DE Erick Fowler commits to LSU

[Eastexhorn]

you worry for me.

The term worry is just a figure of speach. Long ago I quit worring about sporting events unless I was playing or coaching.

 

[primal defense]

We all understand the hand Strong was dealt last year, but there were also some self inflicted problems. Special teams didn't even try to run back punts or kickoffs. I think the team averaged 13 total yards a game in punt returns. That should be per return, not per game. The team didn't even bother trying. Same with kickoffs - no one even tried. A Charlie Strong coached team with one entire aspect of the game where the team didn't even try. I still don't understand how against UCLA on 4th down with the game on the line and a qb lacking in both confidence and experience that Watson decides to run the play instead of calling they last time out to make sure everyone was on the same page. There were serious coaching issues last year.

I am guessing we go 6-6 again this year and there is no way in hell we are even going to be competitive against ND. The only serious decision Brian Kelly is going to have to make in that game is going to be how many backups he wants to get into the game and how early to play them. Last year, the Horns were a one dimensional team - defense only. No offense whatsoever, no special teams whatsoever and based on the TCU and Arky debacles, no season end development whatsoever. With no qb and no offensive line again this year, and with at best special teams playing at the level of a average mid-major squad, Texas is not going to even be competitive against ND. Probably not OU, TCU or Baylor, either. If Texas can't compete against Cal, then West Virginia and Kansas State are probably losses, also.

The absolute upside this season is probably 8-5. The realistic downside is 4-8. You simply can't win in college football, and especially not in the Big 12, with no quarterback and no offensive line.

Well Duke it's June and you've decided we are going to be awful this season and we don't have a chance against Notre Dame. You may be correct, but your past predictions along with your gloom and doom since CS took over   leads me to believe that your posts sounds like:

 

[primal defense]

I'm not counting losses. I am making note that the elite players in Texas that Coach Strong has extended offers to are not wanting to play for him. That simply has to change for Texas to have a good program again.

At Louisville, Coach Strong did extremely well at coaching up 3-star players to compete against other mid-major programs. He now has to show he can coach up 3-star players to compete against a solid schedule of P5 programs. It is a legitimate question whether he has the ability to coach a winning program playing against P5 teams. To compete at that level takes elite talent. I am extremely worried that Coach Strong seemed to concede special teams last year and did not even choose to have the team try in that aspect of the game. You can't win if you have no offense and don't even try on special teams (and before you bring up Traylor's name, as what times during the season last year did you say to yourself the special teams were only one high school coach away from being an elite unit?)

I am also quite concerned that Shawn Watson lacks the ability to outscheme P5 defensive coordinators. Last year I absolutely expressed the opinion that Shawn Watson lacked the ability to lead the Texas offense. I was absolutely correct in my opinion. Last year, not only did the Texas offense embarrass the fans and alumni, it failed to mature and develop as the season went on. Swoopes simply is not a D1 quarterback. Evidently, Heard is not developing as a D1 qb either. Shawn Watson has to show he has the ability to coach an offense against better than mid-major level defensive schemes and mid-major level defensive talent. I don't think he has it and I think he will be the one who drags the team down to at best a 6-6 record. This fall, Texas simply will have a horrendous offense and, at best, mediocre special teams. There doesn't seem any hope for any better than that. We will again get humiliated in multiple games. I hate to say it, but it looks to be the reality we are going to have to endure. How Coach Strong convinced recruits to come to Texas after this season remains to be seen.

 

[primal defense]

UT has no offense and has no special teams capabilities. No.player is going to flip from Bama, LSU or TCU to play for Texas until and unless Coach Strong shows he can handle coaching more than just a mid-major program. Shit like not having the team captains prepared to handle the coin flip simply can't happen again. Debacles like what happened against TCU and Arky simply can't happen. Quite frankly, there needs to be a lot of improvement in coaching that has to occur before UT will be able to recruit at a high level. For me, the Cal game is the telling game for this season. If Texas can't compete against Cal, this season will be another disaster and the recruiting wheels fall off.

