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I know what you are thinking. You are wondering what Gemini, Grok, Chat gpt think. You are wondering what would happen if I took those three opinions, fed them to Claude, and told Claude that he is the world's greatest offensive line coach. What would Coach Claude say??? Coach Claude? Let me tell you something about Kyle Flood. I've been in rooms with a lot of offensive line coaches. I've seen the guys who talk a good game, draw pretty plays on the whiteboard, and can't teach a 19-year-old how to set his anchor. I've seen the recruiters who bring in five-stars and watch them get bull-rushed into the quarterback's lap. And I've seen the rare ones - the ones who can actually build men. Kyle Flood is a builder. What I Know From Watching His Work When I study tape on his linemen - and I mean really study it - I see something you don't see often: fundamentals that hold up under pressure. His guys don't panic. When a defensive end hits them with a late move, when a tackle game catches them between assignments, when the pocket's collapsing and the quarterback's eyes get big - Flood's linemen recover. That's coaching. That's thousands of reps in practice where he put them in bad situations on purpose. You can't fake that. You either teach it or you don't. The Resume Speaks Let me walk through this, because people forget: Delaware - He helped build the offensive line for a national championship team. FCS, sure. But championships are championships. You learn how to win there. Rutgers - Took a program with no offensive line tradition and produced Anthony Davis, an 11th overall pick. That's not recruiting. Rutgers wasn't out-recruiting anybody. That's development. Alabama - The 2020 Joe Moore Award. You know what that means? It means five guys playing as one unit. It means technique, communication, trust, and violence. That unit had Leatherwood (Outland Trophy), Dickerson (Rimington Trophy), Evan Neal, Jedrick Wills. Four future NFL starters. On one line. Under one position coach. Texas - Kelvin Banks Jr., consensus All-American. Trevor Goosby, first-team All-SEC. He's doing it again, in the NIL era, with portal chaos, with fans screaming for his head every time a quarterback takes a sack. Here's What People Get Wrong They look at one bad game, one bad season, one young tackle getting beat on a twist, and they say "Fire Flood." That tells me they don't understand offensive line play. Offensive lines are not assembled. They're grown. It takes two, three years to build real cohesion. You need guys who've taken thousands of reps together, who know each other's tendencies, who communicate without talking. Flood builds that. But it takes time. And modern football - with the portal, with NIL, with roster churn - works against everything he does well. When people blame him for a rebuilding year, they're blaming a farmer for not having a harvest in March. The NFL Translation - This Is What Matters To Me Here's why I'd hire Flood's linemen in a heartbeat: They're not projects. They come in knowing how to pass protect. Vertical sets, hand placement, anchor technique - it's already there. My coaches aren't starting from scratch. They handle mental load. Flood's guys call protections, adjust to fronts, handle games and stunts. That's NFL readiness. Most college linemen show up and have to learn our language. Flood's guys already speak it. They're built right. Functional mass, flexibility, balance. They don't flame out after two seasons because their bodies can't handle the grind. Dickerson. Leatherwood. Wills. Neal. Banks. These aren't flukes. That's a pattern. My Honest Assessment As an offensive line coach: Top five in the country. Maybe top three. His track record across four programs, three decades, and multiple levels of competition is undeniable. He's not a scheme guy - he's a fundamentals guy. And fundamentals win championships. As a head coach: Different job. He struggled with the organizational side at Rutgers - discipline, culture, off-field stuff. That's real. But failing as a head coach doesn't diminish what he is in the trenches. In today's game: He's fighting an uphill battle. The portal rewards quick fixes. NIL rewards stars. Flood's method - recruit, develop, build over years - is out of fashion. But it's not wrong. It's how you build dynasties, not one-year wonders. The Lombardi Standard Here's my final word on Kyle Flood: If I'm building a program to win in January - not September, not the portal rankings, not Twitter - I want him coaching my offensive line. Because when it's third and short, when the game's on the line, when some 280-pound defensive tackle is trying to wreck everything you've built... I want five men up front who've been taught by someone who understands what this game is really about. Kyle Flood understands. stands up, taps the table That's my evaluation. Now let's get back to work.

I’ll give you Cam Williams in there too

I guess you are right. What do Saban and Sark know about coaching?

