly is not a good position to take. If we’re trying to figure out what the big differences were from ‘06 to ‘07, I think it is easy to point out the O-line play and Sweed’s injury. I think a lot of quarterbacks would have struggled in the same situation Colt was in.

Can he throw 18 picks? No; at least, not unless he throws 36 TD’s. And as much as people ragged on Colt for his turnovers, there was only one possible game where he bore the brunt of responsibility for our loss, and that was against K-state (and even here, you can put a little blame on the O-line for the hits and batted balls). Against OU, I thought he was superb, and while nobody played well against A&M save besides Jamaal Charles, there’s no question our defense was the goat of that game.

Quite frankly, it may be annoying if and when people pull bogus excuses out of their rear ends for Colt, but I rarely see that. I see more people trying to find every excuse to drill the guy even when he didn’t even do anything wrong. Heck, there are facebook groups like “Colt throws like a little girl” and such, where clueless fans whined for Chiles after the K-state game. I’ve even heard people try to blame Colt for the OU loss, a game where he was excellent.

I have no problem with people criticizing Colt. He deserved much of it. But some criticisms simply don’t take into account that football is a team sport and few quarterbacks can succeed when they’re running for their lives and had their potential All-American receiver suddenly stripped away from them.

by TheElusiveShadow on Jul 11, 2008 9:34 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

well said

I couldn’t agree more…Colt should take the blunt of the blame for alot of poor decisions, but after seeing what he did his first year you have to believe that the problem isn’t all him. It’s a team game and they are won and lost in the trenches…

...and I blame Charles for the OU loss, fumbling on the goal line created a huge momentum swing…who knows the outcome if we would capitalized on that drive…

by lazylonghorn on Jul 11, 2008 10:05 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I never said the O line shouldn't take some heat

I just think that people over glorify Colt, maybe we’re hanging around completely opposite crowds here, but I never, ever here people place much, if any blame on Colt, except after the K State game. I am not trying to crucify Colt and call for him to be benched, he is what we have got, I just wish his head was out of his ass more often.

As for FB being a team sport, yes it is. That said, he needs to be the smartest, toughest guy on the field. Smart meaning knowing your OL is young and that you don’t have very much time. Tough meaning mentally and physically, knowing you re gonna take some shots, but staying focused despite the fact that you re about to get lit up.

Lets look at the season

Ark St.: 2 TDS, 1 Sack, 2 Ints.
The fact that we allowed a sack against them is inexcusable. The fact that Colt threw 2 picks against a junior high team is worse.

TCU: 0 Sacks, 2 Ints, 1 TD
If I remember correctly McCoy threw one hell of a quick 6…to TCfuckinU

UCF: 2 Sacks, 1 Int, 1TD
The sacks were for a total of 3 yards, doesn’t sound like he was getting lit up, but I honestly can’t remember. A terrible sloppy game.

Rice…is Rice, good game 3 TDs, no picks…but that should have been the stat line for the 3 previous games as well

K-State: 1 Sack, 4 Ints, 1TD
I Don’t even need to say anything…

OU: Sacked 4 times, 1Int, 2 TDs. The pick, as we all know and will for ever remember was 90% JCs fault, just like the loss, I don’t expect Colt to hit him in the numbers every time. Colt played good enough to win and proved to me that he actually has a set. I’m not gonna deny that he got laid the fuck out repeatedly and kept getting back up. My only criticism of him is that there were a few badly thrown balls and some plays where he could have saved himself a punishing by just throwing the ball 10 rows deep. Overall, played like a Texas QB should play.

Iowa St.: 4 TDs, 1 Sack, 0Ints and some athletic plays that no white man should ever be able to make
...But at the end of the day its still Iowa St., that is supposed to be the stat line agaisnt them.

