Random Season News

Something about DT Ta'Quon Graham --
More than one source said with Graham moving out of the 4i defensive end in Todd Orlando’s 3-4 and moving to the three-technique in Chris Ash's 4-3, people are going to see Graham's weight room freakiness combined with improved use of his hands to finally make the kind of plays he’s wanted to make (but was restrained by eating up double teams in the 4i or slanting into a gap to help set up a blitz).​

 
Joe Fan said:
Something about DT Ta'Quon Graham --
More than one source said with Graham moving out of the 4i defensive end in Todd Orlando’s 3-4 and moving to the three-technique in Chris Ash's 4-3, people are going to see Graham's weight room freakiness combined with improved use of his hands to finally make the kind of plays he’s wanted to make (but was restrained by eating up double teams in the 4i or slanting into a gap to help set up a blitz).​

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Tevondre Sweat will make everyone say, "Where was he before?" too. Also Moro Jomo.
 
Badass said:
How bout that ... !!!

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Not so sure about the 2K rushing yards. He should actually be shooting for 12K passing yards (would only need 3130 this coming season, which is still fewer than his sophomore year). He'd need 474 rush yards, which is in line with what he got the past couple seasons, but if he's trying to help his Draft stock or the scheming is different under Yurcich, my bet would be that he'd throw for 3500 or more yards and rush fewer times. Especially with Ingram, Johnson, and Robinson toting the rock.
 
Joe Fan said:
There are already indications that schools will be eliminating some sports. Of course, they will always have the Title IX minefield to negotiate
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And there you go

"The elimination of these sports, along with salary reductions for select coaches, staff position eliminations, scholarship and operating expenditure reductions will total approx $4.4 million."​
 
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Joe Fan said:
And there you go

"The elimination of these sports, along with salary reductions for select coaches, staff position eliminations, scholarship and operating expenditure reductions will total approx $4.4 million."​
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One thing I think you are going to see alot of, not just in sports but in general, are entities/organizations/people using the CCP virus as an "excuse " to do some things they have been wanting to do anyway. Already happening in my circles...
 
Joe Fan said:
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I fully expect we will see this. If the offense can find a more consistently improved rhythm...its going to be a fun year. Alot of people (mostly in Oklahoma) are talking up OU defensive improvements and of course Baylor made its mark last year, but I expect to see the fruition of what has been coming for a few years now, and that is the emergence of the Longhorn defense as the consistent class of the Big12.
 
RainH2burntO said:
One thing I think you are going to see alot of, not just in sports but in general, are entities/organizations/people using the CCP virus as an "excuse " to do some things they have been wanting to do anyway. Already happening in my circles...
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Like trying to sneak amnesty into the coronavirus bill?
 
Joe Fan said:
Like trying to sneak amnesty into the coronavirus bill?
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Lol....I mean....cry face or poke my eyeballs out or whatever.
Oops...OK, football. Football football football. I read a great article about the adjustments the the North Dakota Wild Dogs were making to their locker rooms during the pandemic.
 
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LAGA4 said:
I believe this.

Just getting lined up right and playing some fundamentally sound defense will improve us a lot.
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Since Mack's arrival, these are the main defensive scheming changes:

2003-04 offseason - Bull Reese and his "mugging" D scheme, which was great against the option but horrible against the spread. Done. Robinson brought in to get us "back to basics," and it worked to an extent. The big issue in 2004 was that OU reverted into more of a power run system with Adrian Peterson and totally abandoned the pass game against us, which burned us bad. Michigan pretty much tore us up with deep passing in the bowl game; Robinson bolts to become Cuse HC.
Grade: B+

2004-05 offseason - Chizik brought in. I'd like to think he did something for the defense, and that something was allow the talent to mature and give Akina more rein on the passing game. Chizik basically allowed what Robinson put in place to develop, and it worked, because we won a title. He didn't alter the scheme from 2004. Our worst defensive game was against the "best team of all time," and nearly cost us that championship, but individual players stepped up. I wish I could say the same about 2006. Chizik was famously going out to dinners midseason with AD's courting HC's for 2007. You can even pinpoint where the defense soured (Tech game where Colt had to lead the 3-TD comeback), and then fell apart (KSU game with Colt hurt and D laid down). The A&M loss was an inability to stop the run, and the bowl game near-loss was similar. Chizik had already left the team by then.
Grade: B

