Shots Fired from D/FW

[Lord Vader]

“@TCUCoachP: Yes RT @OKStateProbs: Is there a school in Texas that plays defense?â€

Gary couldnt be talking about his best friend Art could he? No.......

 

[The Tower]

Gary couldnt be talking about his best friend Art could he? No.......

more important question, why is he following @okstateprobs ?

 

[Randolph Duke]

Obviously the 7 on 7 trend has put too much of an emphasis on offense in the state of Texas. Horn Sports, always seeking to do what we can, has decided to help stem the focus on offense.

To help develop defensive linemen, this July the Horn Sports Sumo Wrestling tournament will be held on the fields adjacent to Horn Sports corporate offices. Attendees will stay at the Horn Sports Four Seasons Hotel and Resort. Those wishing to attend need only to send a highlight reel from their most recent season (the actual sport played is not important) and a health certificate attesting to a Body Mass Index of at least 70. Tickets will be sold to the general public. The event will be televised live on ESPN4 and LHN.

 

[badboy783]

Gary is notorious for negative recruiting tactics. He should probably worry about his recruiting class... it they don't start improving TCU will wish they could go back to being a mid-major.

 

[Lord Vader]

Gary is notorious for negative recruiting tactics. He should probably worry about his recruiting class... it they don't start improving TCU will wish they could go back to being a mid-major.

I think they are already at the "buyers remorse" stage.

He follows that up with a tweet claiming he supports everyone in the Big 12. Wonder if they'll have the stones to fire him for another subpar year.

 

[Embrey]

Obviously the 7 on 7 trend has put too much of an emphasis on offense in the state of Texas. Horn Sports, always seeking to do what we can, has decided to help stem the focus on offense.
To help develop defensive linemen, this July the Horn Sports Sumo Wrestling tournament will be held on the fields adjacent to Horn Sports corporate offices. Attendees will stay at the Horn Sports Four Seasons Hotel and Resort. Those wishing to attend need only to send a highlight reel from their most recent season (the actual sport played is not important) and a health certificate attesting to a Body Mass Index of at least 70. Tickets will be sold to the general public. The event will be televised live on ESPN4 and LHN.

I couldn't agree with you morevabout what 7 on 7 has done to the development of high school defenders in Texas.

I would like to suggest that all of these specialized coaches (Patterson, Briles, Kingsbury, etc) allow the coordinator on the other side of the ball to recruit for themselves. If Leach could have had a defense that could hold people under 30 he may have won a NC at Tech.

 

[Randolph Duke]

I couldn't agree with you morevabout what 7 on 7 has done to the development of high school defenders in Texas.
I would like to suggest that all of these specialized coaches (Patterson, Briles, Kingsbury, etc) allow the coordinator on the other side of the ball to recruit for themselves. If Leach could have had a defense that could hold people under 30 he may have won a NC at Tech.

There are only so many really good athletes. In Texas, soccer suffers because kids would rather play football. Texas could have a national championship caliber men's soccer program based on the talent available in the state's high schools. Because kids are steered to football, Texas doesn't even have a men's soccer program. I'm not knocking the system. Rather, its just a question of where the best athletes are directed.

Right now, 7 on 7 has put a lot of emphasis on developing offensive skill players. Defenses suffer because the best athletes are on the offensive side of the ball. It starts at the high school level and goes from there. It will probably stay this way until there is a transcendent defensive player high school kids connect with or until summer camps do something to draw the best talent over to the defensive side.

 

[bigbird]

Texas could have a national championship caliber men's soccer program based on the talent available in the state's high schools. Because kids are steered to football, Texas doesn't even have a men's soccer program.

I would say that Title IX has a lot more to do with that than "all the athletes are playing football" and I really don't think this kind of argument is valid for US Soccer in general at all, but that's a complete thread derail and I won't go there

 

[Randolph Duke]

I would say that Title IX has a lot more to do with that than "all the athletes are playing football" and I really don't think this kind of argument is valid for US Soccer in general at all, but that's a complete thread derail and I won't go there

We aren't The University of The U.S. We are the University of Texas. The Deloss Dodds model is that if we can win a national championship with in-state talent, we are going to be in that sport. If not, we won't. Bottom line is that high school soccer in Texas can't field a national championship caliber team. High school kids in Texas are steered toward football, not soccer. Few elite male high school athletes in Texas choose soccer over football.

My point was that the best athletes are steered toward certain sports and certain positions.

 

[bigbird]

We aren't The University of The U.S. We are the University of Texas. The Deloss Dodds model is that if we can win a national championship with in-state talent, we are going to be in that sport. If not, we won't. Bottom line is that high school soccer in Texas can't field a national championship caliber team. High school kids in Texas are steered toward football, not soccer. Few elite male high school athletes in Texas choose soccer over football.
My point was that the best athletes are steered toward certain sports and certain positions.

And my point was that I don't think that's the reason soccer suffers. They're just different types of athletes. I mean the best player in the world, Messi, is 5' 7" 150 lbs. it's just a different animal. And the reason UT doesn't have a soccer team is due to Title IX not a lack of athletes

 

[Randolph Duke]

And my point was that I don't think that's the reason soccer suffers. They're just different types of athletes. I mean the best player in the world, Messi, is 5' 7" 150 lbs. it's just a different animal. And the reason UT doesn't have a soccer team is due to Title IX not a lack of athletes

And the steady stream of elite soccer players from Texas go where to play college soccer and win national championships?

