Vaccaro, Phillips New Punt Returners
by whills on Nov 4, 2010 12:06 AM CDT
in Texas Longhorns Football
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PrintKEYE 42 in Austin announced tonight that Mack is replacing Curtis Brown and Aaran Williams with sophomore Kenny Vaccaro and freshman Adrian Phillips for the Kansas State game Friday night in Manhattan.
According to Brown, both Vaccaro and Phillips have shown sure-handedness before. "Kenny was a great receiver in high school. In fact, when we took him, we did not know whether he would be a receiver or a safety. He has great hands. Adrian was actually a receiver and quarterback in high school, so he has played everywhere. We feel like both of those guys now have played in big games, even on the road, because Adrian played a lot at Nebraska and Kenny has played a lot for two years. We do not think that they will be nervous about the opportunity."
Not only have neither returned punts for Texas, only Vaccaro shows some KOR yardage from 2007 HS. DC Will Muschamp and WR Coach Bobby Kennedy recruited Phillips while Kennedy and ST Coach Mike Tolleson teamed on Vaccaro.
Vaccaro is the starting nickel back, while safety Phillips is the back-up to Blake Gideon. At 4.47 he's got some speed on his 5-11, 199-pound frame and played well against NU. Vaccaro may not have as much speed but he probably should be measured in foot-pounds per square inch anyway. There's no doubt he should have the aggressive attitude a punt returner needs...once he has the ball.
Many here would have made some change many weeks ago, no doubt. There was no mention of other players in the mix. We're going to have to endure a rookie or two on a chilly Manhattan night (high in 60s, dropping to lower 40s, but clear).
Better than the alternative? We'll see.
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Baylor proved getting your speed productive works.
More for Baylor than us.
I'm assuming Monroe doesn't have the hands needed to be a punt returner...
since he didn’t make it at WR.
ATX
Good point.
I don’t think anybody on this team has proven they are able to catch a ball or even have hands for that matter.
ATX
Ha
Did you mean that like : 
Or literally : 
You're gonna strongly agree with some of what I say, and you'll strongly disagree with some of what I say. Either way, I don't give a d@#n. I'm just here to talk sports.
The mechanics of receiving a kick off and punt return are different.
Besides DJ has muffed a couple of kick offs this year if I recall. Don’t get me wrong I’m for anybody back there besides the previous starter of Brown and Williams.
ATX
at least something...
…has been done. Even if it doesnt work out well, these kids will learn some great experience, esp phillips.
It ONLY took the coaches half the season to make some desperately needed changes
by vanterminatorhorn on Nov 4, 2010 2:45 AM CDT reply actions
Things turn out funny sometimes
I’m glad changes were made. It needed to be done.
If in fact 1 or both of these 2 do trot out there to return the punts, and so happen to make the same mistake, do we throw Brown back in there and let him try to redeem himself? He probably feels like the weight of the world is on him right now, and as bad as it may sound it might be a confidence boost for him to see that other people are making the same mistake. Maybe take a little of that pressure off him and then let him try again. As bas as he has done back there, the guy is a passionate player and he wears his heart on his sleeve, and somewhere in there he does have some good return ability. I’d hate for him to have to end his career with that horrible taste he must have in his mouth.
Am I Reading This Right?
Sounds to me like you’ve got a little passive aggressive going on behalf of Curtis Brown, I mean, you’re assumption of the new guys messing up if only to help Brown’s confidence translates into the team continuing break downs, continuing to suck!! That sucks to harbor hope for the team to continue to suck just so one player on it gets a sense of redemption!!
I for one support the move, make room for next year’s team to get experience, learn, and show that they’re better than what we’ve been treated to so far by this year’s squad. And I hope, all Longhorn faithful should hope, that both these guys prove to be awesome in their new roles and we’ll get production without mistakes from special teams from here on out.
Sorry Brown, nothing personal, but you’ll need to get your self-esteem back from some other position on the field.
I was being hypothetical. I was thinking ahead about what might happen if this turned out NOT to be better than the alternative..
I’ve been saying to start over on punt return team since Brown decided it was a good idea to field the punt inside the 5 against UCLA. This is exactly what I wanted. But when OP asked the question, "Better than the alternative? I began to wonder what we would do if neither of them worked out.
Personally I hope it adds a miraculous spark that we’ve been missing all year and at the same time allowing us to put focus back on blocking punts. But that’s asking for a lot out of these guys
The game is Saturday night
Not Friday night, correct?
