I like Charlie. A lot.

[bcherry168]

Year One:

• QB transfer falls through, leaving the team with one QB who can run the offense as designed.
• Said QB is lost for the season in season opener.
• Only experienced linemen are either lost for the season in the opener or booted because they belong in rehab.

Year Two:

• Texas starts with literally the most difficult schedule in all of college football. 
• The offensive coordinator forgets the offense he installed and apparently has some bias against Jerrod Heard. (Strong deserves some blame here but only here.)
• A kicker forgets how to kick. A punter forgets how to punt. An official forgets how to be a professional.

The games aren't played in a vacuum. I challenge you to find a head coach who had success in year one who would have still been successful without the two best offensive linemen and with whichever backup quarterback is most different from the starting quarterback. For example, make Kevin Sumlin's Aggies play their first year with Matt Joeckel at QB and no Luke Joeckel or Jake Matthews.

Now look at this year. If you were surprised by Texas' loss to Notre Dame, it's OK to stop reading — you're probably very confused by a lot of things you've read today, and it's not going to get any easier for you. The Longhorns beat a team they should beat (Rice). They lost by a point to a team that was picked to beat them by a touchdown because they missed a PAT. They lost by a field goal to a team that was picked to beat them by a field goal because they couldn't execute a punt and whatever that officiating was.

The best players on the team right now joined the program under Strong, especially the true freshmen. THAT IS NOT NORMAL. THAT SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE. Malik Jefferson should not be the best linebacker on the team. Connor Williams should not be the best lineman. John Burt should not be the best receiver. Vance shouldn't have to put in Holton freaking Hill and Kris Boyd to shore up the secondary. If those 18- and 19-year-olds are better right now than the 21- and 22-year-olds Mack recruited and "coached," how good do you think they'll be in a year? Two years? Three years?

I could keep going but I'm going to take a break. But if you think Charlie should be fired right now, I encourage you to reply and say as much — I assume there's an ignore feature on the site and I'd like for those worth ignoring to announce their presence now.

You made many of the points I would make. This team is so loaded with freshmen and sophomores one must expect a lot of errors. I have heard it said before that for every freshman you start, it will coast you a game. Well, that is playing out so far. This team is a work in progress. There were a lot of positives in the game against Okie Lite, and we learned a lot, even from the defeat. Our defensive secondary should be much better for the rest of the year as a result. We have seen what can happen when Ridgeway is playing at his best.

On offense, we have discovered the limitations of Heard at QB. We now know that we must have a complete offensive scheme rather than relying on Heard's running to bail out otherwise bad plays. Installing an offense to take advantage of Heard's skills is a work in progress, and it is difficult to do in the middle of the season. Hopefully, we can come up with a passing game that will take into account the seriously inadequate offensive line we have, particularly with Perkins out. The run game needs to be north-south. Our backs cannot run east-west well at all. Perhaps Daje can be put in a 2 back set to help that.

Now I am a guy thinking we have a half full glass rather than the opposite. Charlie Strong has so far done a great job of recruiting, and I expect that to continue. Obviously, there are still a lot of holes to fill up. Offensive and defensive linemen are a must for this cycle. Absolute must! Then we need to work on depth.

I cannot predict how many games we will win this year. The offensive line as a unit is just so bad, it will be very difficult to move the ball on many of the teams that remain on our schedule. Our defense is making visible progress, and I think that will continue. Special teams have their ups and downs.

I feel sorry for our punter. A freshman from Australia that has never played football before. Has a great leg, but not much experience under fire. He will learn from that.

As an aside, he is not the first (or the last) punter to do that at Texas. Back in 1950, with Texas holding on to a 13-7 lead over Oklahoma  late in the fourth quarter, the punter dropped the ball and OU recovered. They went on the score an easy touchdown to win 14-13. OU won the NC that year. Texas was #2 after beating the then #1 SMU later in the season. So that drop cost us a National Championship. So don't anybody be hard on this kid. He will be fine.

