Good post right here.
I think we have given the players a pass the last couple of years. They never really showed any real enthusiasm when they knew they were playing for Strong's job. I personally would have set most of them the second half of the Kansas game. I hope Herman's promise to "make them earn their position" (something to that effect) is true.
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/18141888/tom-herman-inherits-loaded-texas-longhorns-team
It amuses me that you'd reference the "CNN of sports journalism" as a reliable source.
you asked for metrics. there's some metrics for you. yes, i supported strong while he was here. i now support herman. but i'm not blind to the situation that strong inherited and the one that herman is inheriting.
No offense Rotty but I read this as:
I think when people talk about the cupboard being bare is not to say that there was zero talent, but more along the lines of the talent being senior heavy and not much younger talent. Mack admitted that his recruiting/handling of the qb position cost him his job. Well guess who inhereted that? The OL had no depth and questionable starting talent. Espinoza and Ash were lost 1 game into Charlie's tenure and he had to go out and recruit the talent at those critical positions. In the end Charlie didn't get the job done and he needed to be dismissed, but let's not pretend that he had a roster that was loaded and expected to compete for conference championships immediately.
While I agree Mack choosing Swoopes over JT Barrett was a mistake, without question.
That doesnt answer the question. Did Herman inherit a bare cupboard as well from Levine?
Well, I wasn't trying to answer any question. I will say I expected a bit more from the Horns this year while thinking they were still a year away. I agree that Strong has been a let down for me. Was it scheme or skill? Scheme has stunk on several occasions as has skill. Scheme is on the coaches but so is skill to a degree. Loved the cultural change but not the performance on the field.
See I might be reading too much into this but during the presser yesterday I was trying to figure out why Herman thinks this team wasnt as successful as it should be.
if my statement implied that herman will be successful, then let me clarify. it is yet to be determined whether herman will be successful or not. however, he does have a very experience set of players coming back to play for him, per that article. including a qb and depth at OL. if i recall correctly, strong's first year, the OL, after espinosa went down and some were removed from the team, was inexperienced; some making their first starts.
Yes, you are correct these players have gained one game of experience (blowout loss to TCU) since losing to KANSAS. Kansas is a reset button and a HC job crusher.
6 turnovers in one game is a feat for any defense to overcome. in the last 3 losses, the defense played pretty decent considering. the offense didn't produce. there were many chances in the wv game for the offense to put the game out of reach but couldn't do it. it seemed like in both the wv and tcu games, we were just sticking around and not trying to put teams away.
Which is baffling to hear. Not because I think he's wrong but more because it's hard to believe. It's not as if Strong is known for a laid back camp. When he was hired, all we heard about was the hardcore regimen our team was about to be run through. That's not even talking about the pit. The pit was notorious. Yet this isn't the first time we're hearing claims about the team being soft. It makes me wonder if soft is meant more mentally than physically for this group. They've not been slow to express how they're doing emotionally over the past two years.
I don't think "metrics" means what you think it does, Rotty.
I think there may be something to this team being soft mentally.
