On Thursday, Mack Brown met with the media for the first time since the Baylor game during an hour-long marathon of a press conference in preparation for the Holiday Bowl that featured numerous jokes, several at the expense of Chip Brown, attrition, information on the quarterback situation, and enough other news to leave the mind spinning just a bit.
Follow after the jump for an admittedly incomplete list of what went down:
- Brown said that Texas will probably not bring in a JUCO or graduate transfer at quarterback, but did not seem to completely close the door on the idea. Consider it less likely. Or choose to ignore what Brown said completely. At the banquet Friday night, Brown indicated that the coaches would discuss such a possibility and it appears that the decision is to stick with Case McCoy and David Ash, as well as incoming quarterback Connor Brewer and Jalen Overstreet.
- Speaking of the quarterbacks, they will continue to rotate against Cal. Brown said that they may not name a starter and that it would probably be determined by the opening package of plays.
- Bowl preparation can be tough on the coaches because they go to practice in the morning and then have to go out recruiting afterwards.
- As he did at the banquet, Brown talked about how far the team came between Thanksgiving 2010 and Thanksgiving 2011. Talked about how the wins might not have been there, but that he was more concerned with the process and saw improvement there. Thinks there will be plenty of improvement before the start of the 2012 season.
- Cal and Texas are at similar points in their development, neither team won as many games as they wanted this season. Thinks it's a good match-up.
- Coaches will have their traditional exit interviews when they get back from the bowl game, telling the players everything that they liked and didn't like about their season, lay out a plan for conditioning and nutrition, and tell them the goal for where they need to be in August.
- Attrition news and confirmations: defensive tackle Taylor Bible will transfer, defensive tackle De'Aires Cotton will seek a medical hardship, defensive end Dravannti Johnson has graduated and may try to play elsewhere due to a lack of playing time, fullback Jamison Berryhill will not return because of general wear and tear on his body, offensive lineman Mark Buchanan will not play next season, as well as Blaine Irby, which was revealed during the player availability earlier in the day. At least I think that's all of them...
- Brown also mentioned Texas A&M specifically when talking about giving everyone unconditional releases (yes, even Darius White) and noted that since A&M is still in the conference until June, the normal two lost years of eligibility would apply, leaving White with only one season if he wanted to transfer his rumored destination of College Station.
- Confirming the earlier comments from Keenan Robinson, Brown said that both Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron are going through practice right now. Robinson said that both are healthy.
- Despite some speculation towards the end of the season that he might be ready, redshirt freshman wide receiver John Harris won't be able to play in the bowl game. Also, freshman linebacker Chet Moss will not be making the trip to the bowl game for personal reasons, but will be back with the team after the break.
- Irby said that he felt he had accomplished everything he could during a Wednesday conversation. Brown added that he doesn't want Irby to walk like he does when he's 50, referencing the five knee surgeries the Texas coach has undergone, adding that he thought the whole thing was a miracle and that he never expected Irby to play as much as he did.
- Noted that around half of the Texas team hasn't played in a bowl game.
- Texas has played six of the top 15 offenses in the country this season.
- Brown praised the development of both the offensive and defensive lines and the coaching that Stacey Searels and Bo Davis have done with the groups. Mentioned that Davis wants all the defensive tackles to bench press 400 pounds. The only one who currently can is true freshman Desmond Jackson.
- Brown acknowledged that defensive backs coach Duane Akina has applied for the Hawaii job and that he will interview for the position, but declined to say when. Fortunately, Brown didn't know of any other coaches being seriously considered for other jobs, jokingly asking for the reporters to let him know if they hear anything.
- Chris Whaley has been spending a little bit of time back at tight end during the last two practices in a special package of plays the coaching staff is now tinkering with. Brown said that the move won't be permanent, but because of Whaley's size/speed combination and the ability of Harsin to quickly install packages that don't take away many practice reps from defense, Whaley is getting a look there.
- Brown then joked that every time someone tries to take a defensive tackle from Bo Davis, all of a sudden the guy is the best defensive tackle ever.
- Bryant Jackson is still working at wide receiver, but may spend some time playing both wide receiver and safety during the spring. The redshirt freshman made the move from safety to wide receiver in fall camp after attrition there just before the season started.
- Spring practice starts February 24th.