 

[tejasrulz]

ESPN just stated it looked like the ref bumped Strong, not the other way around. CBS sports even wrote an article (weak writing though) with the title stating the same. This may be getting the attention it needs. Will be interesting to see what happens from it.

 

[bcherry168]

Judge...when you quoted Street...you left out that part of Street's post that said ..."

I like Charlie. A lot.

And then Street went on to just post some mild commentary that I took to mean..."hey..'''if I didn't like Charlie so much, I'd be a little upset about the way things have been going". I agreed with him.

It's rare rare rare that I disagree with your posts, but this is one of those occasions in which I think you've been totally unfair with your criticism of what is actually just mild commentary on what's happened over the last year and a half.

If you want to be pissed at someone..it ought not be Street (or me).. There is other stuff being posted that is not less than 10 times as critical of Charley as what Street posted.  

You are right, of course. Our record is a result of having to play kids that  either aren't very good, or are very inexperienced. I like Charlie, and am a bit too sensitive when folks immediately want to blame the coach. Our losses have not been a result of poor coaching, but of lack of experienced talent. The best talent for the most part are freshmen and sophomores, with only a few exceptions. It is very difficult to win with that combination, whoever the coach may be.

SHA is right to counsel patience. We are a couple of years away.

 

[primal defense]

Year One:

• QB transfer falls through, leaving the team with one QB who can run the offense as designed.
• Said QB is lost for the season in season opener.
• Only experienced linemen are either lost for the season in the opener or booted because they belong in rehab.

Year Two:

• Texas starts with literally the most difficult schedule in all of college football. 
• The offensive coordinator forgets the offense he installed and apparently has some bias against Jerrod Heard. (Strong deserves some blame here but only here.)
• A kicker forgets how to kick. A punter forgets how to punt. An official forgets how to be a professional.

The games aren't played in a vacuum. I challenge you to find a head coach who had success in year one who would have still been successful without the two best offensive linemen and with whichever backup quarterback is most different from the starting quarterback. For example, make Kevin Sumlin's Aggies play their first year with Matt Joeckel at QB and no Luke Joeckel or Jake Matthews.

Now look at this year. If you were surprised by Texas' loss to Notre Dame, it's OK to stop reading — you're probably very confused by a lot of things you've read today, and it's not going to get any easier for you. The Longhorns beat a team they should beat (Rice). They lost by a point to a team that was picked to beat them by a touchdown because they missed a PAT. They lost by a field goal to a team that was picked to beat them by a field goal because they couldn't execute a punt and whatever that officiating was.

The best players on the team right now joined the program under Strong, especially the true freshmen. THAT IS NOT NORMAL. THAT SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE. Malik Jefferson should not be the best linebacker on the team. Connor Williams should not be the best lineman. John Burt should not be the best receiver. Vance shouldn't have to put in Holton freaking Hill and Kris Boyd to shore up the secondary. If those 18- and 19-year-olds are better right now than the 21- and 22-year-olds Mack recruited and "coached," how good do you think they'll be in a year? Two years? Three years?

I could keep going but I'm going to take a break. But if you think Charlie should be fired right now, I encourage you to reply and say as much — I assume there's an ignore feature on the site and I'd like for those worth ignoring to announce their presence now.

Also, if you think Charlie should be fired right now then your agreeing with GBT!

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Oh fun. I appreciate your identifying yourselves, guys.

Lol these last two games were lost by lack of discipline and playcalling. Not talent.

Why was Bonney pulled? Why do opposing offenses continue to target Haines and Jinkens? What goes into making an extra point and does it involve talent? Why are the best offensive linemen freshmen? How many Big 12 running backs would start over ours and how many hands do you need to count them?

4th and 12 from the 40...you go for it...Doesn't sound like the guy who made that decision has much understanding of the game....and no it isn't the same as the Pirate's decisions etc...In that situation yesterday...with our team........ YOU PUNT THE BALL !!!!!!!!! They got a field goal because that call. We lived in our end of the field from then on.