 

[Randolph Duke]

Well Duke it's June and you've decided we are going to be awful this season and we don't have a chance against Notre Dame. You may be correct, but your past predictions along with your gloom and doom since CS took over leads me to believe that your posts sounds like:

Last year I got called out for being a troll because I thought the Horns would go 6-6. I'm a realist. The defense is no problem. Special teams last year was an abomination and Shawn Watson is a liability, not an elite strategist.
By the Cal game, the Horns should be able to demonstrate they can compete against mediocre competition. It's that simple. Texas isn't going to be competitive against solid programs. There is nothing to indicate the team has markedly improved over what we saw from the TCU and Arky games. There were zero positives to take away from either of those games and the weaknesses the team endured during those debacles will still be present this coming year. Swoopes simply isn't a D1 qb. There is no getting around that and there is no building a team that does better than 6-6 with an OC who is second rate and a qb who can't handle D1 competition. It's that brutally simple.

 

[streettopeschel]

The term worry is just a figure of speach. Long ago I quit worring about sporting events unless I was playing or coaching.

good strategy. I'm with you.

 

[primal defense]

Last year I got called out for being a troll because I thought the Horns would go 6-6. I'm a realist. The defense is no problem. Special teams last year was an abomination and Shawn Watson is a liability, not an elite strategist.

By the Cal game, the Horns should be able to demonstrate they can compete against mediocre competition. It's that simple. Texas isn't going to be competitive against solid programs. There is nothing to indicate the team has markedly improved over what we saw from the TCU and Arky games. There were zero positives to take away from either of those games and the weaknesses the team endured during those debacles will still be present this coming year. Swoopes simply isn't a D1 qb. There is no getting around that and there is no building a team that does better than 6-6 with an OC who is second rate and a qb who can't handle D1 competition. It's that brutally simple.

Of course were going to bad this year, also bad in 2016 and in 2017. After 2017 we can fire Charlie Strong and start the process to have a good team again. That's your position every since we hired Charlie Strong. That's the difference between the two of us, I believe Charlie Strong is still going to be a success at UT and you decided from the moment he was hired that he would be a failure.

 I look at the majority of your posts as your a five year old child throwing a temper tantrum since you didn't get the coach you wanted. You've been angry ever since we hired CS and you post selective facts to prove your point. I don't like your phoniness of pretending your rooting for CS, but it's breaks your heart to post he just can't do the job. Your post a couple of months ago that you were in favor of the Charlie Strong hire at the beginning which was a lie. I can understand that you want other members to think your a fair man when it come to the UT football coach, but Duke you are not a fair man!

Utisdabomb12 brought up some good points, but I knew he was wasting his time because you have a closed mind when it comes to CS. You can't reason with a 5 year child throwing a temper tantrum. Especially since you have a clear agenda to post only negative selective facts so you continue your anti Charlie Strong agenda.

When it comes to realistic post on UT football, I've found Aggie Mike's post to be more realistic than yours. However, I do support your right to post your negative angry anti CS bias under the guise of a concerned UT football fan.

 

[primal defense]

double post

 

[Randolph Duke]

The bookies are making the over/under on wins for the Horns this year at 6. Obviously, I am not the only one who is expecting very little out of the team this fall. I wish the outlook for the team wasn't so mediocre, but it is what it is. There was even a quote from one of the recruits who was on campus over the weekend saying the coaches want to compete for a championship in 2017 and the coaches were selling him on the possibility of being part of it. 2017. I'm not being anti or pro Charlie Strong. I'm pointing out obvious issues with the team. 6-6 looks very reasonable for this year with the risk that injuries again bring the team to fewer than 6 wins. If you think differently, then bet the over on total wins. It would be free money.

