OTF Premium Burning Question Revisited: Did Sark and Arch get on the same page?

[Alex Butler]

39 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

This is the RPO I mentioned.

If it's a predetermined give, it's a terrible call. If it's a true read, it's a terrible decision:

 

That has got to be a pull read or Townsend completely missed the backside seal there. I’m inclined to believe that was an Arch error either he didn’t have the right play call or he was spooked at the thought of having to pull the ball and risk getting hit or a fumble. In either case this is horrible. 

[Jeff Howe]

8 minutes ago, MBHORNSFAN said:

 

I see CFB a lot like the NFL now. ( wrong or right that is a discussion later)  but with that said coaches are gonna get popped sooner under this new era now.  

Yep. Much shorter leashes. Roster builds/rebuilds shouldn't be as tedious as they were before NIL.

[akhookem]

Another reason to let Sark go after this season:

It’s always said “if you fire him, who are you going to hire?”

Now there is an actual answer waiting at Kentucky. Will Stein has Kentucky playing physical football, running the ball against everyone (with an RB we made look washed last year). He’s the answer to that question right now.

If you wait until next season for another Sark failure, we may be back to not knowing the answer to “who”.

[Alex Butler]

11 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

It's a big few weeks for Sark's future, for sure. I've wrapped my head around the fact that these are rational, real conversations.

Should we just promote Mark Stoops as interim HC and let Sark be the OC with Muschamp as DC? He’s got the experience in the SEC and was able to bring UK up from absolute trash. Kidding…but only just. 

[Lonestar knifemaker]

If Sark isn’t allowing Arch to audible out of a bad situation he’s playing with one hand tied behind his back. If Arch isn’t recognizing incompatible protection and adjusting it’s a different issue. Either is incomprehensible at this level of football.

[Nikolas24]

I haven’t been on the hate sark train but I’m getting there after the last 2 weeks. I also don’t understand his all gas no brakes. When have we ever put our foot on the gas and blown out an opponent. Last I can think of is 2024 Florida game. Now on to arch. I think he so far gone mentally right now that idk if he’s going to recover. He looks lost at qb but if sark makes a change what’s that say about his qb development skills especially with how Quinn ended up? It’s a tough situation coming up but that’s why he gets paid millions.

 

[Glass Joe]

5 minutes ago, Lonestar knifemaker said:

If Sark isn’t allowing Arch to audible out of a bad situation he’s playing with one hand tied behind his back. If Arch isn’t recognizing incompatible protection and adjusting it’s a different issue. Either is incomprehensible at this level of football.

He’s not.  The entire offense is just Sark joysticking the plays he designs, he likes, he is certain demonstrate his schematic brilliance.

The players are just mindless robots used as props by the brilliant puppetmaster himself.

Wait until you see what Arch can become at Miami next season under the tutelage of a real OC like Shannon Dawson.

Sark is just John Mackovic 2.0, complete with the bogus, unworthy reputation for offensive brilliance and the arrogance that leads to the failure.

[JR Smith]

Coaching. Coaching. Coaching. Coaching. Thank you Sark for rebuilding the program and bringing us back to winning seasons. The o line has been putrid under flood. New personnel same dang problem. Flood has got to go. Flood can develop Tackles but jesus christ that interior line sucks since we've been in the SEC and their fluidity is non existent. Banks has got to go or at least let him focus only on special teams or TEs, one or the other. Sark has got to get an OC PLAYCALLER and an O LINE coach and start anew. We go from looking like one of the best OLine units in the nation to dog sh*t once we start playing SEC teams. Late eyes, missed assignments, getting out physicalled at the point of attack, I mean that is embarrassing. A good OLine will alleviate the majority of our issues on offense. FLOOD HAS GOT TO GO. Get someone that can get this unit to gel work consistently against SEC TEAMS. I full heartedly believe that if Sark gets rid of his longtime friends and hires winners he can continue to be the HC and playcaller. When the Oline doesn't help and your QB is either horribly coached or suddenly inept you will continue to lose against the rest of the schedule. 

[Jordan91]

1 hour ago, Jeff Howe said:

I didn't know where else to put this, so I'll mention it here: In my opinion, the offensive line's performance was the worst of the season.

Too many missed assignments, poor communication and too many instances of guys losing one-on-one battles decisively in high-leverage situations. It's more than just guys getting beat. Sometimes, when I'm watching the All-22 copy, I can't tell who missed an assignment because the whole group looks out of sorts.

Sark is becoming a punchline nationally. Manning isn’t the problem nationally, Sark is the problem. And that really hurts the brand. He looked at this offensive line and said that’s enough. He kept the same oline coach. He mouths off to the media about checking the track record of the special teams coach. He knows damn well it’s bad. Off all the recruits to miss on Manning is the worst one possible. It’s how did he screw up Arch? How did he screw up an offense giving all the money spent? He chose his ego over common sense. Texas has to run the table get to the CFP. If he doesn’t it’s only going to get worse. 