Lets not forget THE COACHES said our defensive front was the strongest part of our team......Obviously they don't know much more than the average Joe.

Great argument, except Oklahoma State went three plays for -4 yards after that call. In fact, they had run 14 plays for 30 yards their previous three possessions. And you disagree that our defensive line is the strongest unit of the team — NAME THE UNIT THAT IS STRONGER. 

Ryan Bridges.....Who did Mack have at QB when he nearly  WON the Big 12 ? 

A senior quarterback who had appeared in 21 games and had half a season of starts under his belt. And don't pretend like that's the only difference between that team and this one. That was a team with an offensive line that included two upperclassmen who are on NFL rosters, a veteran catch-everything WR named Jaxon Shipley instead of ... I can't even think of an equivalent on this roster, Mike Davis instead of Marcus Johnson, a pre-Achilles tear Johnathan Gray with Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron, and a defense with I believe seven upperclassmen who are now on NFL rosters (Jeffcoat, Reed, Malcom Brown, Hicks, Diggs, Phillips, Mykkele, Byndom). 

Also, this is fun revisionism. You're going to pretend anyone thought Texas might actually win the Big 12 on merit? Oklahoma State would have finished second were it not for a collapse in Bedlam shortly before the Baylor game. OSU beat Texas 38-13. Texas needed overtime to beat Clint Tricket-less West Virginia. And I don't think anyone believes Texas was actually better than that Oklahoma team they beat — the Oklahoma team that went on to dismantle Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. 

 

[texbound]

You are usually positive, texbound, and we appreciate that.

What we don't know is, did Charlie really do something or say something to draw the flag?...or did an egotistical referee throw it because Charlie had the audacity to question his call? Judging Charlie on that would require a WAG, IMHO.

I agree.  I have no idea what was said during that exchange.  it is unprofessional for the ref to do that instead of walking away.  I've been thrown out of a couple of my HS basketball games because the ref was baiting me whenever he made a call. I got thrown out of a game because I turned to my team and sad, "we're just going to have to fight through this". I guess he took it as if I was saying this is dirty or he sucks.  He gave me two T's and I was done.  I filed a complaint but it didn't matter. I just figured that's at HS and that would not happen at a division 1, nationally televised game.  So I just assumed Strong said something in the heat of the moment.  I should not assume anything.  The jury is still out on that one. 

With all that said, the mismanagement of timeouts at the end, the going for it on 4th and 12 are what stands out to me.  I could understand if it was 4th and 5 or less. I know they didn't do anything after that drive, but we needed to flip the field and punting would've most likely done that. Five million dollars a year is a lot of money to pay someone for not making the right decisions in those situations. I know he didn't drop the snap on the punt, but he did contribute to the loss. I saw a game earlier this year where Petrino at Louisville made some bonehead decisions against Clemson regarding timeouts and it cost them the game.  If I did that at my job I would be reprimanded or possibly fired if I made bonehead decisions.  I’m not saying strong should be fired.  I absolutely like what he is doing, but he does need to be accountable for those decisions.  I’m still positive and will be patient, but Strong is being paid a lot of money to make the right and tough decisions under pressure situations.  It’s a hard job and not many of us can do it (I know I couldn’t), but he knew what he was getting into.  That's all I'm saying.

 

[primal defense]

I guess Charlie needs to do a better job coaching Poona not to hold.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Context, an important thing. 

The 4th down play (it was 4th & 10, btw, in case facts matter in this discussion) came after Oklahoma State's offense had:

• Run 3 plays for -7 yards
• Run 5 plays for 12 yards that ended with a pick-six
• Run 6 plays for 25 yards that ended with a pick

They were not moving the ball, and Rudolph was NOT throwing the ball well. I think his hand was hurt. The announcers did as well. The coaches have eyes and consciousness, so they probably did as well. The OSU offense had not been a threat to anyone but itself. That continued to be the case, by the way — they went three-and-out on the next two series. The field goal mentioned earlier was imaginary. 