I'm not anti Charlie Strong. I'm anti Shawn Watson. I think Watson lacks the ability to strategize against defenses whose fastest players run sub-5 40s. Against mid-major defenses, Watson can do well. He isn't up to the job at the level he is at. I'm also horribly disappointed on special teams last season the team didn't even try. Losing is one thing, but I don't expect a Charlie Strong team to not even try.

There is a lot of room for improvement this is season. Hopefully, we see that the team is improving. Like I said, the Cal game will tell me a lot. The Horns should be competitive against teams the caliber of Cal.

And being realistic and brutally honest isn't being anti-Charlie Strong. It's just bring honest. Offense and special teams sucked at the end of last season. There should have been some sense of improvement as the season progressed. With the bookies placing the o/u at 6 wins, I'm comfortable with my assessment of the situation.

 

[primal defense]

The bookies are making the over/under on wins for the Horns this year at 6. Obviously, I am not the only one who is expecting very little out of the team this fall. I wish the outlook for the team wasn't so mediocre, but it is what it is. There was even a quote from one of the recruits who was on campus over the weekend saying the coaches want to compete for a championship in 2017 and the coaches were selling him on the possibility of being part of it. 2017. I'm not being anti or pro Charlie Strong. I'm pointing out obvious issues with the team. 6-6 looks very reasonable for this year with the risk that injuries again bring the team to fewer than 6 wins. If you think differently, then bet the over on total wins. It would be free money.

I'm not anti Charlie Strong. I'm anti Shawn Watson. I think Watson lacks the ability to strategize against defenses whose fastest players run sub-5 40s. Against mid-major defenses, Watson can do well. He isn't up to the job at the level he is at. I'm also horribly disappointed on special teams last season the team didn't even try. Losing is one thing, but I don't expect a Charlie Strong team to not even try.

There is a lot of room for improvement this is season. Hopefully, we see that the team is improving. Like I said, the Cal game will tell me a lot. The Horns should be competitive against teams the caliber of Cal.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

The bookies are making the over/under on wins for the Horns this year at 6. Obviously, I am not the only one who is expecting very little out of the team this fall. I wish the outlook for the team wasn't so mediocre, but it is what it is. There was even a quote from one of the recruits who was on campus over the weekend saying the coaches want to compete for a championship in 2017 and the coaches were selling him on the possibility of being part of it. 2017. I'm not being anti or pro Charlie Strong. I'm pointing out obvious issues with the team. 6-6 looks very reasonable for this year with the risk that injuries again bring the team to fewer than 6 wins. If you think differently, then bet the over on total wins. It would be free money.

Troll

Yahoo! I predict a robust 7-5 this season, but I'm an optimist. Easy money, RD!

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

...A&M missed on all of the top guys at LB and DB other than Pryor and Dunning. I don't see either program upgrading at positions that will slow the bleeding and patch the depth chart. Those are cold hard facts, none of this PR stuff that both fanbases have been fluffing up in the offseason. 

A&M has a top 15 class with little help to get the porous defense back to speed in the back 7. Texas has a top 15 class that does little to solve the offensive woes that plagued the 2014 season and doesn't address the increasingly obvious depth issue on the defensive line. 

Meanwhile, TCU and Baylor are quietly putting pieces together and building strong 2016 classes while LSU and Bama are taking high-end talent out of the state in bunches.

Yep

Debating which football team is better this season is like choosing the winner in an ugly girls pageant. Mediocrity is in the forecast for both.

 

[Randolph Duke]

Sometimes I have to laugh at segments of the fanbase. Exactly what about the TCU or Arky games last season lead anyone to believe the offense or special teams were improving in any way? Did Swoopes look like a D1 quarterback in either of those games? Does anyone think Swoopes is going to be materially better this year than he was during the bowl game after a season under Shawn Watson's guidance? Can anyone name the strongest aspect of UT's special teams?