Texas has 383 male athletes and 363 female athletes. Women's soccer has 26 athletes. We could easily add 26 to the men's side with no Title IX issues. We spend an average of $13k per athlete for women's soccer. We generate over $28mil in profit. The $344k for a men's soccer team would be peanuts. Title IX isn't the reason we don't have a men's soccer program. Neither is the money.

 

[bigbird]

And the steady stream of elite soccer players from Texas go where to play college soccer and win national championships?
Texas has 383 male athletes and 363 female athletes. Women's soccer has 26 athletes. We could easily add 26 to the men's side with no Title IX issues. We spend an average of $13k per athlete for women's soccer. We generate over $28mil in profit. The $344k for a men's soccer team would be peanuts. Title IX isn't the reason we don't have a men's soccer program. Neither is the money.

That just isn't how it works. It's because we spend so much on football (not that I'm complaining) that we can't do this. This short article might help you understand why it would be so difficult to introduce a men's soccer program

http://www.mindingthecampus.com/forum/2010/06/why_us_mens_soccer_will_now_de.html

 

[Randolph Duke]

That just isn't how it works. It's because we spend so much on football (not that I'm complaining) that we can't do this. This short article might help you understand why it would be so difficult to introduce a men's soccer program
http://www.mindingthecampus.com/forum/2010/06/why_us_mens_soccer_will_now_de.html

I greatly appreciate you bringing me up to speed with the situation in 2010 with that article, but the fact remains, Texas could easily add 26 male athletes without running into Title IX issues. Unquestionably, we have the money. We just don't have the athletes in the state of Texas to support an elite program.

 

[Juan]

UT does have a men's soccer team. A friend of mine played for them. But it is a club sport, and will always be a club sport. Because of Title IX. Bigbird wins this argument pretty easy.

Secondly, the part about high schoolers in TX being directed to football was once true but is becoming less true every day. I saw an article with some stats about this the other day and tried to google it for you but couldnt find it. If I find it later, I will stick it in here. The short of it was more and more mothers are directing their boys into soccer and away from football. The main of the article was about football related concussions.

 

[Randolph Duke]

UT does have a men's soccer team. A friend of mine played for them. But it is a club sport, and will always be a club sport. Because of Title IX. Bigbird wins this argument pretty easy.
Secondly, the part about high schoolers in TX being directed to football was once true but is becoming less true every day. I saw an article with some stats about this the other day and tried to google it for you but couldnt find it. If I find it later, I will stick it in here. The short of it was more and more mothers are directing their boys into soccer and away from football. The main of the article was about football related concussions.

Title IX is essentially about money and we all know how bereft of funds UT is. If only we had the $350,000 necessary to fund a men's soccer team.

Or, maybe its about something other than money.

Post the article when you find it. We all know how unreliable Google is and how it consistently fails to find articles related to the search terms entered. Just for fun, try googling "soccer concussions." It probably won't produce any meaningful articles, but one never knows.

 

[Juan]

R.Duke

The issue is the scholarships. And of course you are correct that we have enough money to fully fund a men's team worth of scholarships. We had the money to do this 30 years ago. As well as 20 years ago and 10. And today we have more money in our athletic department than ever before. By we are still not going to create a men's soccer program. The question you are ignoring is why?

No one really likes to discuss this publicly because of the negative implications involved. So everyone sort of dances around it. But I will try to phrase it without being offensive. If you were going to make UT men's soccer a scholarship sport, what women's sports are you then going to add to meet minimal Title IX standards? We already have volleyball, soccer, golf, swimming & diving, softball, track and field and more rowing teams than can be imagined. What does that leave? Gymnastics? Wrestling? Field hockey? The rules that have been developed to implement Title IX say you must create something.

In the alternative, you could drop one of the existing men's programs. UCLA, for example, had to drop its men's gymnastics program for this very reason - a program that had produced more US Olympians than any other by a 3-1 margin. But, it had to go. What would you be willing to carve out at UT to allow men's soccer? Men's Track? Men's Swimming & Diving (the only consistent championship level men's program we have). Baseball? Men's Golf (another recent winner)?

While I agree with your main idea that it would be great if UT fielded men's soccer as a scholarship sport - doing so requires that you first solve a serious question that you pretend does not exist. Your position is academic, at best. It's not dealing with the real issues that exist in the real world right now.

 

[Bandit]

Back to the original topic of sumo's...You do realize that Saban would turn those sumo's into NFL draft picks, don't you?

 

[bwub60]

7 on 7 hasnt done anything to defensive players. The offenses do produce more skill players and esp QBs which are harder to defend. Texas currently produces more NFL and College QBs than any other state. Do you think that is because the defenses are so bad? Offenses are that much harder to defend because of that. Smaller schools like Baylor and aTm have not been relevant long enough to recruit the athletes necessary to be good on defense. Offensive players are easier to mold to a scheme than defensive ones. Defense is more about the athlete than the scheme. Look at the schools that are good on defense Alabama, FSU, Stanford, MSU. They all have been building it for a good amount of time and all have a good recruiting ground.

 

[HornSolo]

I think they are already at the "buyers remorse" stage.
He follows that up with a tweet claiming he supports everyone in the Big 12. Wonder if they'll have the stones to fire him for another subpar year.

Off to Conference USA with them.....