We just dont need to repeat the past . . . .

[RoyalCrowns]

First full disclosure, I'm in the party that believes it's time for Mack Brown to retire. Wanted to get that out of the way from the start. Now, I'd like to play a little devil's advocate with the HS Nation. It's been very consistent, at least where Texas is considered, to replace a sitting football coach with one that is a complete 180 in personality. Note when DKR retired they hired Fred Akers. Royal was a good ol' boy with homespun humor and ran with Willie Nelson. Akers, in contrast, was a suit and tie kind of guy and didn't give the media a lot of sound bites. When Akers was canned in 1986, they summoned in David McWilliams, who played for and coached with Royal. Coach McWilliams, who was was loved by the masses, had an aw shucks type of personality that reminded many of Royal. Exit McWilliams in 1992 and usher in John Mackovic, who many refer to as Make You Sick. While Mackovic had success on the 40, he also had tremendous failure and had little in any connection to the alumni. He was arrogant and aloof. I need not describe the difference when Mack arrived in December of 1997. Without question he did a fabulous job and should be recognized as a true coaching icon, IMO. The relationships he built with Texas high school coaches allowed Texas to recruit the best of the best. At least they were graded best of the best. So, as we approach the first changing of the guard in 16 autumns, do we hesitate to go after someone like Nick Saban? No doubt he's a great coach, but his PR skills fall somewhere between Akers and Mackovic. A lot of the youngsters on this board have only been privileged to the Brown era and maybe the tail-end of the Mackovic tenure. I've sit in Memorial Stadium when 20,000 seats were empty in an 80,000 seat house. I remember when HEB just about gave tickets away. Those were some tough times indeed. Not saying I wouldn't go after Saban, because I would. I only offer this was as a friendly reminder that things may seem bad now, but they've been a lot worse before.

 

[BevoBlake]

Eh, I see the point you're making and there is some validity too it. But Saban isn't an Akers or a Mackovic. Why? Because he's got the Championships. Akers and Mackovic were both dogs that barked at squirrels but took for the porch if the squirrel so much as flinched. Saban is the kind of dog who will bark and then he'll chase the squirrel up a tree. Hell, if he's feeling mean enough he might just climb that tree. Also, I think we're starting to see a change in Saban. Sure, he's still very much an egotist and bit of an arse. But he's become more of a players coach since joining Alabama and many of Bama's players speak highly of him. He's started attending the NFL drafts with his players, making sure they get the most of their day without making mistakes. He's not the same man he was at MSU, LSU and/or Miami. He's grown enough in the attitude department for me to be fine watching him in the 40.

 

[mesoHorny]

I don't give a damn about whether or not the BMD's get to rub shoulder with our HC or not. Just win. Yes Mack was supposedly a great guy and remembered everyone name. So what. How did that help the common UT fan without access to Mack.

 

[bcherry168]

Mack has been great for Texas. What RC describes is what happens when coaches are changed. It is like recruiting. Sometimes the folks with the best credentials end up being a bust. It just happens. A crap shoot.

I do not have a clue who the next coach should be if Mack retires.

My preference is a younger guy with enthusiasm and football smarts. There are some of those out there, but not many at the larger programs. If it is not a younger guy, you need an older one with a great track record that will fit into the culture at Texas. Saban fits the first of those, but I wonder about the second. I kind of like the guy at Fresno State. Somebody will get him, that's for sure.

I guess we will see who Texas goes after.

 

[RoyalCrowns]

bccherry168,

Couldn't agree with you more regarding Tim Deruyter at Fresno State. He's been in the Valley long enough to get the smell of aggy off him. He's one that flies under the radar and will move up to a Gold Standard program in the not-too-distant-future, IMO.

 

[Baghorn]

I think the OP is focusing on the wrong aspects of why each coach was hired and why they ultimately failed. McWilliams was hired to help repair the fractured fan base by hiring a prodigal son with close ties to Coach Royal. McWilliams is a great guy and had some fine defenses but his offenses looked like something from the stone ages.

So, we go out and hire an offensive genius in Mackovic. Mackovic had NFL credentials (had coached under Tom Landry for the Cowboys and had been the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs) and had taken over an Illinois team that went 4-7 the year before he was hired and took them to 4 straight bowls (sound familiar) and a Big 10 co-championship led by a very physically talented QB in Jeff George. I don't think many people were disappointed in Mackovic's offenses but his defenses were an absolute disaster. The fact he had no personality whatsoever wasn't what got him fired but it was what assured no one would stand up to save him the way Mack's been saved these past few years. So, he exited after the very disappointing 1997 season where we went 4-7 coming directly on the heels of his surprising Big 12 Championship victory in the leagues first year.

Mack was hired primarily because of his charm and charisma which stood in such direct contrast to Mackovic's dour personality...and, oh by the way, his North Carolina team played a fearsome brand of defense....something that had been sorely missing at Texas during the Mackovic era. However, something odd happened in the transition....Mack's defensive staff all stayed at North Carolina and we only inherited the far less impressive North Carolina offensive staff. After 16 years it's pretty evident Mack is essentially a politician focused on controlling the message and ingratiating himself to the power players. He has a minimal grasp of X's & O's and has no real identity on either side of the ball. Lastly, Mack is purely results focused and not process focused. He really doesn't care how the results are achieved or even really understand how they're achieved and tends to undermine whatever process is put in place by his staff as a result.

Saban is the complete opposite of Mack in this regard. He is completely about the process...results take care of themselves. He has a strong identity on both sides of the ball and knows exactly what he wants from his players and staff. Saban doesn't rely on his personal charm and remembering people's names and their wive's birthday to win people over. He wins them over by making his team the best they can be and getting the most out of his players. His approach is exactly what we need at this point in time to reset our program's culture. He's not the only coach who could accomplish this but he's the most accomplished coach capable of doing it.