2006 bowl game through 2007 offseason- Ugh. The Akina & Larry Mac Duff experiment. What a shitshow. Everyone saw the writing on the wall in the horrible games against UCF and KSU pretty early in the season. Part of it was young talent, but that couldn't possibly be attributed to the whole collapse. Mack compared the situation to "too many cooks in the kitchen," with Mac Duff was trying to change run defense measures and Akina tried to overrule him. Defense was supposed to mirror what Akina was doing at UA and what Mac Duff was doing in the NFL, and it never merged. Bailed out by the offense in many of the late season 2007 games, and then buried by the Aggies, Mack knew he would need a splash to get the team back into contention in 2008.
Grade: D+

2007-08 offseason: BOOM ************. Probably the biggest assistant splash hire ever at Texas. We had him in place on January 4, and by the end of Spring practice, news from the team seemed impossibly good. Well, there was a good reason. The defense was rebuilt to be more like the 2005 defense but with more pass rushing. There were some rough individual performances, like Tech 2008, but Muschamp never really deviated from what worked. I don't even really think the D had a "bad game" until UCLA 2010 under Muschamp. And that was a rebuilding year anyhow for a lot of positions, except DB. Even the championship game against Alabama... our D never looked better than in that 3rd quarter when we held Ingram, Richardson and the entire offense to 13 total yards and dominated while giving time for GG to get his **** together and put us back in to the game. I was saddened at how Mack torpedoed the 2010 season by trying to "be Alabama," and basically giving Muschamp an out by saying he'll have to wait a lot longer for promotion. We dodged a bullet with that part, but the overall experience with Muschamp (in terms of defensive production) was great.
Grade: A

2010-11 offseason: Got Manny _iaz in place about as early as Muschamp from the previous hire. It seemed like a good move to energize the team, which had fallen stale and plain bad in 2010. It was kind of a weird start with Jerry Gray signing on, leaving, and then Akina coming back. I'll give Manny credit: he had creativity that was lacking from all the previous Mack DC's. Watching the 2011 Holiday Bowl, you see what Mack was going for with this hire. Guys flying around the field... every position had some kind of special "bonus" play where they would do something unexpected and wreak havoc. But what about when those kinds of plays didn't work? You get results like the Taysom Hill game in Provo. And the fact that he was blown the **** out by OU twice.
Grade: D

2013 post-BYU game: Robinson takes over again as makeshift. Did the best he could given the circumstances, and even had us in the "de facto" conference championship game against Baylor. I don't blame him for the results. I blame Mack for not seeing the walls crumble around him.
Grade: C-

Strong era: 2013-14 offseason: ****. One look at Vance Bedford's time as OK State's DC should have been enough to send Chuck running to the hills to find literally ANYONE to take on the role. As much as I love alums, I don't love them enough to pillage my entire defense. We immediately got curb-stomped by the run in Austin against BYU, and people were like "ohh it's because Ash has a concussion and no one can reasonably expect Swoopes to lead the offense." Tunnel vision. He lacked any semblance of a scheme. In 2014, we had a nice little string of wins that led to Chuck getting lifted on the shoulders of the players in the locker room while everyone rapped. Then the D laid down against TCU. And 15 more times before Chuck was fired.
Grade: F

Herman era: 2016 offseason: Brought in Orlando. I wasn't super-thrilled because I saw some of UH's results going back to the prior seasons, and I figured Herman would let him go be a HC somewhere and hire someone else. Welp. Started off with a whimper against Maryland. It's not like the D never had a good game under Orlando, but I saw his tenure as something akin to Manny's. We'd play really well with weird blitzes one week, and then those same plays would lead us to get gashed the next. Time will tell if injuries in the 2019 season is why he's no longer with us, but my guess is that Ash shows significant improvement in terms of consistency, because if he doesn't, Herman will be fired as well.
Grade: C-
 
RainH2burntO said:
One thing I think you are going to see alot of, not just in sports but in general, are entities/organizations/people using the CCP virus as an "excuse " to do some things they have been wanting to do anyway. Already happening in my circles...
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Our corporate office finally ended our tie policy.
 
Did you guys know Herman's dad passed away in a homeless shelter at a relatively early age?

"Thomas Joseph Herman Jr. died alone in a homeless shelter in Cincinnati. A worker made the discovery, walked into the $10-a-day room and found the 52-year-old’s lifeless body on the floor.

His son, Thomas Joseph Herman III, and wife, Michelle, were the ones who located the shelter and paid the small bill for modest meals, a humble cot and relative safety from the outside world.

Still, too many years of life as a rolling stone and bouts with alcoholism and drug abuse eventually claimed the life of Herman’s estranged father. That first-hand experience with poverty, disease and the tragedy it can beget played a pivotal role in shaping the Texas football coach.

He kisses his players. Proudly and routinely proclaims his love for them. Hopes to be, if needed, a trusted and worthy male figure in their lives.
With football on hiatus, Texas coach Tom Herman dedicates more time to volunteer efforts​

 
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