Bohls/Riggs Explanation for 2010 Football Season
by 54b on Feb 13, 2011 8:59 AM CST
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PrintInteresting read though I doubt many of you will learn a reason for the debacle of last season that you hadn't already figured and if you're like me, you certainly won't get any closure from it...just profound disappointment and pause for a program you thought could never be less than a juggernaut.
I'll go ahead and spoil the prevailing theory for why 2010 was a categoric failure - laziness. You'll read some nice words like, "depression over the loss to Bama" and "we had a sense of entitlement" and "a failure to properly evaluate talent." But the fact is, a lot of very well paid coaches and a lot of very highly regarded players just stopped caring enough to give you their very best.
That's the bottom line.
But hey, on the bright side, you know it ain't gonna happen again in 2011. We may not win every game, but you can sure as hell bet we'll be motivated.
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Nice post
IMHO cronyism and complacency spoiled 2010. Like you, I think 2011 will be better, much better. Maybe 9-3?
Better question, would you consider 9-3 a success?
Because before 2010, from a UT fan’s perspective, 9-3 might as well have been like going 5-7. Proof of that was all the vitriol spewing from the fans after the 2007 season…we just don’t remember it because the Holiday Bowl win over ASU assuaged a lot of the anger.
My hope is that our 5-7 record last season was necessary to make the sweeping changes that needed to be made and that our standards and expectations for this team go right back to where they were before:
12-0 is expected,
11-1 we’ll live with,
and 10-2, we might let you live, I said might.
Anything less than that, don’t even bother cuz it’s not acceptable, period.
We’ll see what happens though it may be slightly out of our hands for the one reason that article fails to mention…the rest of the Big XII, particularly the South teams, were a lot better than they typically are from year to year. And from what I can tell, they’re going to be just as good, if not better, this upcoming season….all these new coaches are nice, but last time I checked, Many Diaz can’t cover and Stacy Searles can’t block for us.
Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.
Fascinating stuff
Really not surprised at the frustrations of Muschamp and the evaluations at offensive line, receiver, and running back are serious concerns.
Gilbert’s leadership is also a major concern. Who were the players that were yelling at him during games and have they graduated? Has Gilbert spoken with those players to work out their differences? Can he be more assertive this year?
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www.burntorangenation.com
by Wescott Eberts (GoBR) on Feb 13, 2011 12:30 PM CST reply actions
Gilbert TBD
From a leadership standpoint, I don’t know that Gilbert was that much different than McCoy when McCoy was a freshman…Colt just had a better supporting cast.
Moreover, I’d argue that Colt didn’t really have the team’s total respect and that “they’d follow him through fires of hell” loyalty until that Holiday Bowl game against ASU..then it clicked. That was his Braveheart moment if you will. From then, he was the leader without question.
Unfortunately, I don’t think Garret has another year to play the martyr….everyone’s impatient for a winner and there are too many good QBs behind him. So his "William Wallace moment better happen this spring or at some point in two-a-days.
Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.
Confidence = Leadership
By all accounts, Gilbert was a great zone read QB in HS. Then he spent Spring trying to master the “downhill” fiasco, only to have that abandoned. So then he has to go out there with no protection, no running game, no coherent offensive scheme, and people expect him to “lead”?!? Lead what?
Put this guy in a system that works, doing things he does well, and I guarantee he will become the “leader” you expect.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.
by Caradoc on Feb 13, 2011 2:05 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
His TD to Int ratio was unacceptable
Even with a eh supporting cast he shouldn’t be throwing nearly twice as many interceptions as he’s getting touchdowns.
TEXAS FIGHT
He can't be fully blamed for the TD/INT ratio
nor should one statistic alone be used to assess a player’s season. A number of INTs were a result of tipped passes and WR/TE dropping passes that landed in the opponent’s hands.
by goingforthecorner on Feb 14, 2011 9:20 AM CST up reply actions
Still, that happens with many QBs, and with that factored into things, the normal TD:INT ration is much higher than Gilbert's
Just Harsin around.
by burntorangehorn on Feb 14, 2011 12:40 PM CST up reply actions
True. I think it was a combo of factors...
The kid really started pressing bad in the second half of the season. He was trying to desperately to get things going and just forcing passes that should never have been thrown. He had problems with his wide stance, staring down his targets, and throwing bullets. But its also true that his receivers, the running game, and the play calling didn’t give him any help. I still believe he can be a good QB, but its clear that he has a lot of work to do and a lot of things to unlearn. He may not have time to do it before he’s passed on the depth chart.
