Offensive lineman Strong/Wickline inherited

[utisdabomb12]

1) Espinosa-injured after 1 game under Strong, then retired.
2) Hughes-nicknamed "No Contact At All". Transferred and isn't even playing football anymore.
3) Harrison-kicked off the team. Isn't playing football anymore.
4) Hammad-transferred. Kicked out at Baylor because he was stalking women.
5) Cochran-retired at the end of '13.
6) Estelle-Dismissed from Texas. Started 1 game at South Alabama.
7) Riser-Transfer. Started 6 games at Sam Houston State last year.
8) James-currently at Auburn. Described as "underwhelming" in the Spring. http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/...camp/87937300/
9) Raulerson-transferred. Currently at Arkansas.
10) Flowers-undrafted. Wasn't even signed as a UFA that I know of.
11) Hutchins-Undrafted. Wasn't even signed as a UFA that I know of.
12) Doyle-Undrafted. Wasn't even signed as a UFA that I know of.
13) Perkins. An above average tackle, very good guard. Probably the only decent player Mack left Strong on the offensive line.

I might be forgetting someone, so essentially Mack left 13 OL. Only 1 could really even be considered above average (Perkins). Mack didn't leave a single OL that's made an All Big 12 team. Not even 2nd team.

The more I look at this, the more I feel sympathy for Wickline. This is not only bad this is an absolute joke. 

I finally have some hope with 2 FR All Americans (Vahe and Williams) from Strong's first recruiting class. 

 

[tejasrulz]

I know some hate to hear this but Mack left a mess. While I will forever be grateful for the 2005 season, it was time for him to retire.

 

[Daniel Seahorn]

Absolutely brutal when you lay it out like that. Stuff like that should never happen at a place like Texas.

 

[ah-blong]

Mack didn't leave

. . . soon enough.

thanks for that overview.  i knew it was bad but not like you lay it out here.

gotta give wick his due for giving us as good lineplay as could be hoped for and for bringing in some guys who can play this game.

i've seen it said that charlie expected to push a button or two and the win machine here would start up.  i wonder if he would have taken the job if he had known how bad it was.  o-line wasn't the only under-recruited position but might have been the most important.  i think he would come anyway.  this place is right for him.

 

[gmcc]

In my opinion, UTbomb's post is required study, before there is any consideration of terminating Strong before his 5 year contract expires.  Towards the end of Mack's time here, in addition to our OL's poor play, I remember how difficult it seemed to be for our DL and Linebackers to get off blocks and make tackles.  I thought then that our opponents were getting away with a lot of holding, but I now believe we were just extremely short of talented players.  Having seen the Orange/White game this year, I thought as I walked out in the rain, how much raw talent was on the field- ability I have Not seen at Texas in a long time.  Go Horns.

 

[North Texas Golfer]

In my opinion, UTbomb's post is required study, before there is any consideration of terminating Strong before his 5 year contract expires.  Towards the end of Mack's time here, in addition to our OL's poor play, I remember how difficult it seemed to be for our DL and Linebackers to get off blocks and make tackles.  I thought then that our opponents were getting away with a lot of holding, but I now believe we were just extremely short of talented players.  Having seen the Orange/White game this year, I thought as I walked out in the rain, how much raw talent was on the field- ability I have Not seen at Texas in a long time.  Go Horns.

But just think what Saban could have done with those guys 

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

In my opinion, UTbomb's post is required study, before there is any consideration of terminating Strong before his 5 year contract expires. Towards the end of Mack's time here, in addition to our OL's poor play, I remember how difficult it seemed to be for our DL and Linebackers to get off blocks and make tackles. I thought then that our opponents were getting away with a lot of holding, but I now believe we wer7e just extremely short of talented players. Having seen the Orange/White game this year, I thought as I walked out in the rain, how much raw talent was on the field- ability I have Not seen at Texas in a long time. Go Horns.

What he said. Beat me to it and probably said it better than I would have.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

Thanks for the leg work on this bomb. A lot of us knew this, but didn't research it to this extent. Really put Charlie's challenges to success in perspective.

