Friday Chat

[Harrison Wier]

Hello, everyone! Hope you are having a fantastic Friday!

As many of you know, Texas Junior Day(s) are coming up. Yes, days. Because of the high volume of attendees, Texas is splitting the camp into 2 days on Saturday and Sunday. Will Bazier and myself will be there and provide you with pictures and (hopefully) some interviews with key prospects. 

In case you missed it, here is the list of attendees this weekend. We will continue to update it, as there will surely be some last-minute RSVPs as well as drop outs. 

Surely, most of you are hoping for a commitment or two this weekend. Although we cannot guarantee anything, there is a good chance that could happen. We will have to stay tuned to see how Tom Herman pulls out the red carpet for these recruits and their families. That is the biggest question mark surrounding Herman with this '18 class. If he can win over a recruit's parents like Charlie Strong did (as well as win some games), this class could be special. 

In other news, I'm loving what I see from the Texas baseball team right now. They are sitting at 3-2 after a dominating 7-2 win over Sam Houston State on Wednesday. The Horns take on UCONN today at 4:00 p.m. at the Disch. I will be in attendance with my father and will provide updates as I can. The biggest change to me is the pitching staff. There is much more confidence coming out of this group than I saw last year, and it shows. The ability to get out of jams and maintain composure is not something we saw last year. David Pierce is doing a fantastic job with this group thus far. 

What are your thoughts heading into the big recruiting weekend? Any concerns about other sports such as Shaka Smart's mens basketball team? Ask away and we will pop in and out all day to answer! Hook 'Em!

 

[streettopeschel]

Any concerns over Shaka Smart and the men's team? Other than the likelihood of losing 22 games and tieing the alltime UT record? Nope, it's all good.

 

[Skyline]

Hope you're having a great Friday, Harrison. I'll fire off some questions since no one else has. 

-What are your thoughts on all of these edits? Have we yet to see the full power of the LHN and the Texas brand being flexed? 

     Edit: I meant in terms of recruiting but you can interpret it however. 

-What should we expect from Fowler next year? 

-Is there a magic number Herman has to reach, in your opinion, to have a "good" or "special" 2017 season? 

-O/U on 3 commits this weekend? 

-EJ Holland said Texas must come away with a commit, do you agree? 

-Any updates on BJ Foster? 

-Harrison, when did you become a fan of UT? 

Cheers y'all. 

 

[Harrison Wier]

Any concerns over Shaka Smart and the men's team? Other than the likelihood of losing 22 games and tieing the alltime UT record? Nope, it's all good.

e
Definitely. I like Shaka, but he's starting to give me an eerily similar feeling that Strong did after year 2. I'm not a huge basketball guy, so I may be pulling the trigger too soon. However, what I'm seeing is players not developing. For example, Roach is the most athletic player in the conference, but isn't utilized in that way. I don't know what it is, but part of me feels that Smart is not going to get it done. I hope I'm wrong. It doesn't help that Andrew Jones and Jarrett Allen could both declare for the draft.

 

[oldhorn2]

Thanks for asking good questions.....hopefully they will bring good answers.

I am completely befuddled as to what to expect from recruiting before the season starts. I really think Texas could pull some great guys , but I dont think a single recruit will believe we will ever win again( nor should they really) until we prove we can win again. These guys were very young when Colt McCoy was making us a National Team to be reckoned with and Vince Young may as well have been Otto Graham as far as these kids know.

I fear we are in a dangerous,dangerous place right now and the only way out is to win big and win big now. Remember when everyone expected Nebraska to be good? How about Notre Dame?....Hell....for that matter, there was once a time when Minnesota was always supposed to be good.

If we dont turn around soon we may have forever lost our chance.

 

[Harrison Wier]

Hope you're having a great Friday, Harrison. I'll fire off some questions since no one else has.

-What are your thoughts on all of these edits? Have we yet to see the full power of the LHN and the Texas brand being flexed?

Edit: I meant in terms of recruiting but you can interpret it however.