And as for flipping the field, Texas was on the OSU 39. There was no field to flip. You might gain 30-35 yards from a punt; more likely it would have been a touchback and you'd gain 14 yards. If you've ever heard of Kevin Kelley, you know why that would be pointless.

I'll entertain an argument that Texas should have punted, but to pretend that call had any affect on the game's outcome is ... let's call it wishful thinking.

 

[BudreauReye]

I guess Charlie needs to do a better job coaching Poona not to hold.

Word placement is everything ... I think he was penalized for BEING held!  Why!  I was penalized when my wife was holding this morning while I was trying to get a little bit more sleep ... oh, Never mind! 

 

[Eastexhorn]

I like Strong as a coach too. Hope he is given time to prove himself. However afraid he will not be around after 2017. Next year will be the same as this year more losses. Look at the OL 3 losses. Who will replace them? They could not replace Perkins the offense what little there was fell apart after he went down.

Reffs was bad but poor coaching decisions cost as much as the refs. IMO Texas has few players who could start or play for good teams. Except for Kansas who do you think where else does anyone see a victory.

 

[utisdabomb12]

Not sure how you can blame Strong for anything after the officiating in that game. Texas wins by double digits if not for the worst officiating I've ever seen.

 

[GBT]

Oh fun. I appreciate your identifying yourselves, guys.

Why was Bonney pulled? Why do opposing offenses continue to target Haines and Jinkens? What goes into making an extra point and does it involve talent? Why are the best offensive linemen freshmen? How many Big 12 running backs would start over ours and how many hands do you need to count them?

Great argument, except Oklahoma State went three plays for -4 yards after that call. In fact, they had run 14 plays for 30 yards their previous three possessions. And you disagree that our defensive line is the strongest unit of the team — NAME THE UNIT THAT IS STRONGER. 

A senior quarterback who had appeared in 21 games and had half a season of starts under his belt. And don't pretend like that's the only difference between that team and this one. That was a team with an offensive line that included two upperclassmen who are on NFL rosters, a veteran catch-everything WR named Jaxon Shipley instead of ... I can't even think of an equivalent on this roster, Mike Davis instead of Marcus Johnson, a pre-Achilles tear Johnathan Gray with Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron, and a defense with I believe seven upperclassmen who are now on NFL rosters (Jeffcoat, Reed, Malcom Brown, Hicks, Diggs, Phillips, Mykkele, Byndom). 

Also, this is fun revisionism. You're going to pretend anyone thought Texas might actually win the Big 12 on merit? Oklahoma State would have finished second were it not for a collapse in Bedlam shortly before the Baylor game. OSU beat Texas 38-13. Texas needed overtime to beat Clint Tricket-less West Virginia. And I don't think anyone believes Texas was actually better than that Oklahoma team they beat — the Oklahoma team that went on to dismantle Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. 

Exactly...Mack beat  a team he had no business beating...I don't see this staff out coaching anyone to win a game we are not supposed to win.

 

[utisdabomb12]

I like Strong as a coach too. Hope he is given time to prove himself. However afraid he will not be around after 2017. Next year will be the same as this year more losses. Look at the OL 3 losses. Who will replace them? They could not replace Perkins the offense what little there was fell apart after he went down.

Reffs was bad but poor coaching decisions cost as much as the refs. IMO Texas has few players who could start or play for good teams. Except for Kansas who do you think where else does anyone see a victory.

We only lose two OL, the two weak links too.

 

[GBT]

Context, an important thing. 

The 4th down play (it was 4th & 10, btw, in case facts matter in this discussion) came after Oklahoma State's offense had:

• Run 3 plays for -7 yards
• Run 5 plays for 12 yards that ended with a pick-six
• Run 6 plays for 25 yards that ended with a pick

They were not moving the ball, and Rudolph was NOT throwing the ball well. I think his hand was hurt. The announcers did as well. The coaches have eyes and consciousness, so they probably did as well. The OSU offense had not been a threat to anyone but itself. That continued to be the case, by the way — they went three-and-out on the next two series. The field goal mentioned earlier was imaginary. 