 

[ah-blong]

put Charlie's challenges to success in perspective.

agree completely.  also completely agree with gmcc.

it's important to remember that the task had numerous components, and talent deficit was only one of them.  equally challenging, i believe, was the losing attitude around here and the heavy influence of bad behavior from numerous players, many of whom, after transferring, got pitched off their subsequent teams.

this was a fetid cesspool that charlie inherited.  if he can put winning football on the field his third season, i think he will deserve some kind of special award.  that will have been as close to a miracle recovery as i've ever seen, and i've been watching this game since most here were twinkles in daddies' eyes.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I think you have to put an asterisk by Cochran's name. The kid was a player, did everything that was asked of him and did it well. A reoccurring injury made it impossible for him to continue playing. Until that injury, the kid was really coming on.

My nephew was in Cochran's lab group at the science building at UT. He said Cochran really mourned not being able to play again.

 

[dillohorn]

Very telling.

 

[Bear19]

Great work Utis. I knew we were bad but did not realize we were at rock bottom.

Added to the mess Mack left at QB, no wonder we are under .500 the last two years.

 

[oldhorn2]

Bomb....Sorry I cant give you more than a like for this post. Great work!....I doubt if many outside the program ( hell not many on the INSIDE) realized what a shitshow Strong inherited. I am not sure that Strong himself would have come here had he known how bad it was.

 

[coolhorn]

Mack Brown fans (...and there are still some out there.) don't want to hear this, but he was essentially mailing it in after 'Bama beat the Horns for the championship.  That loss cost Mack every bit of his mojo.

From the championship game loss on, Mack had no earthly idea what he wanted his team to look like.  The one smart thing he did do was hire Coach Boom and cede the defense over to him entirely.  Would that Mack could have found an offensive coordinator that he trusted enough to turn loose of the offensive reins.

Recruiting was the one thing that was right in Mack's wheelhouse, but after the 'Bama loss, Brown started repeatedly doing something he'd done even before the '05 championship, namely recruiting low hanging fruit.  I'm no insider, but from '10 on, it struck me that there was very little evaluation of players recruited to UT going on.  Mack let the Baylors, A&M's, and TCU's of this world catch up to and pass UT in recruiting.

The only thing that can be said of Mack's departure is it's a damned shame it didn't happen right after the 'Bama loss.  He let his pride and stubbornness write checks his performance couldn't cash.  Charlie Strong didn't inherit a very warm bed replacing Brown, on the O-line or anywhere else.  Matter of fact, it's pretty amazing that Strong's got the UT talent level back up to where it is in two years.  Suffice to say, Mack Brown's doing what he needs to do these days, being a talking head on television.  Leave the coaching to Charlie.

 

[ah-blong]

Mack Brown fans

actually, as much crap as i throw at mack, you can count me as an mb fan.  you nailed it exactly regarding how mack checked out after the lost title game, but really it was time for him to go prior to then.

when mack came here he was a godsend.  he healed many wounds and got us out of a bad hole.  but, like when you use granny gear to get you out of a mud hole, you don't just stay in that gear.  mack stayed in that gear.

had he retired after the 2005 championship game, he would be a much-less-well-off hero around here right now today.  the way he hung on, sneaked his dopey preferences back into the program, and - as you mention - accepted the easy commits provided they had stars next to their names, he put us into a much deeper hole than he originally got us out of.  for that reason, his name around here is in the truncated cone file over in the corner next to the door.

 

[TexExSpur]

https://texas.forums.rivals.com/threads/bomb-is-alive-and-well.237890/

 

[utisdabomb12]

https://texas.forums.rivals.com/threads/bomb-is-alive-and-well.237890/

I still have so many A&M and OU "friends" over there. 

 

[utisdabomb12]

I missed this. Aaron Garza is transferring from Kansas to Sam Houston State. He couldn't even get reps at Kansas. 

He was an OL Mack was very high on in the '15 recruiting class.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I missed this. Aaron Garza is transferring from Kansas to Sam Houston State. He couldn't even get reps at Kansas. 

He was an OL Mack was very high on in the '15 recruiting class.

Was turned away at North Texas . . .