BevoBlake
That Design Guy
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2013
- Messages
- 3,038
Let's be honest, for many of us, it's been a beating to visit the board and deal with all of the pessimistic posters going off about our current recruiting situation. And hey, it's very easy to look at the number #14 or #13 and feel underwhelmed when it comes to Texas' Recruiting Ranking. But if you dare to look beyond the numbers, I think you'd see that this was a really good recruiting year for Texas. Given everything that Texas has been through this season, nobody should have expected them to maintain a Top 15 Recruiting Class. Let's take a look at some of the key moments this year:
September 8th - After a terrible showing in a loss against BYU, Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz is fired.
September 14th - Texas drops their 2nd straight game after a blowout against Ole Miss and rumors of Mack's departure begin to pick up.
September 19th - Recruits are seeing a story about Nick Saban being contacted by Texas about the Head Coach Job in January.
October 12th - Texas has rattled off three straight victories and has just defeated rival Oklahoma convincingly. Mack's future is swaying back to promising.
November 9th - Texas has now put together a six game winning streak to bring their record to 7-2. ESPN analysts are beginning to quiet on Mack's possible departure.
November 16th - Texas experiences a demoralizing loss to Oklahoma State and rumors of a new coaching staff begin to run rampant.
December 7th - Rumors have been circulating for weeks, even after a win against Tech, about Mack's departure. Yet Texas is in the Big XII Championship game against Baylor. Which they lose quickly.
December 14th - After a week of speculation and sitting in the dark, Mack Brown announces he will be retiring after the Oregon game.
December 30th - Sixteen days have passed but there has been no clarification on who the new Texas Head Coach will be. Texas loses badly to Oregon in the Alamo Bowl.
January 4th - Former University of Louisville Coach, Charlie Strong, accepts the Head Coach job at Texas.
January 5th-28th - Various members of the coaching staff are either fired or hired.
January 14th - News breaks about very strict and strenuous rules that will now be taking place in the Texas Football Program.
Now dare I ask a question of which we should all know the answer. What other school in the country could go through that much in a season and still maintain a Top 15 Recruiting Class? Simply put, none. So the worst spot Texas finished in a Recruiting Ranking was 14th... big deal. That simply shows that once Strong and Co. have their feet firmly planted into the 40 Acres, Texas is going to ascend back to Top 5 status. How many people actually looked at the 13 schools that finished ahead of us in that ranking? Two of those teams, Florida State and Auburn, played in a National Championship game. One of those schools, Alabama, has won three National Championships in the last few years. Two of those schools, LSU and Florida, sit in the States that had arguably the 1st and 3rd most influential recruits this year. And another two schools, Notre Dame and Ohio State, are two of the most recognizable programs in College Football. That leaves you with the following schools ahead of you:
#3 Texas A&M: Aggie benefited greatly from the unease and uncertainty in Austin. And a recruiting surge is to be expected, given the recently developed excitement in their program.
#4 Tennessee: Most years Texas doesn't lose to a Tennessee but outside of three schools, everyone did. They had a good year.
#8 Miami: Another recognizable program that is always going to pull in recruits. But you could make a case for Texas needing to top them.
#9 Georgia: Arguably the best team in the SEC this year had it not been for a series of crippling injuries.
#12 Clemson: Another school that Texas should typically top but so long as they have the most sought after Offensive Coordinator, recruits are going to stack up.
#13 Kentucky: This is the only school ahead of Texas that actually left me a little perplexed. Texas should beat Kentucky ever year.
What I just provided you aren't excuses, they're facts. And those who choose to ignore them and instead continue their bashing of the Coaching Staff and their recruiting efforts, are simply acting incompetent. We're fortunate to have been able to form a recruiting class that could be considered Top 15 after everything the program has been through this year, not to mention the program's failures over the past three years. This is the reality that comes along with a major program change like the one Texas just experienced. It blows my mind that many on this board seemed to think that once the Coach was named, everything would be sunshine and daisies. We all knew weeks ago that we'd lose recruits. 2014 is going to be our Freshman year. Get excited about the Burnt Orange now so you aren't looking like a bandwagon fan when this team is competing for a National Championship again.
September 8th - After a terrible showing in a loss against BYU, Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz is fired.
September 14th - Texas drops their 2nd straight game after a blowout against Ole Miss and rumors of Mack's departure begin to pick up.
September 19th - Recruits are seeing a story about Nick Saban being contacted by Texas about the Head Coach Job in January.
October 12th - Texas has rattled off three straight victories and has just defeated rival Oklahoma convincingly. Mack's future is swaying back to promising.
November 9th - Texas has now put together a six game winning streak to bring their record to 7-2. ESPN analysts are beginning to quiet on Mack's possible departure.
November 16th - Texas experiences a demoralizing loss to Oklahoma State and rumors of a new coaching staff begin to run rampant.
December 7th - Rumors have been circulating for weeks, even after a win against Tech, about Mack's departure. Yet Texas is in the Big XII Championship game against Baylor. Which they lose quickly.
December 14th - After a week of speculation and sitting in the dark, Mack Brown announces he will be retiring after the Oregon game.
December 30th - Sixteen days have passed but there has been no clarification on who the new Texas Head Coach will be. Texas loses badly to Oregon in the Alamo Bowl.
January 4th - Former University of Louisville Coach, Charlie Strong, accepts the Head Coach job at Texas.
January 5th-28th - Various members of the coaching staff are either fired or hired.
January 14th - News breaks about very strict and strenuous rules that will now be taking place in the Texas Football Program.
Now dare I ask a question of which we should all know the answer. What other school in the country could go through that much in a season and still maintain a Top 15 Recruiting Class? Simply put, none. So the worst spot Texas finished in a Recruiting Ranking was 14th... big deal. That simply shows that once Strong and Co. have their feet firmly planted into the 40 Acres, Texas is going to ascend back to Top 5 status. How many people actually looked at the 13 schools that finished ahead of us in that ranking? Two of those teams, Florida State and Auburn, played in a National Championship game. One of those schools, Alabama, has won three National Championships in the last few years. Two of those schools, LSU and Florida, sit in the States that had arguably the 1st and 3rd most influential recruits this year. And another two schools, Notre Dame and Ohio State, are two of the most recognizable programs in College Football. That leaves you with the following schools ahead of you:
#3 Texas A&M: Aggie benefited greatly from the unease and uncertainty in Austin. And a recruiting surge is to be expected, given the recently developed excitement in their program.
#4 Tennessee: Most years Texas doesn't lose to a Tennessee but outside of three schools, everyone did. They had a good year.
#8 Miami: Another recognizable program that is always going to pull in recruits. But you could make a case for Texas needing to top them.
#9 Georgia: Arguably the best team in the SEC this year had it not been for a series of crippling injuries.
#12 Clemson: Another school that Texas should typically top but so long as they have the most sought after Offensive Coordinator, recruits are going to stack up.
#13 Kentucky: This is the only school ahead of Texas that actually left me a little perplexed. Texas should beat Kentucky ever year.
What I just provided you aren't excuses, they're facts. And those who choose to ignore them and instead continue their bashing of the Coaching Staff and their recruiting efforts, are simply acting incompetent. We're fortunate to have been able to form a recruiting class that could be considered Top 15 after everything the program has been through this year, not to mention the program's failures over the past three years. This is the reality that comes along with a major program change like the one Texas just experienced. It blows my mind that many on this board seemed to think that once the Coach was named, everything would be sunshine and daisies. We all knew weeks ago that we'd lose recruits. 2014 is going to be our Freshman year. Get excited about the Burnt Orange now so you aren't looking like a bandwagon fan when this team is competing for a National Championship again.