Baylor: 2Ints, 1 TD and 3 Sacks
Another uuuuugly and boooooring win. 3 sacks is disgusting and 2 picks against the aTm left over recruits might be just as bad

Neb: 1 Int, 1TD, 12-28
Mediocre, but we all know it was the JC show

OSU: 3Ints, 1 TD but 20 of 28 not bad percentage, terrible turnover ratio
For the first time all year an exciting win. A horrible start to the game for Colt but eventually he settled down and put up decent numbers

Tech: 1 Int, 4 TDs, 1 Sack
A very solid game, except for a few runs where he should have saved himself the punishment by throwing the ball away and the int at the end of the 1st half, no complaints

aTm: 1TD, 1Int, 4 Sacks
I don’t care if you get sacked 50 times, if you can’t get your shit together for this game, you need to get your head checked, esspecially after what they did to him in ‘06. Poor, poor game for pretty much the entire team. Hopefully he ll have a fire lit under his ass this year.

ASU: 1 TD, 0 Ints, 2 Sacks
After losing to OU and aTm in the same year, the bowl game really doesn’t matter, its like a kiss on the cheek.

Overall: 22TDs a respectable number
25 Sack (I agree with the world, it cannot happen again!)
18 Ints, Season killer

Colt did not show up for games that he should have been able to walk through, if thats on him, on GD, on Mack idk, all I know is that going into the Red River Shootout he should not have 8TDs to 9Ints, absolutely unacceptable. He was playing against jr high-jr college teams that he should have lit up. I know he got hurried a lot because his OL was inexperienced, I know he got late hit and all that, but what QB in the country didn’t? Tebow wasn’t back there sitting in the pocket all day admiring the scenery (different kind of QB, I know), Chase Daniel took his shots, Bradford took his licks, Harrel, etc. Its football, it happens. He needs to show some balls (like he did against OU, I know, I know) and use his head. Hes not VY, he wont ever be and nobody expects him to be, throw the ball away.

Bottom line we should have torn through our entire schedule last year, with the exception of OU. Of the 13 games I think he played up to, or around the best of his abilities, the other 7 I think he just played down to the competition.

0 Ints against KSU, probably would have resulted in a W
OU, JC is another story
aTm, showing up (whole team included) would have given us the W

Sorry for the length, Im at work and bored shitless

by tvr'11 on Jul 11, 2008 11:09 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Hey

His hometown only has one stop light, give the kid a break!

by horndude on Jul 11, 2008 11:22 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Big 12 Sacks by QB

OU – Bradford – 12 sacks
MIZZOU – Daniel – 20 sacks
KSU – Freeman – 17 sacks
KU – Reesing – 24 sacks
OSU – Robinson – 5 sacks
aTm – McGee – 16 sacks
BU – Szymanski – 15 sacks
NU – Keller – 13 sacks
TTU – Harrell – 16 sacks
UT – McCoy – 24 sacks

I know he got hurried a lot because his OL was inexperienced, I know he got late hit and all that, but what QB in the country didn’t?

I think thats the point here, is that he did moreso than others last year. Only Todd Reesing got hit as much in the big 12. Texas, with our talent, should not be at the bottom of the big 12 in sacks allowed. Like everything else, theres multiple parties to blame Im sure, Colt, the Oline, Greg etc…

How much does that affect Colt’s INT total, I don’t know for sure, no one does, I have to think it has some affect. And I do think its at least an indicator that he didnt have as safe of a pocket as the other QBs in the big 12, save Todd.

Not every team had the same injuries to deal with on the Oline, so no, I dont think that every QB in the country was subjected to the same situation. Theres no way Ill back up this statement, but I bet we were one of the very few if only teams in the nation that had to have a single player play ever spot on the O-line due to injuries.

by BoddickerIsClutch on Jul 11, 2008 12:02 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed...to a certain extent

Our Oline went through hell with injuries and all of that…another thing that should have been taken into account by the coaching staff and Colt from game to game. Maybe not as muchas Colt, but yes every QB in the nation got knocked around, I wasn’t saying that everybody got sacked 24 times.

The only two big 12 QBs that were hit as much or remotely close to as much as McCoy are Reesing and Daniel. I think its fair to say that Texas has more talent and weapons than anybody in the big 12 except maybe OU. That said both of those quarterbacks blew Colt out of the water as far as #s (and W/L records) go, with less talent than Colt had to work with. Yes Limas went down and all of that, but we re Texas, most of our second stringers would be starting anywhere in the country, we re not aTm pulling some guy out of the stands to replace him.

