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Sonny Cumbie and Texas

Why even bother mentioning that clown? You might as well interview my dog and get his thoughts. He doesn't know anything and nobody who does likes him.

Anwar is not bad, however.
He has never done anything personally to me so I have no ill will towards him. I like Amwar as well.

 
He has never done anything personally to me so I have no ill will towards him. I like Amwar as well.

Wasn't speaking to that on a personal level. Just don't believe he brings much value, professionally.

 
A lot of people bring up Hurrt being a great recruiter. Was he great because he bought recruits gifts, or was he just good at recruiting. I had someone tell me he would be a great recruiter too if he was doing the things Hurrt was doing.

 
The reason why we are seeing a great deal of pessimism about Texas football in general is because nobody seems to realize that Texas no longer has a negotiated, operating advantage against other teams.

When the Big XII was formed, the Big 8 was made to conform to Texas' academic standards. I'm not saying that is a bad thing but it changed the model for recruiting for the former Big 8 teams. Also, in-state 'academic' scholarships given to players in the state of Nebraska to go to Nebraska were negated (as walk-ons). Not that I don't think that the Big 8 needed to be brought kicking and screaming from their semi-pro ways but those changes marked the beginning of the end of Nebraska's national dominance. And that resentment led to Nebraska bolting for the BiG.

Do I believe the Longhorn Network was what Aggie was really mad about? No. But once the Aggies (and Missouri) bolted for the SEC, Texas found itself in a precarious position. They soon found out that they couldn't make the Pac 10/12 or the ACC conform to the Texas way so they had to work to stabilize the Big XII. Enter West Virginia and TCU.

That wasn't the death of Texas' negotiated, operating advantage but when they were forced to adhere to a Granting of Rights deal to solidify the conference, Texas lost all operating advantage it had grown accustomed to.

So now, when I hear 'We're Texas' as some sort of a justification for how Texas will be back on top, I shake my head and realize that some people just don't get it.

Texas is not Superman anymore. The money advantage means less than it used to. The donor advantage means less than it used to. The operating advantage no longer exists.

I look forward to the day when Texas realizes it is going to have to get down in the damn dirt and fight to regain its former glory. That is a Texas I am going to proudly root for.

 
The reason why we are seeing a great deal of pessimism about Texas football in general is because nobody seems to realize that Texas no longer has a negotiated, operating advantage against other teams.

When the Big XII was formed, the Big 8 was made to conform to Texas' academic standards. I'm not saying that is a bad thing but it changed the model for recruiting for the former Big 8 teams. Also, in-state 'academic' scholarships given to players in the state of Nebraska to go to Nebraska were negated (as walk-ons). Not that I don't think that the Big 8 needed to be brought kicking and screaming from their semi-pro ways but those changes marked the beginning of the end of Nebraska's national dominance. And that resentment led to Nebraska bolting for the BiG.

Do I believe the Longhorn Network was what Aggie was really mad about? No. But once the Aggies (and Missouri) bolted for the SEC, Texas found itself in a precarious position. They soon found out that they couldn't make the Pac 10/12 or the ACC conform to the Texas way so they had to work to stabilize the Big XII. Enter West Virginia and TCU.

That wasn't the death of Texas' negotiated, operating advantage but when they were forced to adhere to a Granting of Rights deal to solidify the conference, Texas lost all operating advantage it had grown accustomed to.

So now, when I hear 'We're Texas' as some sort of a justification for how Texas will be back on top, I shake my head and realize that some people just don't get it.

Texas is not Superman anymore. The money advantage means less than it used to. The donor advantage means less than it used to. The operating advantage no longer exists.

I look forward to the day when Texas realizes it is going to have to get down in the damn dirt and fight to regain its former glory. That is a Texas I am going to proudly root for.

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A nice brief breakdown of the Hurtt trouble . . . dated Jan 21, 2013

http://www.straitpinkie.com/louisville-2/clint-hurtt-in-trouble-with-ncaa/

Clint Hurtt in trouble with NCAA

Last year Louisville’s associate head coach, defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator was named in the scandal that sent Nevin Shapiro to jail and the Miami Hurricanes to, more than likely, a major penalty by the NCAA. Not only was Clint Hurtt named in the scandal, but he played a major role in “woo-ing†the recruits by making sure that they got to Shapiro’s parties and yachts. And according to CBS Sports’ Bruce Feldman, the NCAA has contacted Hurtt and is prepared to level him with penalties.

