The 2021 Football season

[ViperHorn]

Agree, Major is probably the center for the next 3 years

You beat me to this fact.

 

[Joe Fan]

You beat me to this fact.

It would be nice to have an above-average center for awhile
Not sure how far back we have to go to find one

 

[Joe Fan]

Three 2020 opt-outs have returned

Jack OLB Marqez Bimage
RB Daniel Young
WR Dajon Harrison​

The first two are confirmed and I think Harrison is back too

 

[Run Pincher]

Three 2020 opt-outs have returned

Jack OLB Marqez Bimage
RB Daniel Young
WR Dajon Harrison​

The first two are confirmed and I think Harrison is back too

I still wish someone could explain to me the logic of opting out when the season doesn't count against you regardless?

 

[Joe Fan]

I still wish someone could explain to me the logic of opting out when the season doesn't count against you regardless?

One of them has or had a compromised family member and was worried about that. One was just looking at the depth chart alone. Cant rmbr the other.

 

[RainH2burntO]

It would be nice to have an above-average center for awhile
Not sure how far back we have to go to find one

Im w you. Most of the great teams have one. Tampa center looked to me like he deserved a piece of Tom's Super Bowl MVP trophy.

 

[RainH2burntO]

One of them has or had a compromised family member and was worried about that. One was just looking at the depth chart alone. Cant rmbr the other.

"compromised family member"

...could mean alot of things these days, Joe

 

[moondog_LFZ]

Lol
"compromised family member"

...could mean alot of things these days, Joe

Well, my daughter is "compromised" with an immune deficiency so, not really laughing about it.

 

[RainH2burntO]

Well, my daughter is "compromised" with an immune deficiency so, not really laughing about it.

Nobody's laughing at stuff like that, Moon.
I was laughing at all the possible other applications of that phrase given the times (and ...I thought obvious... in an apposite/coincidental sense, though I could see someone "taking it wrong")
I almost didn't put the lol but wanted to communicate to Joe clearly what I was getting at...and I am quite sure he generally understood.
I'll remove the lol for anyone who may misunderstand

 

[Joe Fan]

 

[nashhorn]

Great ^^^

 

[theiioftx]

I’m thinking Sark knows the importance of a dominant 0-Line.

 

[Joe Fan]

 

[Driver 8]

Think ima just go out now & I then put my all in this ?

^ Translation please

 

[Sheldon Cooper]

I was thinking about what Mack had in January 1998 versus what Sark is getting in January 2021. I consider the Strong/Herman years just a more recent version of the McWilliams/Mackovic years, with no need to account for what they inherited.

QB - About even. James Brown was gone, but was rather ineffective and injured throughout the year before. Mack was getting Richard Walton and a backup battle between Cicero and Applewhite. We didn't know what we had in pretty much any of them. I think that's about the same as Thompson/Card. While everyone loved what they saw in the Alamo Bowl, it's difficult to temper that with expectations against "actual" defenses and not CU's. Murphy might be a whole new level, but we're not there yet.

RB - Better for Mack. Call me crazy, but because of how the game has changed, I don't think 2021 is a huge disadvantage compared to 1998. Don't get me wrong, Mack still had it better with Williams and Mitchell, but Bijan and Roschon can hold their own. If Bijan was around in 1998, he'd be getting more carries and accolades.

WR - Big ups to Mack. McGarity/Cavil might be one of the top-5 best WR combos we've ever had. While Sark's depth is far easier on the eye test, Mack was easily inheriting a duo that would combine for 109 catches (something that took 5 WRs in 2020) with a QB who was a virtual unknown. Today, it's expected that every college football team have like 15 WRs on the depth chart, and I think it's more difficult for good-but-not-great ones to shine. I think Sark will be ok with the position, but Mack still had it a little easier based on the offense we ran.

TE - About even. Derek Lewis was still highly regarded for "the rollout," but the TE main responsibility in 1998 would be blocking for Ricky anyhow. Our TE depth in 2021 will be better than the others we had in the rotation back then.

