Happy Friday!
C'mon now, chin up: This won't be so bad. I've actually thought about doing a full blown Davis review for a long time - years now, really - and I think I'm finally ready to get down in the mud and do this thing.
WHY NOW?
A combination of factors:
- As much consternation as Greg Davis has inspired in this fan base over the years, he's still in Austin, while Will Muschamp arrives as Texas' sixth defensive coordinator during Mack Brown's tenure.
- 2007 was Davis' 10th season in Austin. As an American sports fan, I am obligated to give special meaning to numbers with zero at the end.
- I just completed a maddening four-hour research session tonight in which I compiled an enormous amount of data that wound up not at all suiting what I intended to discuss. But the bloated Excel sheet will be ideal for this project.
- Though our classroom hamster disagrees, the arrival of Major Applewhite may well mark the beginning of a different chapter in the Davis era; this strikes me as a fine time to review Davis' record, if only to better situate ourselves for evaluating any Applewhite impact.
"He really can't see us, can he."
FORMAT?
On several occasions I've resisted starting this project, usually because there's been actual news to discuss; for this undertaking to be worth the while, it needs to be thorough. With so little news right now and my summer job making Morning Coffee all but impossible, this is a great time to give this thing the full treatment and see what comes of it. My tentative plan:
Part 1: Setting The Stage
* Reviewing Davis' pre-Texas career
* Outlining the Texas offense leading up to his arrival
Part 2: Year-By-Year Review
* Starting with 1998, a year-by-year analysis of the Texas offense, including:
- Personnel review
- Texas offense season narrative (big picture summary)
- Season statistical breakdown
- Performance in big games / against good defenses
Part 3: Multi-year Review
* Davis' performances as OC as broken down by career, by starting quarterback, etc.
Part 4: Conclusions
* Tally it all up, see what we've learned
If that all sounds a little too much like a trip to the dentist, try to remember that at least three of the years - 1998, 2004, 2005 - are gonna be burnt orange porn. I'm rather looking forward to 1999 and 2003, as well.
In any case, that's the plan. I'm guessing the 14-18 posts will take about a month to get through, once other posts I want to write are factored in. If and when you have ideas for improving the series, or specific questions you want answered, pipe up now and throughout. Like I said, if we're gonna do it, we're doing it right - the more thorough, the better.