Charlie Strong has continuously backed Hurtt and said that his job was safe at Louisville. But with NCAA sanctions soon coming down it could be time for Strong to re-evaluate the employment of Hurtt. Clint Hurtt has done wonders for the University of Louisville as far as bringing in recruits and bringing them back to prominance. But as long as Hurtt is here, Louisville will always be under close watch and scrutiny because of Hurtt’s past job’s.

The major accusation against Hurtt that linked him to Nevin Shapiro was that Hurtt hosted dinner parties at his house for recruits while Shapiro would give him the money to do so. To be clear, Hurtt is not accused or suspected of doing anything against the rules while at UofL (unless you talk to Kentucky fans).

This was all brought back up today because former Miami head basketball coach, now Missouri head basketball coach, Frank Haith, was citied for major sanctions by the NCAA and is now under investigation. Haith is facing allegations of “unethical conduct and failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance.â€

I would love for Hurtt to stay at Louisville and continue to pull in the recruits, but according to sources the NCAA is “throwing the book†at Hurtt and many of the people involved in the Miami scandal are naming him as the main culprit. Who knows how much of a penalty Hurtt will have to face and if he will even be allowed to serve on the Louisville coaching staff.

It should be interesting to see how the rest of this plays out, but don’t be surprised to see Hurtt out of a job in the following weeks.

Hurtt was named ESPN’s recruiter of the year in 2011.

 
Do I believe the Longhorn Network was what Aggie was really mad about? No. But once the Aggies (and Missouri) bolted for the SEC, Texas found itself in a precarious position. They soon found out that they couldn't make the Pac 10/12 or the ACC conform to the Texas way so they had to work to stabilize the Big XII. Enter West Virginia and TCU. 
That wasn't the death of Texas' negotiated, operating advantage but when they were forced to adhere to a Granting of Rights deal to solidify the conference, Texas lost all operating advantage it had grown accustomed to. 

So now, when I hear 'We're Texas' as some sort of a justification for how Texas will be back on top, I shake my head and realize that some people just don't get it. 
Good post, but

  1. What concessions was UT trying to gain from the Pac12 or ACC?  I think you have it backwards - UT wasn't going to conform to their way of doing business, ie signing over our Tier 3 TV rights to the conference. We did add TCU and WVU as "the best available programs" to stabilize a dysfunctional Big12 
  2. True, the "Grant of Rights" deal we have today is more equitable than it was previously. Now we split 1st and 2nd Tier TV revenues equally where before it was weighted based on TV appearances. LHN still gives us a monetary advantage, albeit a much smaller one. Every P5 athletic program is TV rich these days - except maybe the ACC schools (minus part-timer, Notre Dame).
aggie used LHN as an excuse to justify their deceit. They never voted for equal revenue sharing while Big 12 members and neither did Nebraska.

Texas is not Superman anymore. The money advantage means less than it used to. The donor advantage means less than it used to. The operating advantage no longer exists.
I look forward to the day when Texas realizes it is going to have to get down in the damn dirt and fight to regain its former glory. That is a Texas I am going to proudly root for.
No, we're not. This I agree with 100%.

As a matter of fact, I'd argue that we don't promote our brand nearly as well as schools with much smaller budgets. See UH and their #HTownTakeover campaign. IMO, we're getting killed on social media - by aggie, too.

 
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It's not just this site that wants to see Strong gone.

But it begs the question - what has he done or not done that makes everyone so mad at him?

1.  Is it because everyone thinks this team should have won at least 7 - 8 games?

2.  Is it because he didn't go get a JUCO QB?

3.  Is it because he is not runnng an offense to suit everyone?

4.  Is it because his asst. coaches were/are no good?

5.  Is it because he is not articulate?

I'll give you my opinion about all 5 reasons and then I will tell you the ONLY reason we should be mad at him.