-What should we expect from Fowler next year?

-Is there a magic number Herman has to reach, in your opinion, to have a "good" or "special" 2017 season?

-O/U on 3 commits this weekend?

-EJ Holland said Texas must come away with a commit, do you agree?

-Any updates on BJ Foster?

-Harrison, when did you become a fan of UT?

Cheers y'all.

Great questions and welcome to the community, skyline!

1. I love the edits. Matt Lange is already earning his paycheck and in terms of recruiting, it's going to big. Recruits love things of that nature and it will pay off in time. I don't think we've seen the brands full potential because they have not won yet. Once Texas begins winning again, the brand will become much more relevant.

2. I think if Erik can keep his grades up, he will be a key player for Todd Orlando. He showed flashes last season of being able to get in the backfield and disrupt plays. As an OLB in this defense he will have plenty of opportunities to do just that.

3. I think if Herman wins 8, fans will be satisfied and say "okay, good start." If he wins 9+, Texas will start to get the attention it needs, especially in recruiting.

4. Under

5. I wouldn't say "must," but it's certainly preferable. Texas is in really good shape with a couple of guys. I would not be surprised at all to see Herman get a commit or two. It just depends on how he pulls out the red carpet.

6. Not on Foster, currently. He's recovering from a knee injury and will compete in The Opening Dallas regional. Being from Angleton, he has Quandre Diggs in his ear a lot. He is Texas' to lose at this point.

7. I've always been a fan. My parents are Texas Exes and my sister cheered here. I attended my first football game in Austin around the age of 6, and I fell in love with it. Now, I'm about to graduate from Texas in May. It's a surreal feeling and I will always hold a special place in my heart for the Horns.

 

[Skyline]

e

Definitely. I like Shaka, but he's starting to give me an eerily similar feeling that Strong did after year 2. I'm not a huge basketball guy, so I may be pulling the trigger too soon. However, what I'm seeing is players not developing. For example, Roach is the most athletic player in the conference, but isn't utilized in that way. I don't know what it is, but part of me feels that Smart is not going to get it done. I hope I'm wrong. It doesn't help that Andrew Jones and Jarrett Allen could both declare for the draft.

You perfectly described how I'm feeling. The lack of veteran players, lack of a true "leader" or signal caller on offense, players not developing... the parallels are too similar to Strong. 

 

[CoachEmUp64]

Does one of the following commit? Hines, Stratford, or Watkins.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Definitely. I like Shaka, but he's starting to give me an eerily similar feeling that Strong did after year 2. I'm not a huge basketball guy, so I may be pulling the trigger too soon. However, what I'm seeing is players not developing. For example, Roach is the most athletic player in the conference, but isn't utilized in that way. I don't know what it is, but part of me feels that Smart is not going to get it done. I hope I'm wrong. It doesn't help that Andrew Jones and Jarrett Allen could both declare for the draft.

Which means next season will be a shit-show, too.

IMO, we need to move forward on a new gym ASAP with the students sitting closest to the court. Get the old fogies back up in the club seats. Make it "cool" for UT students to go to basketball games again. Home games lack both enthusiasm and energy.

I was excited when Shaka was first hired, but the on-court product is almost unwatchable for me. Too much standing around on offense and nobody can shoot 3's consistently well. No legitimate PG is well-documented. Can't shoot free throws, so we lose most close games.

Texas Hoops is ugly right now.

 

[Skyline]

Does one of the following commit? Hines, Stratford, or Watkins.

I love Watkins' film. There's a good reason he's the top ranked athlete in the country. 

 

[Will Baizer]

Does one of the following commit? Hines, Stratford, or Watkins.

I'd put it at a very very solid chance.

 

[Harrison Wier]

Does one of the following commit? Hines, Stratford, or Watkins.

Great chance

 

[Harrison Wier]

Which means next season will be a shit-show, too.

IMO, we need to move forward on a new gym ASAP with the students sitting closest to the court. Get the old fogies back up in the club seats. Make it "cool" for UT students to go to basketball games again. Home games lack both enthusiasm and energy.