OL - HUGE ups to Mack. Pretty much all of our 1998 guys could have been considered all conference, especially on the right side. They had played pretty well in 1997, paving the way for Ricky to be considered the best back in the nation before Mack arrived. C was our only question mark going into the season, and Gaskamp did that very well. Now? Meh. I think if Kerstetter had become more of a force earlier in his career on the interior instead of T, we might be able to have a better comparison to 1998 in the rest of the line. While all of the guys now have a season's (or more) worth of starts under their belts, I don't think anyone really believes they compare favorably.

DL - Again, HUGE ups to Mack. It would have been closer if he hadn't spun Aaron Humphrey down to DE, but he inherited Hampton and Rogers, arguably two of our best DTs ever. Woodard was a good tweener. Sark's also going to have a transitional period where we move people around between those positions, and guys like Collins are going to bring it eventually, but I don't see our DL shutting down teams like the 1998 version did against NU and A&M.

LB - Push. Mack was basically forced to use Dusty Renfro as the leader of a D that had been decimated the prior year. DD Lewis was a freshman who switched positions. Aaron Babino was a junior who switched positions. Anthony Hicks was a future NFL'er but I don't think anyone quite knew that about him. The talent is about the same now, but the LB position isn't what it was in 1998 due to the spread and changes to how LBs are forced to play. I think Overshown is more talented than any of the 1998 guys, but our depth isn't quite there. Carl Reese had an easy scheme for LBs. We'll see what Coach K and Choate have in store.

DB - Sark wins on depth alone. While Mack had Jammer, who had shown flashes in the year before he arrived, there was virtually nothing else for the 1998 team to hang their hat on. Tony Holmes and Joe Walker were pretty big liabilities, which led to some pretty nervous playing time for freshmen Hill and Brooks, both of whom are like 5'5". Jamison and Thompson alone are steadier than every one of those 1998 options, while Adimora is expected to be that Budda Baker role that Coach K used in Washington. Heck, even Foster, who has been much maligned by this board, would have been superior to every other safety in 1998 not named Jammer.

ST - Was going to call it a push, but I think it's a slight edge to Sark. We didn't know that Stockton would be as reliable as he ended up at K (and sometimes P). We know what we have in Dicker, and our returners are FAR better now that whatever Mack thought he would put out there. 1999 would end up being the "WTF" year for special teams, not 1998, leading to the first of many years on Hornfans with "When are we going to get a special teams coordinator?" posts.

So, by unit, it's 4 for Mack, 2 for Sark, and even for 3. But those 4 Mack "wins" are more important units in my opinion. The 1998 team ended up 9-3 with a bowl blowout win, and its only losses to great teams (UCLA and KSU both had shots at the national championship until they both **** the bed in the final weekend) and a should-have-been-better Tech team that had lost 3 straight to ranked teams before finally beating us. I think we'll have similar success in 2021, and wouldn't be surprised with 3 losses.

You left off the most important comparison.

GDGD vs Sark - offensive coaching is worth extra win or 2 right there. I would pretty much say your assessment is spot on from a 20/20 hind site but Don't sleep on our Dline or the depth we have at WR, I think we have a lot of guys and they are going to be fighting for playing time, it is going to bring out the best in some of them. As for our Dline, I remember with fond memories how great Shaun Rogers and Casey Hampton developed into, but they were sophomores in Mack's first year. Alfred Collins might be more talented than both of them, add in the depth we have with Broughton, Ojomo, Sweat, and Coburn and we are 3 deep with high quality NLF DTs.

Our Linebackers are much much better than what we had with Mack's first year, it would take a few years to any good linebackers at Texas.

If healthy = my guess

LT -- Karic
LG -- Angilau/Johnson
C -- Majors
RG -- Hookfin/Johnson/Kerstetter/ Okafor
RT -- Kerstetter/Jones/Hookfin​

I would not mind seeing Tyler Johnson force himself into the mix at OG

Kerrstettler is going to be limited by his injury, I don't see him making a comeback until maybe the 2nd half of the year. Leg injuries are not east for big men to come back from. He is carrying an extra 100 lbs of weight he has to compensate for.

Hayden Conner is also an early enrollee. Would he have needed to if he was playing anything other than tackle? Maybe, maybe not. I think the coaches see him as a Cosmi type of guy... 4-year starter in HS with huge upside but played in a "system" so he got ranked lower.

Connor is really slow and needs to be in the weight room for a year. However he is also really really smart, do be surprised if his best position is center where I think he could be an all conference level player in a couple of years.

^ Translation please

I think he is saying he got a fresh start with the new staff and a legit chance to show his stuff. Keep in mind with 15 scholarship receivers we are probably going to have 3 to 5 of them transfer, who will those guys be? Right now everybody is equal, until they are not equal. He has a chance to be one of the guys, I think he will be.

IMO our top 10 WRs
1. Joshua Moore
2. Jordan Whittington
3. Jake Smith
4. Troy Omeire
5. Kelvontay Dixon
6. Al'Vonte Woodard
7. Marcus Washington
8. Brenden Schooler
9. Kai Money
10. Kennedy Lewis

To be very honest, outside of the top 4 on this list, all the guys we are recruiting for the 2022 class are better than everyone on this list.

 

[RainH2burntO]

You left off the most important comparison.

GDGD vs Sark - offensive coaching is worth extra win or 2 right there. I would pretty much say your assessment is spot on from a 20/20 hind site but Don't sleep on our Dline or the depth we have at WR, I think we have a lot of guys and they are going to be fighting for playing time, it is going to bring out the best in some of them. As for our Dline, I remember with fond memories how great Shaun Rogers and Casey Hampton developed into, but they were sophomores in Mack's first year. Alfred Collins might be more talented than both of them, add in the depth we have with Broughton, Ojomo, Sweat, and Coburn and we are 3 deep with high quality NLF DTs.

Our Linebackers are much much better than what we had with Mack's first year, it would take a few years to any good linebackers at Texas.



Kerrstettler is going to be limited by his injury, I don't see him making a comeback until maybe the 2nd half of the year. Leg injuries are not east for big men to come back from. He is carrying an extra 100 lbs of weight he has to compensate for.



Connor is really slow and needs to be in the weight room for a year. However he is also really really smart, do be surprised if his best position is center where I think he could be an all conference level player in a couple of years.



I think he is saying he got a fresh start with the new staff and a legit chance to show his stuff. Keep in mind with 15 scholarship receivers we are probably going to have 3 to 5 of them transfer, who will those guys be? Right now everybody is equal, until they are not equal. He has a chance to be one of the guys, I think he will be.

IMO our top 10 WRs
1. Joshua Moore
2. Jordan Whittington
3. Jake Smith
4. Troy Omeire
5. Kelvontay Dixon
6. Al'Vonte Woodard
7. Marcus Washington
8. Brenden Schooler
9. Kai Money
10. Kennedy Lewis

To be very honest, outside of the top 4 on this list, all the guys we are recruiting for the 2022 class are better than everyone on this list.

I enjoy most of your posts, Sheldon, and appreciate your perspective (here^^^included), but you lost me with that last paragraph.
For one, it is impossible to know to what degree old staff/coaching bias/system was impacting a current player...nor how an incoming player will be helped or hindered by those same variables. More importantly, we've seen too many hyped up guys from high school not pan out in CFB, so there are no guarantees on any of our incoming would-be studs. Some guys past #4 on this list weren't exactly chopped liver as recruits before they got here. I don't see the benefit of running down a guy who wears our uni for one who hasn't played a down.
Furthermore, I think you are making a mistake on 2 or 3 of those guys past your #4 cutoff...starting with Dixon for one.
I can see a couple more rising up from that group.....MW, AW, etc....or not....
Your comments may very well end up proving prescient, but I would save that kind of chatter for a fan board or something....

 

[Sheldon Cooper]

I enjoy most of your posts, Sheldon, and appreciate your perspective (here^^^included), but you lost me with that last paragraph.
For one, it is impossible to know to what degree old staff/coaching bias/system was impacting a current player...nor how an incoming player will be helped or hindered by those same variables. More importantly, we've seen too many hyped up guys from high school not pan out in CFB, so there are no guarantees on any of our incoming would-be studs. Some guys past #4 on this list weren't exactly chopped liver as recruits before they got here. I don't see the benefit of running down a guy who wears our uni for one who hasn't played a down.
Furthermore, I think you are making a mistake on 2 or 3 of those guys past your #4 cutoff...starting with Dixon for one.
I can see a couple more rising up from that group.....MW, AW, etc....or not....
Your comments may very well end up proving prescient, but I would save that kind of chatter for a fan board or something....

From a pure talent stand point all the guys we have committed and the ones we are currently recruiting are just on a whole other level. Just looking at it from a speed persepective we are recruiting 2 guys who are running sub 10.4 hundred meters. The two guys we have committed are also really really fast. The other part of this is that Sark has a specific trait he looks for in receivers all you have to do is look at the guys who are recently drafted into the NFL.

I'm pretty confident that that if we land the guys we are trending with all 4 of them will be hands down more talented than the majority of our current receivers. This doesn't mean they will automatically displace our guys on the roster, because there is something to be said for maturity, but I think Sark's offense is going to better purr when he has those speed guys on the field.

 

[yelladawgdem]

Regarding Mackovic to Mack; the morning of the Football Banquet in 1998 (after the Heisman Ceremony and before Cotton Bowl), I had a brief encounter with Mack. I told him how much I admired that on more than one occasion that when praise was being given to him for Ricky's great season, I had heard him mention that it was Coach Mackovic who brought RW to Austin. (Although he had gotten him to STAY)!

Mack smiled and said, "the cupboard wasn't bare". Never knew if he was aware of how bare the cupboard was when JM took over.

 

[Run Pincher]

Regarding Mackovic to Mack; the morning of the Football Banquet in 1998 (after the Heisman Ceremony and before Cotton Bowl), I had a brief encounter with Mack. I told him how much I admired that on more than one occasion that when praise was being given to him for Ricky's great season, I had heard him mention that it was Coach Mackovic who brought RW to Austin. (Although he had gotten him to STAY)!

Mack smiled and said, "the cupboard wasn't bare". Never knew if he was aware of how bare the cupboard was when JM took over.

It definitely wasn't. Mackovic recruited well at some positions, but left others bare. Inconsistent, and was also a jerk. McWilliams was a good guy, and probably a pretty good coach, but he had the personality of a dead fish, thus the recruiting results. Plus he had to recruit against some serious cheating elsewhere.

 

[ViperHorn]

It definitely wasn't. Mackovic recruited well at some positions, but left others bare. Inconsistent, and was also a jerk. McWilliams was a good guy, and probably a pretty good coach, but he had the personality of a dead fish, thus the recruiting results. Plus he had to recruit against some serious cheating elsewhere.

^^^^^^^^^
Agree with this RP except you slighted jerks everywhere by associating them with Macovic.

 

[BornOrange0855]

Coburn and we are 3 deep with high quality NLF DTs.

If NLF means something, please educate me. Otherwise I'm assuming it was a typo and you meant NFL??
In any case, I hope your assessment is correct. I've been of the opinion for years that one of our biggest weaknesses was at DT. We weren't good at stuffing the run up the middle, and weren't good at pushing the pocket back into the QBs face. Good DTs make the secondary look like All-pros. I remember when we had guys like McMichael, Shearer, English, Simms, Rogers, Hampton, even Diron Talbert and Scott Appleton (yeah, I been around awhile). Those guys made us great. Here's hoping the kids on the current roster measure up.
Like just about everyone here, I'm glad Herman was shown the door. And I'm optimistic about Sark. But we have question marks for the upcoming season. Here's hoping. Ten years in the wilderness is long enough.

 

[beijinghorn1]

If healthy = my guess

LT -- Karic
LG -- Angilau/Johnson
C -- Majors
RG -- Hookfin/Johnson/Kerstetter/ Okafor
RT -- Kerstetter/Jones/Hookfin​

I would not mind seeing Tyler Johnson force himself into the mix at OG

Nobody mentions Imade. A huge kid who always gives positive responses to questions (at least the ones I have seen). I am really pulling for him and hope he can become the bulldozer that his natural size suggests he could be. Would be awesome to see a kid like him take advantage of the coaching change and become an NFL prospect.

 

[RainH2burntO]

Good DTs make the secondary look like All-pros.

This^^^^^ Xs infinity

 

[RainH2burntO]

From a pure talent stand point all the guys we have committed and the ones we are currently recruiting are just on a whole other level. Just looking at it from a speed persepective we are recruiting 2 guys who are running sub 10.4 hundred meters. The two guys we have committed are also really really fast. The other part of this is that Sark has a specific trait he looks for in receivers all you have to do is look at the guys who are recently drafted into the NFL.

I'm pretty confident that that if we land the guys we are trending with all 4 of them will be hands down more talented than the majority of our current receivers. This doesn't mean they will automatically displace our guys on the roster, because there is something to be said for maturity, but I think Sark's offense is going to better purr when he has those speed guys on the field.

I don't disagree with this^^^^
And the guys on their way may very well be more talented, but I dont think we've seen "their best" from most of our current roster guys....and it wont be a good/fair comparison until we see them in what we all expect to be a better system with better leadership.
Good post ...and I do get your drift. Looking forward to seeing it manifest on the field.

 

[Sheldon Cooper]

I definitely think we will see some really good stuff from our current receivers as I think Sark's system will unleash their talent and maximize it. I'm of the opinion that a guy like Duv would have been just as successful and productive as Devonta Smith was at Bama.

Going into next year I expect to see a lot more explosive plays from guys like Jake Smith Jordan Whittington, and Josh Moore.

 

[Horns11]

You left off the most important comparison.

GDGD vs Sark - offensive coaching is worth extra win or 2 right there. I would pretty much say your assessment is spot on from a 20/20 hind site but Don't sleep on our Dline or the depth we have at WR, I think we have a lot of guys and they are going to be fighting for playing time, it is going to bring out the best in some of them. As for our Dline, I remember with fond memories how great Shaun Rogers and Casey Hampton developed into, but they were sophomores in Mack's first year. Alfred Collins might be more talented than both of them, add in the depth we have with Broughton, Ojomo, Sweat, and Coburn and we are 3 deep with high quality NLF DTs.

Our Linebackers are much much better than what we had with Mack's first year, it would take a few years to any good linebackers at Texas.

GD wasn't the cause of our losses to UCLA, KSU, or Tech in 1998. If anything, allowing Ricky to run free and feeding into our strengths by protecting Major at QB made his job pretty easy. I don't see Sark as a guy who would take the 1998 team and do any better a job than GD did.

WR - the game is different now, and I don't see any of our current guys putting themselves in position to be a Wane or Kwame. We lack leadership (and stats) at the position, and unless Omeire becomes "the guy," I don't see how our depth makes the current unit better than what Mack had.

There is zero chance that Collins is better than Hampton and Rogers, who combined for 8 pro bowls. Hampton was a third-year player who came back strong from his season-ending injury, and Mack knew exactly what he was getting with him based on his 1996 play. Rogers was a beast of a physical specimen who had played a ton more than Collins did in 2020. I'll also take up your prop bet that Broughton, Ojomo, Sweat, and Coburn are all NFL DTs. My guess is that one of them is. Another one might make a practice squad. Our entire line from 1998 was NFL-worthy, even Hump (who got stuck in XFL and NFL Europe because of his antics). It also doesn't look like Sanders is going to stay on the DL either.