And as for flipping the field, Texas was on the OSU 39. There was no field to flip. You might gain 30-35 yards from a punt; more likely it would have been a touchback and you'd gain 14 yards. If you've ever heard of Kevin Kelley, you know why that would be pointless.

I'll entertain an argument that Texas should have punted, but to pretend that call had any affect on the game's outcome is ... let's call it wishful thinking.

So why not punt and pin them deep since they had done nothing prior to that 4th down....?

We gave them the ball at the 45 as a result of the play.....instead of the 20...Yes fella the ball comes out to the 20 on a punt. Go check your football rule book.....Had we downed them inside the ten that would be even more yards....As a result of exchanges they started with great field position the rest of the time and getting a FG out of the decision by Strong. COACHING 101 !!!!! 

 

[BevoBlake]

Exactly...Mack beat  a team he had no business beating...I don't see this staff out coaching anyone to win a game we are not supposed to win.

At what point do you admit you're not a Longhorn fan? I don't like to be that guy. But you never post anything that indicates anything positive is going on with a team that is overflowing with things to be positive about. You completely deny and defy all logic. Your posts post-game are always irrational to the extent that they look like comedic content provided for opposing fan boards to use and laugh about. I'm not attacking you. But I'm seriously questioning if you're actually a Longhorn fan who simply can't see logic, or a fan of an opposing team that is here to troll and provide your own team's board content.

 

[UTfish]

At what point do you admit you're not a Longhorn fan? I don't like to be that guy. But you never post anything that indicates anything positive is going on with a team that is overflowing with things to be positive about. You completely deny and defy all logic. Your posts post-game are always irrational to the extent that they look like comedic content provided for opposing fan boards to use and laugh about. I'm not attacking you. But I'm seriously questioning if you're actually a Longhorn fan who simply can't see logic, or a fan of an opposing team that is here to troll and provide your own team's board content.

That.

 

[utisdabomb12]

At what point do you admit you're not a Longhorn fan? I don't like to be that guy. But you never post anything that indicates anything positive is going on with a team that is overflowing with things to be positive about. You completely deny and defy all logic. Your posts post-game are always irrational to the extent that they look like comedic content provided for opposing fan boards to use and laugh about. I'm not attacking you. But I'm seriously questioning if you're actually a Longhorn fan who simply can't see logic, or a fan of an opposing team that is here to troll and provide your own team's board content.

He's an obvious Aggie troll. The fact he hasn't been permanently banned yet is kind of sad.

 

[LHornjack]

Judge...when you quoted Street...you left out that part of Street's post that said ..."

I like Charlie. A lot.

And then Street went on to just post some mild commentary that I took to mean..."hey..'''if I didn't like Charlie so much, I'd be a little upset about the way things have been going". I agreed with him.

It's rare rare rare that I disagree with your posts, but this is one of those occasions in which I think you've been totally unfair with your criticism of what is actually just mild commentary on what's happened over the last year and a half.

If you want to be pissed at someone..it ought not be Street (or me).. There is other stuff being posted that is not less than 10 times as critical of Charley as what Street posted.  

I agree with Street, rooting all the way for him and for the team. However he needs to find a way to maintain that popularity...as it would not be out of the realm for the team to finish as low as 2-10 and to what it appears now, no better than 5-8....

 

[TeamMayhall]

[Tweet = https://twitter.com/Taylor_Gaspar/status/647958741896179712]

 

[mctmatt]

This game left me frustrated and very upset. After reading more on this message board regarding the Refs ,  I can see that Charlie was having to play against two teams yesterday. Charlie though has to leave this game in the past now and let Perrin and others deal with the issue of the Refs.  He has to get this team moving forward up this god awful muddy, slippery, wet mountain. No time to talk about what might have been as another battle is just ahead.  I want Charlie to succeed but if he goes 3 - 9  or 4 - 8 this year I am not sure he will get the chance for a third year.  That is not my wish as I do think we are seeing improvement.