"I'm not playing favorites. All my favorites have graduated." - A. Lemons
Correct. Saturday night
You're gonna strongly agree with some of what I say, and you'll strongly disagree with some of what I say. Either way, I don't give a d@#n. I'm just here to talk sports.
Why Not Have Muschamp Return Punts?
The man farts football excellence!
Wait, you mean this isn’t Barking Carnival?
Why no D. White?
He made it look easy in last year’s HS all-star game, forget which one.
"You've got to think lucky. If you fall into a mudhole, check your back pocket - you might have caught a fish" -- Darrell Royal
by SpiritOfTheFedora on Nov 4, 2010 10:22 AM CDT reply actions
The Under Armour game
And that’s what has made me think he’d be great there. I really don’t want the guy to feel like he hasn’t been getting his chances to contribute, and I think he could be productive. Maybe he hasn’t practiced well?
There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.
by burntorangehorn on Nov 4, 2010 10:57 AM CDT up reply actions
The door is not necessarily closed to others.
Vaccaro and Phillips did best in practice. Maybe someone else will show up next week.
I’d expect more moves for the future to get these younger players more game experience.
As a general rule, coaches don’t like to insert players in tight situations but October was just one tough situation after another so they really don’t have that luxury now.
Throw them in the deep end and see if they swim. The Horns need to check out every asset they have.
I wouldn't consider Iowa State a "tough situation"
perhaps Baylor might be considered potentially difficult to a struggling powerhouse but not tough. No reason mack shouldn’t have started subing out unproductive players a long time ago…worst case senario, you get some much need experience for your young ones.
by soonernation9 on Nov 4, 2010 1:28 PM CDT up reply actions
You're gonna strongly agree with some of what I say, and you'll strongly disagree with some of what I say. Either way, I don't give a d@#n. I'm just here to talk sports.
by Dirty Work on Nov 4, 2010 2:40 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Glad somebody got it lol
You're gonna strongly agree with some of what I say, and you'll strongly disagree with some of what I say. Either way, I don't give a d@#n. I'm just here to talk sports.
Why no D. White?
Mom had a fender-bender.
Or something.
I hope we return one for a TD on the first punt return.
"Football's so important in Texas. On the West Coast, it's a social. On the East Coast, it's a culture. Here, it's a religion."
-- Major Applewhite
Sweet
At this point, both guys are seniors, sucking it up, and need to work on their main jobs for the rest of the year and the NFL. We aren’t playing for national, conference, division, or 10 win seasons anymore, so we should be developing talent that might help next year. Even if neither of these dudes pan out, I applaud the actual change and minor follow up to the accountability call out from last week.
In summary, fire GDGD, beat KSU, and Hook Em!
by Tackchevy on Nov 4, 2010 12:13 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
Agreed entirely
Except Williams is a junior, but he will probably bolt to the draft anyway….and definitely not to be a PR in the NFL!
Is it wrong for me to secretly wish for a lockout? Especially with the Cowboys in the crapper, niffleball has become my venue to do analytics on fantasy teams (or, How I Cleverly Picked Kenny Britt Off The Wire, Sat Him Because of Off Field Problems Suspension Speculation, Watched Him Score Three Touchdowns, and Then Get Immediately Injured the Following Week) as well as track the exploits of former Horns players.
Um shouldn't
One our WR’s be returning punts? Aren’t they supposed to be the “best” hands on the team?
at this point I don’t even care about returning punts for TD’s etc… I just want no more fumbles on our freakin 2 yrd line
by jtdiddy on Nov 4, 2010 12:53 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
So a logical, normal person might think.
Of the two this week, Phillips’ resume had plenty of receiving yards in HS, plus he quarterbacked some as well, so obviously he might have hands comparable to the WRs. His defensive credentials were just as strong, so Muschamp wanted him on the D where good hands would be an asset at safety. Neither seems to have punt returning experience.
That said, it is distressing that our receivers don’t seem to have the requisite skills.
Things could get better...
unless KSU cheats like Baylor and puts KY or Astroglide on the punted footballs.
From here.
"We are Texas. We always expect to be the best." - Sam Acho
Don't forget
Mack-on-a-mobile’s call after the Holiday Bowl, complaining to the refs that they were allowing blitzes in the game.
Some people still think that stuff is real
You're gonna strongly agree with some of what I say, and you'll strongly disagree with some of what I say. Either way, I don't give a d@#n. I'm just here to talk sports.
He must of liked the way the crap felt in his pants because...
he kept trotting the same players out there.
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