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Hi. Nice To Meet You. Can We Argue?

Now that we have the welcomes out of the way, it's time to tear into Rakes of Mallow's first post! SBN's newest bloggers offer up an excellent breakdown of the title contenders, which includes, of course, a look at Texas.

Before I quibble, I'll note that you should read the whole post. It's well written, with very strong analysis. The Texas section included.

The only thing that rubbed me the wrong way was this Texas "con":

Even though he was behind the national title last year, I find myself not fully believing in Mack Brown.  He's always been a sensational recruiter and he's always had basically the same level of talent we'll be seeing him field this year, but he didn't win his first Big XII title until this past season. I think Young was the difference maker, a transcendent vessel of pigskin glory that simply would not lose, regardless of who was running the show.  With Number 10 gone, I find it difficult to believe that Texas will slip back into its very good, but not championship-level, rate of ten wins a season.

I could easily let that slide, but CW's a smart kid and can handle some tough love. CW, that paragraph is beneath you.

One of the things you hear over and over is that Mack Brown "just" recruits masterfully and "only" wins 10 games every year. And gosh, without that transcendent Man-God Vince Young, he'd still be title-less.

Pardon me, but what, precisely, would you like him to do other than what he's doing? Isn't the job of a great coach these days to recruit like crazy, keep your program clean, win a bunch of games, and try to line up all the talent for a national title run? Is there really anything meaningful in dinging Mack Brown for Chris Simms' inability to win a big game? Are we supposed to believe that Mack Brown got lucky with his national title? That a diaper-clad Vince Young was delivered to Austin by a stork?

For some perspective: the University of Florida Gators have won exactly one national title in football in their history. The much revered super genius Steve Spurrier is hailed as a football deity, but he's done no more than Mack Brown has.

I just don't understand what people want from Mack Brown. He did very well with the Texas players he inherited, he's done damn well with the players he's recruited, and he won a national title with his 2002 #1 recruiting class - many of whom are still on this year's team. I guess I just fail to see how you can have a six year stretch like Mack Brown has had and still have people saying, "Yeah, but..."

There's simply no two sides to this issue, in my mind. He's one of the best coaches in America, and there's no penalty for winning a national title "just because of" your elite talent. That's exactly what's supposed to happen. And it did.

--PB--