1.  He dismissed or ran off 11 players - crack out of the bag.  The truth is, they needed to go but it most definitely hurt our depth.  The result is we were left with babies, just month removed from their HS senior proms, to play critical positions.  At that point, it was unrealistic to expect a 7 or 8 game winning seasson.  Not with the godawful and brutal scedule these kids faced.  I pretty confident there is no one on this board that has a clue as to how to solve that problem.

2.  He tried and whiffed.  You can blame him for the whiff but, without any real knowledge what happened, you would just be blowing smoke out your bum.  Swoopes confidence was non- existant and he wasn't going to be able to hack it at QB.  Notre Dame put an exclamation point on it by crushing him though a young, turnstile OL.  Just what he needed - facing ND.  Heard is athletic and will, IMO, become a good QB.  Assuming he physically survives a season.  But its pretty obvious why the coaches said he wasn't ready last year.  It's because he wasn't and the Heard fanboys have now disappeared this year.  The lack of a game managing QB has killed our offense this year.  Who can deny this and blaming Strong for it is just ridiculous.  He inherited what he had and it is NOT an excuse to blame the QB problem on Mack. 

3.  I can blame Charlie for allowing Watson a free rein to design an offense.  An intelligent coach designs an offense to match his talent - not the other way around.  Of course, it can be said how was Watson supposed to design an offense when he really wasn't sure what he had?   From the QB situation to the OL and receiver situation they were simply too young and inexperienced to get a handle what to design.  Nick Saban would not have known what to do with last years collection of unknowns.

4.  All of his coaches were and are professionals.  None on this board are.  A few of his coaches, however, were out of their league coaching at the University of Texas.  Watson, it appears, was insubordinate which, IMO, was grounds for instant termination.  But that is another story.

5.  On the surface this is ridiculous, but the general fanship dislikes this.

Now, all this being said, there is no excuse for losing to ISU - much less being skunked.  I can't forgive him for this and he owes me and UT an apology for that abomination.

His rope is now very short and next year better be a gargantuan upgrade over the last two years and he better beat the living shit out of ISU!

 
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JB,

The point about the PAC/ACC was that Texas had an option to bolt the Big XII at that time. When they looked for places to land they wanted to do it on their (Texas') terms, of course. Hence, they were either stuck in the Big XII or bound for immediate independence. They lost the club they used to beat everybody with when they ran the Big XII.

The GOR point is that any advantage the Longhorns might have in Tier 3 (LHN) revenue would be negated if they had to walk away from Tiers 1 and 2. Again, Texas lost its leverage.

But it is obvious that you are more well versed than I in the finer points and I welcome your corrections of my generalizations mostly because I believe that the premise is still viable.

Texas didn't become TEXAS by out negotiating people. I give DeLoss and Mack credit, they were playing the hand that was dealt them. No, Texas was TEXAS long before those two showed up and those old teams did it the old fashioned way. They kicked your ass up and down the field.

 
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A lot of people bring up Hurrt being a great recruiter. Was he great because he bought recruits gifts, or was he just good at recruiting. I had someone tell me he would be a great recruiter too if he was doing the things Hurrt was doing.
Hurtt was a great recruiter at Louisville - and didn't have issues while there.

As good of a recruiter as he was - he might be a better coach. Tremendous job at Louisville and now in Chicago.

 
Doc,

Here is what I want from Charlie (or whoever is going to coach this team):

I want him to stand up to TPTB and tell them to cram it with all the media access then ask, 'Do you want me to coach this damn team or market the Texas brand?'

I want him to focus on the defense and make sure that the 11 players on that field are the best and most dedicated players on defense regardless of how many stars they warranted from recruiting services and if they are butt hurt and want to transfer, GTFO.

I want him to relinquish control of the offense (a la Gary Patterson) and that includes giving the offensive head coach carte blanc to recruit his half of the players as he sees fit.

I want him to impose his scrappy demeanor on all of his players and I want people to know that when you draw the Texas straw you are going to get your ass kicked all day long, regardless of the outcome.

And finally, once things get rolling in the right direction I want him to win, a lot.

 
But it begs the question - what has he done or not done that makes everyone so mad at him?