Daniel- Sacked 20 times- 33TD- 11 Int
Reesing- Sacked 24 times- 33TD- 7 Int
McCoy- Sacked 24 times- 22TD- 18 Int

Maybe Colt just isn’t in these guys league (I personally don’t think thats true), but his numbers put him with Szymanski and Hawkins (I know he is out of these guys league). To me we have seen what he can do, he can be great when he shows up and plays with his head on straight. In my opinion his best game last season (I don’t count exibitions against Iowa St. and Rice as games) was OU, he got sacked 4 times, cheap shotted another time and despite it all, for the most part made good decisions and didn’t try to do too much

by tvr'11 on Jul 11, 2008 1:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The numbers dont lie

But they also dont tell the whole story. I do think theres somewhat of a direct correlation of sacks to O-line play. Again its also part scheme, part QB awareness, quickness, defenses etc. But that was really all I was trying to illustrate, that we had an uncharacteristically bad (and statistically tied for the worst in the big 12) O-line last year, a situation we rarely if ever have found ourselves in. And I merely suggest that situation is at least partially responsible for poor QB play, and is not a constant across the league to be dismissed.

All said Id take Daniel over Colt, but Kansas can keep Todd. Though I may eat those words come January.

Also, since you brought up Win/Loss, Colt is doing just fine in that category, as long as UT doesnt go 6-6 he will still be ahead of Chase. (again the stats dont tell the whole story)

Freshman year: Chase 7-5; Colt 10-3
Sophomore year: Chase 8-4; Colt 10-3
Junior Year: Chase 12-2; Colt ??

by BoddickerIsClutch on Jul 11, 2008 2:33 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think Todd was a one season wonder

Chase, something about that guy scares the piss out of me because hes coming to our place with revenge on his mind.

Like you said, there are so many factors that contribute to the performance of a QB, like the rain against KSU that caused Colt to throw the ball to the guys with the silver helmets and white jersey…4 times. To end this argument, we’re never going to be able to convince each other because FTB (factors to blame) unfortunately is not a stat yet. At the end of the day I hope Colt proves you to be right and me wrong by going out and tearing it up with a more experienced line. That said I still think he needs a lot of work on the mental aspect, but then again who doesn’t?

by tvr'11 on Jul 11, 2008 2:58 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rain must have also caused him to leave the game early in the 2nd and 4th quarters right?

Give me a break. Id like you to point out where I have ever defended him for the KState game.

No one is excusing him of KState, or attributing something as trivial as weather to a factor of blame.

You are right, we wont ever agree, and its not worth discussing anymore.

by BoddickerIsClutch on Jul 11, 2008 3:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't let it grind your gears...

Just sliding in a little smartass comment, have fun with it man thats the point of this web site, to argue and discuss everythign Texas

by tvr'11 on Jul 11, 2008 3:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

If you want to convince us

That Colt often played subpar, there’s no need. I think all in the discussion agree. Where we apparently disagreed was the division of blame, but it seems you do accept that Colt didn’t always get enough help at all.

A few points though:

-Sacks don’t always tell the story. Colt was often hurried, hit after the throw, or generally had guys in his grill when he was trying to throw. I agree there were several times he should have thrown the ball away and he was trying to do too much. However, I’d hope that the offensive line of Texas wouldn’t put him in such situations in the first place too often.
-Yes, we should have played better last year, but that was due to a multitude of factors. KSU was an awful game. The funny part is, if you look at The Boy’s analysis of our season at Rock M Nation, that was a game we statistically should have won anyway, as spectacular as that sounds… if only our retarded special teams didn’t give up TWO special teams TDs.
-In our biggest games of the year, here is how I would rank Colt’s performances:

K-state: Awful
OU: Excellent
Texas Tech: Very good
A&M: Mediocre, but far far far from the worst. Our entire team was disaster out there, mostly the defense.
ASU: Very good, and made some ASU defenders look silly when he ran

The guy fights hard every game and makes plays. We weren’t a national title team with or without him (granted, it was a wacky year in college football and so no team truly deserved to win it all). People forget because of JC’s explosions that not even our run game was very reliable last year.

Colt was only a sophomore and struggled some, and the team in general did not play well. It happens. Even the Major had his fair share of bad games (six turnovers against KSU).

by TheElusiveShadow on Jul 11, 2008 1:46 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs