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Well, good Wednesday to everyone! Â Grab a seat and a cold beverage and head on into the Crossfire with me. First off, it was nice to see the Horns come out and dominate TCU last Saturday in Fort Worth. Not sure if anyone else noticed but Gary Patterson was fired up & dialed in on the Horned Frog sideline. Not sure why he has so much disdain for Texas but he does. Â It was a good win for the players & fans. Now to the good stuff…..
I received some very interesting news late last week from a very good source.  The source informed me that Mack had informed several boosters & a few others that if Texas wins out or shares the Big 12 title he wants to coach in 2014.  Okay everyone, don’t panic. Take a deep breath and repeat after me: “It will be okay.†Now back to the info…  As we all know many of the BMD’s were at the BYU game and were extremely embarrassed after the game. This led to a meeting between Mack & Powers. In that meeting Mack told Powers that he would fire Manny Diaz and he himself would step down if Texas did not win the Big 12 and a BCS game. That deal had the approval of Dodds, Jamail and McCombs. As we all know, as of right now all those goals are still attainable for this program. However one very important piece to the puzzle is now missing. That’s right, Dodds. Dodds is no longer in the picture and Jamail & McCombs have ceded power to Steve Hicks & Bob Rowling. The Hicks & Rowling tandem are the leaders of the group that initiated contact with Jimmy Sexton last year. Sexton is Nick Saban’s agent.
We are now deep into negotiations with Saban and Oliver Luck for that matter. It is my understanding that both Luck & Saban have agreed that they can work well with one another. This leads us to Powers, who is in the fight of his life to keep his job. Bill Powers is the only one still standing in a position of power that Mack Brown made the deal with. So where does Bill Powers stand in all this? Well, considering Rowling & Hicks are the two main protectors for Powers in the Rick Perry war, it would appear that both Rowling & Hicks have Powers by the short hairs. Powers is in a bad place and you really have to feel for him, but Hicks & Rowling are wanting change and they are moving the train forward in that direction. At the end of the day and regardless of whether Texas wins out, Mack does not have the fire power needed in his corner to remain head coach of the football program at The University of Texas. The new regime at Bellmont is too far down the track to back this train up now.
The new regime would like nothing better than to honor Mack for his tremendous service and accomplishments to/for the University and reassign him to a PR role but…. Mack’s ego may get the best of him.  And if it does, he is going to throw, for lack of a better phrase, a “temper tantrum” on the way out. I have also been asked by many posters on our site how the players are perceiving all the coaching rumors? First & foremost they are focused on winning the Big 12.  However, with access to social media and all the message boards, the players hear all the talk and smoke as well.  Per (Shaunsters),  a source close to the team has indicated  that the potential “Saban as new coach on the 40 Acres” is being well-received by a handful of current players.  I also spoke to another very reliable source about David Ash and his current situation. There is a belief that Ash may not only be done for this season but done with football for good. That is really a shame because Ash is fierce competitor and a great kid. My personal opinion on the matter sides with the source – I just don’t think we see Ash play again in a Longhorn uniform.
Regarding Tyrone Swoopes’ redshirt being burned…  well, that’s only half of the whole story.  The one leading the decision to burn Tyrone’s redshirt was Major Applewhite.  I know strange… I agree that this not the type of decision Texas under Mack Brown would have made in the past, but Applewhite is auditioning for other jobs right now.  If he believes a certain player could end up playing a role in that audition, he is going to burn the redshirt. Is that selfish? I don’t know, but I question why we gave Overstreet so many practice snaps before we came to the conclusion (with four remaining games) to pull a kid’s redshirt. Do we really believe it is going to matter if we are down to Overstreet or Swoopes?
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Basketball recruiting update from Shaunsters
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2015 Guard King McClure. Â McClure is 6’4 and plays at Triple A Academy in Dallas. Â King is considered by many to be a top 15 kid in the 2015 class. He has SMU, Kansas and Texas on top. Once considered a kid that would be leaving to go out out of state (most likely to Kansas), has changed it up a little bit. Â From what I’m hearing the Longhorns have done a great job in making a strong push for McClure and right now are in his top 3 along with SMU and Kansas. Texas has really pushed the idea on McClure that he can be a player Texas builds around, almost like a program changer.
Scouting report on McClure – I have only seen him once but I have a few friends who have seen him a lot. First word that comes to mind is explosive. For a 6’4 bigger-body guard he has a lot of wiggle and is extremely effective. The best part of King’s game is the lost art of the mid range jumpshot. Very silky smooth release and so poised with the ball in his hand. Â He makes decision-making look easy. He also makes everyone around him better and he is very much the leader type or alpha male.
Projection on King – King, in my opinion, will finish as a top 10 recruit in the country. The people I talk to say he is top 5 worthy.  This is the type of kid Texas really needs to land. It will be a tough battle with SMU aka (www) and Kansas. But the good news is Texas is in the thick of it.  I think all 3 teams are level with each other on this one.[/colored_box]
Until next week I will see you on the boards. Hook’em
McPhaul