There seems to be plenty of expectation pushed upon Bennie
to keep the players “dedicated” and becoming ready for the coming season. That includes not only general expectations, such as in the story, but for current recruiting period as well.
Who’s gonna be the Bennie at Belmont, though?
One silver bullet did not kill the elements which produced 2007. Chances are that this year’s fix solution may not have a long shelf life either. Even the hushed tones of anonymity indicate this has a deep root.
Perhaps this is even a natural conflict with an institution holding abundant resources and sitting near the top of the mountain and yet having to field teams which are hungry and aggressive as those down in the valleys.
Good read
Although like you said, nothing that most people haven’t already guessed. I did fine the bit about Brown collecting surveys from his players very interesting.
I’m glad Mack has the toughness and humility to change, but I wish sometimes it wouldn’t take a slap in the face like the 2007 and 2010 seasons for him to see problems brewing. We saw many of the same offensive problems in 2009, but we had Colt and Shipley to cover them up for us.
by TheElusiveShadow on Feb 13, 2011 2:18 PM CST reply actions
Yeah, you'd think $5 Million might be you a little more foresight...not so much.
Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.
Laziness?
I really can’t agree that laziness or entitlement were the actual reasons for the debacle last season. The reason being that if those were the only reasons then after the loss to UCLA or Iowa State, those issues should have been addressed and rectified. However, they weren’t and sadly to say, I believe we just didn’t have any leadership and chemistry on that team.
What was most frustrating was that the coaches didn’t seem to place an urgency for change… we kept doing the same things on offense and defense for the whole season
by jtdiddy on Feb 13, 2011 4:11 PM CST via mobile reply actions
You're silly
I really can’t agree that laziness or entitlement were the actual reasons for the debacle last season.
later you say…
What was most frustrating was that the coaches didn’t seem to place an urgency for change
Sounds the same to me.
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
by run Bevo run on Feb 13, 2011 6:30 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
No surprises as you said.
The coaching staff got complacent after the ’05 MNC and lost their edge in player evaluations, monitoring S&C and game-planning. This was particularly acute on offense where Major was the only one pulling his weight.
This off-season feels a lot like 1998 when Mack first arrived. I think 9-3 would be a big step in the right direction after last season’s disaster, particularly if the losses are competetive and to decent teams.
Was Major pulling his weight?
And even if he was, how do we know that he was the only one? This seems to be speculation without any evidence of fact.
Just Harsin around.
by burntorangehorn on Feb 14, 2011 12:42 PM CST up reply actions
This.
I’ve seen this repeated several times with no justification whatsoever. The Longhorn in me wants to believe it; the scientist in me is skeptical.
Greg Davis haikus; a lot like his offenses; always go sideways.
by pleaseplaykindle on Feb 15, 2011 12:42 AM CST up reply actions
In addition
If Muschamp got pissed at GDGD for poor recruiting on the offensive side, was that also an indictment of Major or fueled by Major?
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
by run Bevo run on Feb 15, 2011 9:14 PM CST up reply actions
The ones in the know won't publicly throw others under the bus.
The most evidence we’ll get regarding the malaise among the offensive coaches is what we already have: anecdotal evidence from unnamed sources.
There is no official log of failures by GD or others, but we have numerous stories as described by JS at the Cosm and from Bohls. Only people really close to the program can verify the truth of these stories. Major probably knows the truth. Muschamp does, too, I suspect. MB and high-placed assistants know, too. I don’t expect these people to speak with any specificity about particular failures by particular coaches. They’re not going to call out Greg Davis and say he failed at X, Y, and Z.
Here’s what we know. The offensive line of 2009 and 2010 was plain bad. We know that the offense appeared to be unprepared and mismanaged. We know that Muschamp was frustrated with some coaches on offense. And we know who Mack Brown decided to keep: Major Applewhite and Oscar Giles.
We can take what we know with certainty. We can take the anonymously-sourced stories. It’s not direct evidence, but we are allowed to draw conclusions based on the scattered evidence available. It’s not mere speculation.
Do you think Major wasn’t pulling his weight? If his performance was equally poor to that of the other coaches, why on earth did Mack Brown keep him around?
Supporting Cast
54b, your comment about the surrounding players says it all to me. We can talk about Mack, coaches, philosophy, et al, but the bottom line is there was just not many good players on this team compared to ‘07. Out OL this year the worst I’ve seen in three decades. Seriously. Even in Mackovic & McWilliams years we always had a stud or two blasting some holes. This year, not so much. Gilbert doesn’t get a pass, but he had no help there. And this business of moving a tall DE (Okafor) to the inside was a farce. Sure, he tried, but he’s not a stump, and that’s what you’ve got to have pluggin up the middle. Which led to a 3rd down-only QB rusher playing almost every down. That would be Eddie Jones, of course. Finally, AW is coming out after his junior campaign, but was I the only one who saw him in the few games against top notch WRs? Umm, Blackmon punked him, and I hate to say that, but it’s true. Does he believe the NFL will be different? There will be a Blackmon every Sunday. I don’t understand that one at all. Just my 2 cents.
“. . the bottom line is there was just not many good players on this team compared to ‘07.”
Bingo. I know there were other issues, but I would mainly agree with Muschamp’s assessment that there were serious misevaluations of talent, particularly on offense.
McCoy and Shipley covered up for a lot of talent deficiencies in 2009. Their rookie year production in the NFL speak to how good they were for Texas.
I don’t think this bodes particularly well for 2011 by the way unless Gilbert really, really improves.
I think that you are on to something.
Texas had, prior to last year, two very important things: Possession receivers (Shipley and
Crosby) and a QB that could extend the play, make plays in space and keep moving the
chains. When that happens, you give the defense an added “blow” and you move nearer
the end zone. Last year, Gilbert could not make the plays when it counted and the receivers
were not consistent catching the ball. Some things cannot be taught. Gilbert reminds me a
lot of Simms and that isn’t a good sign. Is Texas smart enough to realize that Gilbert may not be the answer? I hope they wake and smell the coffee before it’s 2010 deja vu!
William D. Wise
Spot on
When your No. 1’s are not doing the job in the middle, you try your No. 2’s. You don’t move
an undersized DE in the middle and hope he can grow into the position! That is plain stupid.
If you can’t get a big stud fresh out of HS, then you look to JC’s. This nonsense of no JC because you only have them for 2 years doesn’t make sense. Maybe you need to a new set
recuiters, who knows. All I know if that if you want to stop the run, get some big studs in the
middle and make it clear to the other team….you are not going to run the ball up the middle
period!!!
William D. Wise
I read the entire Statesman piece. I was struck by the following:
1. Why it took them so long to write the same stuff, supposedly sourced but largely without names attached to the quotes and comments, that tons of posters here and on other UT-oriented sites have been saying and writing for months!
2. Why the Statesman gave so much credence to Mack’s “hangover” explanation (excuse, IMO). That was reason No. 1? Get real. We dropped five straight to OU a few years ago, and, I believe, won the following week every time. Where were those hangovers? We couldn’t beat 5-7 Iowa State or 4-8 UCLA because we were thinking about Colt getting hurt eight months previous?
3. Not pinning the blame where it should have been. That’s two places, it seems to me. One, the assistant coaches lost the players. The words, the coaching points, the discipline, weren’t getting through. Blaming the seniors is a copout. Letting the younger kids follow along like sheep is not acceptable. The second place where blame belongs is with Mack, specifically in his dealings with his assistants but also on the Cleve Bryant issue. The coach the stadium is named for would have had the assistant coaches running the stadium steps at 4 a.m. — ahead of the players doing the same thing at 5.
4. Finally, the Statesman story steps gingerly around the lack of talent. Mack and his apologists can talk all they want about focus and entitlement and hanovers and effort — the bottom line was the coaches did a lousy job of picking their recruits and then developing them. Covering 2009 and 2010, how many running backs, tight ends, receivers and offensive linemen have even a chance at playing in the NFL? Shipley. I miss anybody?
1. Probably because they have to be more careful than blogs in getting sources to speak on the record.
2. We probably didn’t lose any games directly because players and coaches were thinking about the MNC, but keep in mind that we went to a downhill rushing attack (very misguidedly) primarily because our previous team emphasized the QB so much. The same QB who went down in January, dooming our chances of beating Bama.
3. No quarrels here!
4. Lack of talent? We’ve consistently pulled in top-15 recruiting classes. A lot of what you say about no one on our team being particularly draftable may just be a symptom of the poor playcalling, and not a cause of the poor execution. It’s hard to decouple those things. The Statesman probably steps gingerly around the “lack of talent” issue also because they don’t want to insult players by name.
Greg Davis haikus; a lot like his offenses; always go sideways.
by pleaseplaykindle on Feb 15, 2011 12:46 AM CST up reply actions
Good points, PPK. I enjoy the feedback.
1. I spent 35 years reporting and editing. I know what it takes to get a story — and it doesn’t take 3 months to get unnamed sources to say the same stuff bloggers have been saying all along. If you’re going to take that much time, get BETTER INFORMATION, or attach names to it, or both. I can think of a very good reason the Statesman handled the situation the way they did, but I’ll keep it behind the curtain. For now.
Regardless, the Statesman staff ought to be, uh, crimson-faced for the way the entire overview issue was handled.
2. Mack blaming the problems on a hangover effect is code for saying he’s at fault. To an extent, he has accepted the blame. Except he’s still on the payroll and most of his staff is not. As for going to the running game, we had trouble with Oklahoma State and Ohio State running straight at us in 2008 — and we didn’t change offenses the following spring. The downhill focus was wrong because the talent was wrong. Which Mack knew, or should have known. He also knew Greg Davis didn’t want to switch, yet Mack forced the issue — with the result being that Davis ended up getting fired.
4. Well, here’s one of the biggest shams of the last five years! Glad you brought it up. Our “top 15” (they’re usually top 5-8) recruiting classes are based on strongly-biased ratings services that are better served (meaning paying customers) by ranking a certain group of commitments/signees as Nos. 2-5-7-8-10 in the state than as Nos. 6-11-12-19-22 — which is where the players more properly belonged. As fans (and critics), we’re accepting Rivals or Scout or ESPN as being more knowledgeable than they are. Then, given bad information, we treat each signing day as a major victory. Put another way: If we get a commitment from Johnny Smith, the services make him No. 12. If we don’t get him, the services rank him where he belongs — at 30 or 35.
All excellent points.
1. I’d love to hear (someday) what it is that you’re hinting at re: behind the curtain. Is it that they would lose access to Belmont if they had run this story earlier?
2. I agree that “hangover” is code for “my fault”, and that’s really not what I was addressing in my post above. The loss in the MNC had schematic implications for our football team, that in hindsight (and what should have been in foresight), were misguided. Like you, I believe that an arbitrary switch to a downhill running game is arrogant (we’re Texas so we have the talent to do anything we want), and ignoring the pleas of your OC is arrogant. This was Mack’s fault, but I think GD’s firing was precipitated by his reputation in the past as much as it was this last season. To what degree Greg Davis decided to “pout” and quit coaching last season I don’t know, but Recruitocosm reports that to be at least partially true. If so, I could see this as a legitimate justification for termination as well.
4. What an interesting point! This is ripe for statistical analysis, as I think most of this data is freely available (if someone wants to hand it to me in a nice, binary format..). However, I do think that there is a strong correlation between recruiting rankings and player “quality”. This is certainly not a perfect correlation, but on the whole I think Texas has recruited and developed poorly. Perhaps more importantly, I think we didn’t recruit with any kind of cohesive philosophy. This again speaks to the arrogance of the coaching staff in not evaluating the “fit” of the players being recruited. That, and occasionally we whiffed.
Greg Davis haikus; a lot like his offenses; always go sideways.
by pleaseplaykindle on Feb 16, 2011 1:19 PM CST up reply actions
*
I think Texas has recruited well and developed poorly
Greg Davis haikus; a lot like his offenses; always go sideways.
by pleaseplaykindle on Feb 16, 2011 1:19 PM CST up reply actions
Re: Point 1
You’re in the ballpark with the “lose access” statement. But it runs deeper than that. And, to be honest, the reporters whose names are on the story — and others who cover UT for the Statesman — are less at fault than their management team. Beat reporters can’t take on million-dollar head coaches or athletic directors (or higher ups).
Ring me up . . . eospaulding@comcast.net
Of course there is.....
….a lack of talent. We don’t have a single offensive starter that could have played for OU. Acho, Williams and Brown are the only players on the defensive side of the ball that might have played for OU.
Our complete domination of Aggie has now been frittered away. While we will be trying to find a starting OT, Aggie has a matched pair who will be starting the next 3 seasons. This coming season finds Aggie with a 65% completion starter at QB, a strong stable of RBs, 4 of 5 starting OL returning and a group of WRs who are second only to OU. All of the above will be weaknesses for our squad.
When can we expect to read a thorough explanation of what happened in the Bryant/Allred/Kennedy situation? Surely the AA-S or DMN is going to look under the rug. I know Mack, Cleve Bryant and their wives are all bestest buddies and vacation with each other every year, but for Mack to continue to beg for his job is just plain embarrassing. Can you blame Jerry Gray for questioning why he was being asked to associate with the guy?
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
HC is full of it
Most of the time it has nothing to do with news.
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
by run Bevo run on Feb 15, 2011 9:18 PM CST up reply actions
Merely "most" of the time?
To be filled in later.
by Hopkins Horn on Feb 16, 2011 11:57 AM CST up reply actions
I'm in a good mood this week.
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
by run Bevo run on Feb 16, 2011 12:09 PM CST up reply actions
We need to develop a good working theory...
…on the root cause of HC’s long-standing jihad against Mack. Any thoughts?
To be filled in later.
by Hopkins Horn on Feb 16, 2011 12:22 PM CST up reply actions
DKR or bust?
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
by run Bevo run on Feb 16, 2011 2:22 PM CST up reply actions
Go ahead and dispute it.
I can’t wait to read your assessment. It should be good for a Red Skelton hour. We all know you’re not up to it.
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
We all know you’re not up to it.
How long have you been hearing the voices in your head?
I’m not sure what you want me to dispute or assess mostly because I don’t care what you have to say. Most of us don’t.
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
by run Bevo run on Feb 16, 2011 10:15 PM CST up reply actions
You a Chantecler or Araucana?
We’re still waiting for you to dispute it.
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
Schizophrenics anonymous: 313-477-1983
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
by run Bevo run on Feb 18, 2011 11:23 PM CST up reply actions
Afraid of exposing your lack of knowledge?
How many times will choose to deflect, rather than address the subject?
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
Oh look....
…. the apologist crybabies are all here. Gosh, they just hate it when realistic assessments of the staff turn out to be true. Thus, attack the messenger.
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
The Sooner defense improved as the year progressed
But you need to go back and watch them again. Our defense was better than theirs and overall had better players.
by TheElusiveShadow on Feb 18, 2011 2:51 PM CST up reply actions
S**T Happens
No one on this post will disagree that this last season is one that we all wish didn’t happen. Here’s the thing: it did. But here’s something else that people are quick to jump to; that it was all Gilberts’ fault.
The thing is, Gilbert finds himself in a situation like no other quarterback (that i can think of in recent memory) finds himself in. He was thrust into the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME six snaps into the game, and expected to win after taking no more than 30 snaps in live, non-conference games, that were blow-outs. Come on, All of a sudden he is THE man in THE game? That being said, after the loss, he comes into this last season, as a true sophmore, with the UT legacy on his shoulders and everyone wants him to get to a BCS bowl game? Here’s why it didn’t happen folks. (These reasons come from the offensive side of the ball, beacause even though the defense could have been better, the offense is what killed us in the long run)
1) Gilbert did make bad passes and bad decisions. (As much as I like the kid and his athletic ability, it happened)
2) A young and inexperienced line led to bad protection, which lead to rushed passes
3) Receivers dropped easy, routine passes.
4) The change of the offensive setup (goin away from the spread and movin under center)
5) No real running backs (not to take anything away from Newton or those guys, but they weren’t like Ricky or Benson, though the offensive scheme was vastly different.)
Also, everyone likes to compare the new, to the old. Like, oh, i don’t know, Gilbert to McCoy. Gilbert is not McCoy, just like McCoy was not Young, in the sense of athletic ability and talent surrounding these QBs. Gilbert has a better body build and arm than McCoy,….yet. McCoy had a good receiving corp while he was in school (Shipley, Cosby.) Who does Gilbert have? An All-American track star who decided to play football?
Minus the skill positions, the Horns lost “good” lineman. (I wouldn’t say good, I would say experienced at best, but that’s just me) leaving underclassman to fill in the holes.
The only bright spot i could see from this year was the defense, and even that was lacking and inconsistent. I mean we went to Lincoln and Beat #5 Nebraska by 7, but losing to UCLA, Baylor and Iowa State IN Austin?
Bottom line, this past season was a rebuilding year. And to be quite honest, I see this year as one too. Looking at the schedule, I see an 9-3 or a 8-4 season (don’t get me wrong, i’ll be rootin for 12-0, but i see losses to OU, OSU, Tech, and maybe aTm).
Just remember, no team stays on top forever. I mean hell, there used to be a time when aTm was the dominant team in the country.
Stay strong y’all, the Horns WILL rise again, just give it a few years.
HOOK ’EM HORNS!!!!
At Texas we don't rebuild,
we collapse.
Greg Davis haikus; a lot like his offenses; always go sideways.
by pleaseplaykindle on Feb 16, 2011 1:23 PM CST up reply actions
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