Perhaps we have met the enemy and it is us.
Nobody wants to hear that, but take a deep breath.
Austin isn’t the Austin where we went to school. Understanding that the posters’ school years run from ‘50’s to 2019. Over that time, the atmosphere of the ‘college’ town has morphed. Gradually mostly, but took giant leaps in late 60’s. When college students were allowed to vote in Austin, it was a runaway train. Fifty thousand ‘transients’ voting permanent policy for a town of 400,000.
The town, it’s obsession with everything UT, and the whole experience faded.
We maintain one of the highest expectation levels of any school. USC, Notre Dame, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan all have had protracted periods of mediocrity over the last 40 years. Hell ‘Bama had a coach buying drinks in a topless bar since 2000 to get fired!
One thing is certain.These HS recruits are tuned in and listening. Nobody wants to go into a stinking pot of intrigue and ‘just hope it works out’. Now consider getting into UT and staying in. I’m told it is as hard as Michigan, Vanderbilt, or Stanford. Stanford and Notre Dame are in a position to market an internationally admired degree and skim the best 4,0 guys to a large extent. UT has become so ‘anti-jock’ (told this by two 3,8 pre-med student athletes) that they are not just getting little help, they are getting mistreatment. One said his prof responded to his explaining that he might miss some Friday classes for football travel. Prof said thanks for telling me, I hate jocks.
And don’t think that is easily overcome. DKR, while watching our freshman game against Baylor, told my dad “I’d hate for my job to hang in the balance of winning with those guys (Baylor)” coaches watch boards and closely follow recruiting. Since the incessant ‘fire the coach’ chant, it has gone predictably south.
The measure of success timeline is crazy. And to count anything that comes out of the 2020 s*** show, good or bad, with much credibility is absurd. no one will ever know how good or great their team might have been if we’d practiced in spring and summer and been allowed to play normal schedules with all players.
Who knows who brought all the EOT Bs down on us. But what a clown act it’s been addressing that. The BAND disbands? Give me a break. Send them home and sell the tickets.
This whole year has been a dreadful time to make reasonable evaluations and certainly a poor time to make long-term, maybe permanent decisions. Like always, when the notion to launch into the aTm Aggy alma mater “Fire the Coach” someone better ask the question, “And hire whom?” Just being disappointed at Herman is not enough. Do yourselves a favor and dig up the list that was considered when we hired Mack Brown (who was not the favorite by far). NONE of them, NONE lasted 3 more years in NCAA football.