1.  Is it because everyone thinks this team should have won at least 7 - 8 games?

For me, that's part of it. Texas Football regressed this year and not just its overall record. If you're gonna say, "Texas will never finish 6-6 again under my watch" you'd better back it up.

2.  Is it because he didn't go get a JUCO QB?

It's because his hand-picked coaches (mostly Watson) did a poor job preparing and developing the QBs we've got. Yeah, it's fun to watch Swoopes in the "18-Wheeler" package. But, has he improved as a passer or game manager? I guess we'll see against Baylor. He didn't look any better against Tech in our base offense.

3.  Is it because he is not running an offense to suit everyone?

If he were really on top of things, he would've replaced Watson last year with a Cumbie or Meacham. But, he trusted a West Coast guy to implement a Spread-type offense he wasn't well-versed in. Needless to say, Watson didn't. Norvell, Traylor, and Wickline have been scrambling ever since to coach 'em up.

4.  Is it because his asst. coaches were/are no good?

Yes, mostly this - especially Watson. Strong demonstrated poor judgement

5.  Is it because he is not articulate?

He speaks well enough, but lacks polish. IMO, he doesn't appear comfortable in front of the camera as often as he's required to do it for UT and LHN. He's certainly not the charmer Mack Brown was, but then who is?

My real concern is he's not nearly as smart or innovative as other coaches, such as MENSA member Tom Herman. I'd hate to miss out on a potential superstar for a blue-collar coach who hasn't shown much in the two years he's been here. Yeah, I know Herman has only one year under his belt as HC. But, I doubt he's the fool's gold Sumlin is/was. He seems to have more substance, less "swag".

A few of his coaches, however, were out of their league coaching at the University of Texas.

Sorry, but I'm beginning to think Strong's in over his head too. I'll support him as long as he's at UT, but my enthusiasm for Texas Football has waned. Give me a reason to be excited again.

 
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Wasn't speaking to that on a personal level. Just don't believe he brings much value, professionally.
You didn't feel that way when you were a member there and a sponsor. Sounds like you are bitter or have an issue with him but whatever I like OB well as all the sites I am on.

 
IMO JB, the reason everyone is mad at him is because Texas is losing.

Apparently a large portion of the fanbase thought Texas should be able to plug in a coach and We're Texas again.

They haven't come to the conclusion that being in the upper tier of CFB takes a lot of dedication from a lot of people and it takes time.

With all of the inherent advantages that Texas has, they still have to amass a quality coaching staff, recruit a bunch of excellent players who are willing to be coached and improve and at some point they are going to need the fanbase to show some faith.

 
He speaks well enough, but lacks polish. IMO, he doesn't appear comfortable in front of the camera as often as he's required to do it for UT and LHN. He's certainly not the charmer Mack Brown was, but then who is?

Who would you consider to be the best coaches in CFB? Nick Saban? Urban Meyer? They are absolute assholes to deal with and certainly the exact opposite of articulate. What about the NFL? Bill Belichick? More like Bill Beliprick.

 
He speaks well enough, but lacks polish. IMO, he doesn't appear comfortable in front of the camera as often as he's required to do it for UT and LHN. He's certainly not the charmer Mack Brown was, but then who is?

Who would you consider to be the best coaches in CFB? Nick Saban? Urban Meyer? They are absolute assholes to deal with and certainly the exact opposite of articulate. What about the NFL? Bill Belichick? More like Bill Beliprick.
Good point

None of those guys are politicians either, but is this brusque style a fit at Texas? Our most successful coaches were certainly good at schmoozing; DKR, Akers, Mack, etc. Maybe it should just be in the job description for a UT head coach?

 
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You didn't feel that way when you were a member there and a sponsor. Sounds like you are bitter or have an issue with him but whatever I like OB well as all the sites I am on.
Ketch is nothing more than an irrational quick fisted shock jock. His mouth draws embarrassment to our program on an annual basis. If you truly find value in what he has to say, then I can finally understand why you've been saying the things you're saying about our program.

 
I like how people are like "Oh not Hurtt, he would draw bad publicity and make me question Strong" when they were soiling their pants over the idea of getting Urban Meyer a few years back.

 
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