I was excited when Shaka was first hired, but the on-court product is almost unwatchable for me. Too much standing around on offense and nobody can shoot 3's consistently well. No legitimate PG is well-documented. Can't shoot free throws, so we lose most close games.

Texas Hoops is ugly right now.

I agree completely. Especially on the new court. I actually had the developer for the new arena speak to one of my classes, and they aren't looking close to campus. With the med school and new McCombs grad school, they can't find enough room to build on. Not good. The atmospere is terrible, and Shaka just isn't producing this "havoc" I've heard so much about. Maybe because he doesn't have the personnel. However, I think the hyping up of Matt Coleman is premature. That's a ton of pressure on an 18-year-old.

 

[83Dee]

Which means next season will be a shit-show, too.

IMO, we need to move forward on a new gym ASAP with the students sitting closest to the court. Get the old fogies back up in the club seats. Make it "cool" for UT students to go to basketball games again. Home games lack both enthusiasm and energy.

I was excited when Shaka was first hired, but the on-court product is almost unwatchable for me. Too much standing around on offense and nobody can shoot 3's consistently well. No legitimate PG is well-documented. Can't shoot free throws, so we lose most close games.

Texas Hoops is ugly right now.

Make the new gym capacity 9,000.  I'm not kidding about this.  If there's anything worse than an apathetic fan base it is an apathetic fan base with 2 to 4 empty seats until you get to the next apathetic fan.  One thing I can say positive about Shaka is that he is still landing recruits who visit and see games played in front of a crowd filling less than half the seats! 

I know, money, money, money concerns.... but you MUST get students closer to the court!  Stop worrying about offending season ticket donors who don't even care enough to show up or give away their tickets 75% of the time!    

 

[83Dee]

I agree completely. Especially on the new court. I actually had the developer for the new arena speak to one of my classes, and they aren't looking close to campus. With the med school and new McCombs grad school, they can't find enough room to build on. Not good. The atmospere is terrible, and Shaka just isn't producing this "havoc" I've heard so much about. Maybe because he doesn't have the personnel. However, I think the hyping up of Matt Coleman is premature. That's a ton of pressure on an 18-year-old.

I'm still holding on to hopes that Shaka makes us a contender in basketball.  He's a cool guy, philosophic, relates to the kids, doesn't mind public speaking... good job with the media, recruits well.  Heck, I'll even give him credit for developing individual players.... Allen and Jones have progressed tremendously this year.  My problem is that the team has not progressed.  We were pretty bad at the beginning of the year; and we are right around the same level of pretty bad right now! 

It is my contention that most of the time.... most of the time; when you get the right coach, results are noticeable in short order.  Some of us Texas fans act like there is the necessity of a five year, ground up rebuilding program every time we hire a new coach.  Look at the turn around that occurred in Mack Brown and Rick Barnes first seasons.... both were breath taking!  Both of those teams looked terrible at the beginning of the year, and ended winning the Cotton Bowl / going 2 games into the NCAA tournament.   

As I said, I am still holding out hope.... but my confidence level that these hopes will be realized has dwindled down to almost nothing.  I certainly wouldn't fire Shaka if I was the man deciding this kind of thing... but I would start coming up with a list of possible replacements.... just in case it is needed in the  future. 

 

[Skyline]

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011


Speaking of edits...

 

[CharcoalPuppy]

Has anyone else been impressed with the Football programs social media presence so far ? 

 

[Daniel Seahorn]

Does one of the following commit? Hines, Stratford, or Watkins.

Texas is in a good spot for all three. If things go really well I could see something going down out of this group, but you never know.

 

[Daniel Seahorn]

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) https://twitter.com/qdiggs6/status/835213621324091392" data-datetime="2011-11-07T20:21:07+00:00">November 7, 2011

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Speaking of edits...

Just posted this another thread. I'm loving the new graphics and the way they are deploying them by having current and former players tweet them out.