Last season when I said 6-6, people called me anti-Charlie Strong and said I was a troll. But I was spot on. This year, I am guessing 6-6 again and the bookies seem to agree with me. Obviously, a number of other people are seeing things a lot like I am. The reality is that Horns have glaring weaknesses in coaching on offense and special teams. We will see if magic happens and all the team's problems evaporate. I don't think college football works like that. If it makes people feel better to ignore the glaring weaknesses in the team and attribute my lack of confidence in the offense and special teams on an anti-Charlie Strong bias, then tell yourself what you have to to make yourself feel better. I personally am not sure if Coach Strong is going to be a success at UT or not. I'm looking at things one year at a time. The biggest risk to his success at UT is whether he sticks with Shawn Watson or not. I'd like to see Coach Strong do well, but he made a huge mistake in bringing Watson in as OC. I also think Coach Strong's willingness to abandon special teams play by simply calling for a fair catch on practically every kick return is beyond belief and a coaching failure.

Go back and watch last year's TCU and Arky debacles. This year's defense will most likely be better than last year's. The offense, however, is going to essentially be no better than what we had at the end of last season and the strategist who put together the offense for the TCU and Arky games is unfortunately still in charge of the offense this year. Special teams must improve. Last year's lack of effort was just unacceptable. The only hope I have for the Horns to win 8 games is if Watson puts Locksley in as qb and he makes things happen, and I don't see that happening. Swoopes simply isn't a D1 qb and if Heard is incapable of outperforming Swoopes, Locksley is the only hope the team has.

 

[primal defense]

Sometimes I have to laugh at segments of the fanbase. Exactly what about the TCU or Arky games last season lead anyone to believe the offense or special teams were improving in any way? Did Swoopes look like a D1 quarterback in either of those games? Does anyone think Swoopes is going to be materially better this year than he was during the bowl game after a season under Shawn Watson's guidance? Can anyone name the strongest aspect of UT's special teams?

Last season when I said 6-6, people called me anti-Charlie Strong and said I was a troll. But I was spot on. This year, I am guessing 6-6 again and the bookies seem to agree with me. Obviously, a number of other people are seeing things a lot like I am. The reality is that Horns have glaring weaknesses in coaching on offense and special teams. We will see if magic happens and all the team's problems evaporate. I don't think college football works like that. If it makes people feel better to ignore the glaring weaknesses in the team and attribute my lack of confidence in the offense and special teams on an anti-Charlie Strong bias, then tell yourself what you have to to make yourself feel better. I personally am not sure if Coach Strong is going to be a success at UT or not. I'm looking at things one year at a time. The biggest risk to his success at UT is whether he sticks with Shawn Watson or not. I'd like to see Coach Strong do well, but he made a huge mistake in bringing Watson in as OC. I also think Coach Strong's willingness to abandon special teams play by simply calling for a fair catch on practically every kick return is beyond belief and a coaching failure.

Go back and watch last year's TCU and Arky debacles. This year's defense will most likely be better than last year's. The offense, however, is going to essentially be no better than what we had at the end of last season and the strategist who put together the offense for the TCU and Arky games is unfortunately still in charge of the offense this year. Special teams must improve. Last year's lack of effort was just unacceptable. The only hope I have for the Horns to win 8 games is if Watson puts Locksley in as qb and he makes things happen, and I don't see that happening. Swoopes simply isn't a D1 qb and if Heard is incapable of outperforming Swoopes, Locksley is the only hope the team has.

LOL you were posting that Charlie Strong was a bad hire before he hired Watson as OC.

 

[primal defense]

I'm not counting losses. I am making note that the elite players in Texas that Coach Strong has extended offers to are not wanting to play for him. That simply has to change for Texas to have a good program again.

At Louisville, Coach Strong did extremely well at coaching up 3-star players to compete against other mid-major programs. He now has to show he can coach up 3-star players to compete against a solid schedule of P5 programs. It is a legitimate question whether he has the ability to coach a winning program playing against P5 teams. To compete at that level takes elite talent. I am extremely worried that Coach Strong seemed to concede special teams last year and did not even choose to have the team try in that aspect of the game. You can't win if you have no offense and don't even try on special teams (and before you bring up Traylor's name, as what times during the season last year did you say to yourself the special teams were only one high school coach away from being an elite unit?)