I said evaluation (ie recruiting). He didn't recruit Majors, Conner, or Jones. And kudos on not screwing up 2 5 stars in Banks and Campbell. That leaves Goosby. How many of the Alabama OL you listed did he recruit? Zero. Outside of Goosby, how many non-5 stars has Flood recruited to Texas that have been a success? Hutson maybe? Anyone else?

Thank you for starting this thread! The lack of critical thinking, the extreme emotional reactions, & the toxic fanatical frenzy was just off the charts.

Washington State. I listen to coffee and football religiously on my commute around the Seattle metro area. Had a couple bad days being here, but always keep my horns up hoping for a little revenge. 😉

Hook em, brother!

Texas Forever 🤘

Texarkana, area

Interesting comment by Bobby on the livestream that, assuming R Brown were to sign with Texas, the second back might be someone that no one is talking about yet. Not sure if he has someone specific in mind or if he’s just speculating about how it might all go down.

I mean we can debate different definitions of "bust" but the fact is "guys leaving to go find playing time" means that they weren't good enough to crack the starting lineup here. In the end, they didn't meaningfully contribute to Texas wins, which is what it's all about.

Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t see this image

Interesting point. Also feels a bit short-sighted to choose A&M because of that relationship since (a) Wiggins wouldn’t be his position coach anymore and (b) he’d be betting everything on a guy who’s never called plays before. But I get that relationships can mean everything.

yep, heard that Bama is back in the hunt now because of it. Sidenote: bama has such a talented, proven, and crowded WR room. Obviously that's not a problem for Coleman lol, but surely if he goes there, we'll see a defection into the portal from a difference-making caliber WR who's currently there

I have a hard time with this from Kibble and Cruz. We all know OL is the developmental position with the longest average timeline from 18 year old to starter on a championship-caliber team. And these guys chose to come here out of HS knowing that, but now aren't willing to continue developing as a backup until they're a championship-caliber starter. Did they just bet on themselves getting to that level by this offseason, are realizing they're not at that level, and re-calibrating accordingly?

Will be interesting to see if the rumors about the Ole Miss OL pan out.

and didn’t his wr coach at Auburn just take a job at bama?

From other sites, it seems to be implied that we are unable to win these portal battles because of the rev share limits. Other schools are simply ignoring the rules and spending whatever they want, which makes sense given that the rules are obviously completely unenforceable (and frankly ethically wrong. You are telling me all of the athletes at the school can only make $20M a year while Lane Kiffin can make $13M himself? just laughable) But for whatever reason the idiots in charge at UT are happy playing with one hand tied behind our back. If true it is an incredibly dumb move by CDC, Compliance, and Texas One. Just pay the damn players and let's see what the NCAA does about it.

I think one thread on Coleman that's gone under-discussed (if it has been at all, I've missed it—quite possible!) is his relationship with holmon wiggins. What a lot of us see as a negative against what aggie offers (a truly humiliating promotion of an position coach to unproven, first time OC) might actually be a positive in Coleman's book and what's keeping them competitive. In HS, Coleman was committed to Bama and wiggins as their WR coach; then Wiggins went to aggie, and Coleman's decision came down to aggie (follow Wiggins) or Auburn (stay home). So that's a long-term relationship. He's chosen against it before, obviously, and could well do it again. But I think that's a factor that's been under-discussed.

Idk if this is good or bad

When we had the #1 class and we had that terrible recruiting month around the 4th I asked Gerry if we would even finish top 10 and than we ended up with 1 and I felt like a dumbass

Agreed. And, again, people need to not freak out if we miss out on the best of the best. We need at LEAST a marginally better line than we had by the end of the season. Obviously getting Arch killed and failing at run blocking next year would mean this portal was a disaster. But I can live with slightly better than we ended the year if we can upgrade at WR and RB too.

I suspect you are correct. It will be very interesting to see if any playoff teams lose OL or RB after this week. I also think we win out on Coleman. The money is comparable everywhere unless Tech dramatically ups the ante. He’s been very clear that he’s looking for a platform and the best QB he can find. I’ve gotta believe that Arch and Sark made an impression. Could be wrong, but I think he eventually commits to Texas.

Bobby and Jeff hinted on the livestream that they've heard we COULD fill up on OL by the end of the week if the staff wanted to. They are swinging for the elite right now. If we need the next level down, we can get it.

Then we have more money to spend on premium players to replace the turnover (either HS or retention or portal additions). Texas will be fine. Sark already brought us back to being a top 5 program before Arch and Colin were contributing like top 10 picks, and will continue to be after them.