 

[LongviewLobo01]

bccherry168,
Couldn't agree with you more regarding Tim Deruyter at Fresno State. He's been in the Valley long enough to get the smell of aggy off him. He's one that flies under the radar and will move up to a Gold Standard program in the not-too-distant-future, IMO.

I mentioned DeRuyter the other day when I mentioned lesser known coaches and assistants. The thing I like about DeRuyter is that although he is an defensive guy, his Fresno State squad plays an up tempo, spread offense that isn't afraid to score points. That's the kind of guy that would be extremely successful here in the Big 12.

 

[bcherry168]

I think the OP is focusing on the wrong aspects of why each coach was hired and why they ultimately failed. McWilliams was hired to help repair the fractured fan base by hiring a prodigal son with close ties to the Coach Royal era. McWilliams is a great guy and had some fine defenses but his offenses looked like something from the stone ages.
So, we go out and hire an offensive genius in Mackovic. Mackovic had NFL credentials (had coached under Tom Landry for the Cowboys and had been the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs) and had taken over an Illinois team that went 4-7 the year before he was hired and took them to 4 straight bowls (sound familiar) and a Big 10 co-championship led by a very physically talented QB in Jeff George. I don't think many people were disappointed in Mackovic's offenses but his defenses were an absolute disaster. The fact he had no personality whatsoever wasn't what got him fired but it was what assured no one would stand up to save him the way Mack's been saved these past few years. So, he exited after the very disappointing 1997 season where we went 4-7 coming directly on the heels of his surprising Big 12 Championship victory in the leagues first year.

Mack was hired primarily because of his charm and charisma which stood in such direct contrast to Mackovic's dour personality...and, oh by the way, his North Carolina team played a fearsome brand of defense....something that had been sorely missing at Texas during the Mackovic era. However, something odd happened in the transition....Mack's defensive staff all stayed at North Carolina and we only inherited the far less impressive North Carolina offensive staff. After 16 years it's pretty evident Mack is essentially a politician focused on controlling the message and ingratiating himself to the power players. He has a minimal grasp of X's & O's and has no real identity on either side of the ball. Lastly, Mack is purely results focused and not process focused. He really doesn't care how the results are achieved or even really understand how they're achieved and tends to undermine whatever process is put in place by his staff as a result.

Saban is the complete opposite of Mack in this regard. He is completely about the process...results take care of themselves. He has a strong identity on both sides of the ball and knows exactly what he wants from his players and staff. Saban doesn't rely on his personal charm and remembering people's names and their wive's birthday to win people over. He wins them over by making his team the best they can be and getting the most out of his players. His approach is exactly what we need at this point in time to reset our program's culture. He's not the only coach who could accomplish this but he's the most accomplished coach capable of doing it.

Baghorn, sorry, but you totally mischaracterized Mack Brown. He is the second coach in Texas history in terms of wins, and it was not critics that made him that.

 

[Baghorn]

Baghorn, sorry, but you totally mischaracterized Mack Brown. He is the second coach in Texas history in terms of wins, and it was not critics that made him that.

My characterization was intended to emphasize why he's exiting as opposed to highlight what he accomplished while here which we all certainly remember. He was originally hired because of his charm & charisma, which jumped off the screen at you compared to Mackovic, and for the most part that carried him along way in terms of building the program back up. His other failings I detailed are why he was unable to maintain the program at the top of the mountaintop once he got there. In fact, the decline of Mack's program began immediately after winning the MNC in 2005 although it took a few years for the decay to be fully exposed.

He was great at building momentum for the program in his early years...he was able to leverage inheriting a Heisman candidate into a mission for the team to get Ricky the Heisman; which translated to a killer 1999 recruiting class highlighted by Chris Simms; getting Chris Simms in 1999 led to landing The Big 3 in the 2000 class; which led to landing El Ced & DJ in 2001; followed by the highlight of Mack's career from a recruiting perspective...the 2002 class led by VY. Two all timer QB's in VY and Colt along with some excellent hires on the defensive staff in Robinson, Tomey, then Chizik, and later Muschamp took the program to it's highest points under Mack. A total failure in offensive recruiting from 2006-2009 and a disasterous QB situation post Colt along with a very poor defensive coordinator hire in Diaz combined with Mack's undying loyalty to program albatrosses like Mad Dog brought us to the point we're currently experiencing.

 

[ATX89]

I think thanks to Mack, we have the ability and attractiveness as a program to avoid repeating the cyclical mistakes this time around. High profile stud coaches will be lined up and Saban doesn't appear to be off the grid either

 

[Baghorn]

I think thanks to Mack, we have the ability and attractiveness as a program to avoid repeating the cyclical mistakes this time around. High profile stud coaches will be lined up and Saban doesn't appear to be off the grid either

We were as attractive a program as we are now relative to the time and place when we hired Fred Akers and when we hired David McWilliams. Who we went after wasn't a reflection of who we could have gone after but rather a reflection of the politics behind the scenes at the time those hires were made. Now that college football is big business, which isn't due to Mack, but is due to the massive coverage afforded by modern broadcasting....we can't afford to screw around with these hires. We have to get a guy who will produce wins and not only keep our brand out in front but take it to unheard of heights.

 

[CoachBobbyFinstock]

Always enjoy your takes, Baghorn

I find myself agreeing with you in every post you make here and on OB's about Mack.

 

[Baghorn]

Always enjoy your takes, Baghorn
I find myself agreeing with you in every post you make here and on OB's about Mack.

Coach, appreaciate it...the feeling is mutual.