I am also quite concerned that Shawn Watson lacks the ability to outscheme P5 defensive coordinators. Last year I absolutely expressed the opinion that Shawn Watson lacked the ability to lead the Texas offense. I was absolutely correct in my opinion. Last year, not only did the Texas offense embarrass the fans and alumni, it failed to mature and develop as the season went on. Swoopes simply is not a D1 quarterback. Evidently, Heard is not developing as a D1 qb either. Shawn Watson has to show he has the ability to coach an offense against better than mid-major level defensive schemes and mid-major level defensive talent. I don't think he has it and I think he will be the one who drags the team down to at best a 6-6 record. This fall, Texas simply will have a horrendous offense and, at best, mediocre special teams. There doesn't seem any hope for any better than that. We will again get humiliated in multiple games. I hate to say it, but it looks to be the reality we are going to have to endure. How Coach Strong convinced recruits to come to Texas after this season remains to be seen.

Good straw man argument,  I must admit not once last year did I say to myself that the special teams is only high school coach away from being an elite unit.

You turned a positive of CS hiring a new special teams coach and most experts considered the Jeff Traylor hire as a good hire. However, you can see through that and that  Charlie Strong hired only a high school coach.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

 I personally am not sure if Coach Strong is going to be a success at UT or not. I'm looking at things one year at a time. The biggest risk to his success at UT is whether he sticks with Shawn Watson or not. I'd like to see Coach Strong do well, but he made a huge mistake in bringing Watson in as OC. I also think Coach Strong's willingness to abandon special teams play by simply calling for a fair catch on practically every kick return is beyond belief and a coaching failure.

I'd like to see UT make a run at one of TCU's co-OCs, Cumbie or Meacham, if we suck on offense again this year. But I recommended that after last season, so WTF do I know? IMO, both the O-Line and QB need to play significantly better to have a winning season.

Go back and watch last year's TCU and Arky debacles. This year's defense will most likely be better than last year's.

IDK about this, but one area the D can improve on immediately is forced turnovers. We lost a number of key pieces on defense - Brown, Reed, Hicks, Thompson, Diggs, etc. Guys need to step up, but this is Strong's specialty. It's not as worrisome as the offense, for sure. 

 

[primal defense]

Evidently, Heard is not developing as a D1 qb either

. The only hope I have for the Horns to win 8 games is if Watson puts Locksley in as qb and he makes things happen, and I don't see that happening. Swoopes simply isn't a D1 qb and if Heard is incapable of outperforming Swoopes, Locksley is the only hope the team has.

Please provide a link that it is being reported that Heard is not developing as a D1 QB and will be of no use this year. Since you decided that Heard is useless this year, I would like to see where that is being reported besides inside your head.

Without a link then I chalk this up as more of your

 

[java]

Can any of you guys that know and understand football (hint: I'm not looking at RD) tell the little lady why Strong might not have wanted Diggs or Ship to do more than fair catch? Could it be because we had a decimated roster due to injury and dismissal?

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Can any of you guys that know and understand football (hint: I'm not looking at RD) tell the little lady why Strong might not have wanted Diggs or Ship to do more than fair catch? Could it be because we had a decimated roster due to injury and dismissal?

That's the only logical explanation for their reluctance to return scrimmage kicks. Otherwise, Diggs and Shipley weren't good punt returners. Maybe both?

Reminds of the "Why doesn't Swoopes keep it more often on zone reads?" debate.

 

[java]

That is the only reasonable explanation that I have, as well.  Diggs and Ship not good punt returners?  Diggs was good in prior years, and I can't imagine Ship not being good at returning punts.  That just doesn't wash.  Ship was playing hurt, as it was, and his knees...well, you know the drill on that.

Thanks for the info, JB.

Hook 'em!