As for LB, I'm not sure what you're basing the "much much better" on. Our LBs played very well in 1998, position changes and all. Hicks basically won the NU game for us. Babino was the bowl game MVP. We have Overshown who is a physical freak now, but what beyond that? Is Mitchell going to play better? Who is going to stand out from the group of Gbenda, Tillman, Ford? Surely not the former walk-on guys.

 

[Badass]

 

[mchammer]

Free vaccine shot with admission!

 

[Sheldon Cooper]

GD wasn't the cause of our losses to UCLA, KSU, or Tech in 1998. If anything, allowing Ricky to run free and feeding into our strengths by protecting Major at QB made his job pretty easy. I don't see Sark as a guy who would take the 1998 team and do any better a job than GD did.

WR - the game is different now, and I don't see any of our current guys putting themselves in position to be a Wane or Kwame. We lack leadership (and stats) at the position, and unless Omeire becomes "the guy," I don't see how our depth makes the current unit better than what Mack had.

There is zero chance that Collins is better than Hampton and Rogers, who combined for 8 pro bowls. Hampton was a third-year player who came back strong from his season-ending injury, and Mack knew exactly what he was getting with him based on his 1996 play. Rogers was a beast of a physical specimen who had played a ton more than Collins did in 2020. I'll also take up your prop bet that Broughton, Ojomo, Sweat, and Coburn are all NFL DTs. My guess is that one of them is. Another one might make a practice squad. Our entire line from 1998 was NFL-worthy, even Hump (who got stuck in XFL and NFL Europe because of his antics). It also doesn't look like Sanders is going to stay on the DL either.

As for LB, I'm not sure what you're basing the "much much better" on. Our LBs played very well in 1998, position changes and all. Hicks basically won the NU game for us. Babino was the bowl game MVP. We have Overshown who is a physical freak now, but what beyond that? Is Mitchell going to play better? Who is going to stand out from the group of Gbenda, Tillman, Ford? Surely not the former walk-on guys.

'
Hampton was a true Sophomore in 98. He was the only bright spot on the 97 defense. That defense was dog crap warmed over, it was the result of many years of neglect by Machovic. There is a big reason why we gave up over 100 pts to UCLA in just two games.

As for Collins, he was called by Chris Ash the most talented dlinemen he had coached, and that included the Bosa brothers. Only time will tell on the others but I'm confident in my prediction.

 

[Run Pincher]

'
Hampton was a true Sophomore in 98. He was the only bright spot on the 97 defense. That defense was dog crap warmed over, it was the result of many years of neglect by Machovic. There is a big reason why we gave up over 100 pts to UCLA in just two games.

As for Collins, he was called by Chris Ash the most talented dlinemen he had coached, and that included the Bosa brothers. Only time will tell on the others but I'm confident in my prediction.

I'm sorry Sheldon, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on this. Casey Hampton was the 2nd best DT in UT history, right behind Heisman finalist Kenneth Sims. Shaun Rogers was right behind that. At DE there was Aaron Humphrey and Cedric Woodard, 2 of the better DE's ever. I know they both played in the NFL.

At LB there was Sr. LB Dusty Renfro who wad damn good against the run, maybe a bit weak against the pass. But there was also DD Lewis, one of the better LB's in UT history and Aaron Bobino, very good also.

At DB the was Quentin Jammer, certainly one of the best in UT history. Lee Jackson, Ahmad Brooks, Joe Walker and Tony Holmes. Maybe Holmes and Walker were average, but Jackson and Brooks received many accolades.

I don't think there's more than 3 current players that would start on that 98 defense. And that 98 offense was loaded, that's one thing Mackovic could do, recruit offense.