[Noah Vaughn]

Offensive line play has been brutal at times, but a good portion of that responsibility has to fall on the QB.

A majority of the pressures seem to come from unidentified blitzers rather than pass protectors getting flat out beat. 

It doesn’t seem like Arch is able to identify potential free hitters, slide his protection, or hit his built-in hot routes. Those are all issues that can’t be fixed in a weeks worth of practice, and we’re one loss away from CFP elimination.

While all of the offensive position groups have had their struggles individually, a change at QB seems like the only tide that could raise all ships.

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Noah Vaughn

[Jordan91]

1 hour ago, ImDirtydan01 said:

I hate to say this, but was Manning ever THAT good? I’m not saying he was ever that bad. But I watched a clip from a high school game of his where he was being chased down and seemingly trying to scan the field, but of course that was at the 3A or 4A level in Louisiana, so he could easily outrun the defense. But I don’t want to just say he was always overrated to begin with, because we saw glimpses of how good he can be in 2024, and at the end of last year, he was pretty good. That’s why I’m at a crossroads of whether the criticisms of him were right to a degree all along or if this is Sark’s doing. Obviously, it is to some degree because we’ve seen two five-star quarterbacks year over year become a shell of what they were to begin with. 

I don’t want to fully cut ties with Sark yet, but I’m just about there as it is. I want the best for Arch, even if it’s not at Texas. But is it possible we’re seeing the same thing that Weigman went through? He looked horrible at A&M, and now he actually looks good with a competent OC that tailored the offense to his specific skillset instead of trying to make him something he’s not. Yes, it’s in the Big 12, but with the way Arch is playing, he would be getting clobbered in that conference as well. 

I feel like the answer is somewhat in-between. Arch has issues of his own and the way Sark has coached him. But I’d hate to think he’d go somewhere else and look like a good game manager to a very, very good quarterback. Because if he goes somewhere else and balls out, I’d really hate to still be stuck with Sark. That would be the biggest red flag on Sark’s development for quarterbacks at Texas, if there already isn’t one, of course. 
 

Thoughts and opinions on this question will be greatly appreciated @Gerry Hamilton. @Jeff Howe

What’s worse? Arch was never that good? Sark managed to get back to back five start quarterbacks and not develop them?

[Jordan91]

17 minutes ago, Glass Joe said:

He’s not.  The entire offense is just Sark joysticking the plays he designs, he likes, he is certain demonstrate his schematic brilliance.

The players are just mindless robots used as props by the brilliant puppetmaster himself.

Wait until you see what Arch can become at Miami next season under the tutelage of a real OC like Shannon Dawson.

Sark is just John Mackovic 2.0, complete with the bogus, unworthy reputation for offensive brilliance and the arrogance that leads to the failure.

Manning has been around the best his whole life. He’s been taught essentially since he was five. Freezing on a blitz, not throwing it away, not seeing the field. Those are all things Manning has already been shown his whole life. Not worried at all about how he would thrive somewhere else. Those are fundamentals the family has burned into his head. The switch will not suddenly flip with a new OC.

[Crusher Crew]

51 minutes ago, MBHORNSFAN said:

 

Then he should be popped immediately.  And if not he will be soon enough then. 

We might get run out of the stadium Saturday night against Ole Miss.  I don't expect that to happen, against my better judgment I am thinking our guys will somehow find a way to make this competitive and maybe even win. Maybe they have some pride.   But, a 45-10 drubbing is definitely possible.

I don't know the ins and outs but I think Sark's buyout is $36mil.  Not impossible.  Glad to see you here @MBHORNSFAN, I came over from OB then IT.  

The question after that is who do you F'n hire?  Chesney?  Stein?  Traylor?  I've always liked Matt Ruhle but the fact we are even having this discussion is simply mind blowing. 

[Tyler Totten]

Jeff he needs to be benched like ewers. That’s it he played great second half of last year he’s on Garrett Gilbert level bullshit with the most talented roster in cfb and I’ll add this if his name wasn’t manning and the price they paid for him. Lacey would start. Either sark pulls hurts and go with tua. Or sark does nothing Saban won a natty and pulled hurts. We will have our answer soon. 

Edited 4 hours ago by Tyler Totten

[Lonestar knifemaker]

I’ve noticed our line can’t deal with a delayed blitz. I see teams holding off for a second while our plodding big humans try to pull and then shooting the gap created. Kills us every single time. 

[Horn365]

Does the QB help with protection calls? Can a change at QB improve the oline?

[Califashorn75]

Do we have a sports psychologist on staff? Arch is lacking confidence and appears depressed. He needs his mojo back. I wonder if the Holly Rowe thing messed up his mind. He hasn't been the same since that bruhaha. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Califashorn75

[AusMOJO]

5 hours ago, Jeff Howe said:

This is the RPO I mentioned.

If it's a predetermined give, it's a terrible call. If it's a true read, it's a terrible decision:

 

Just last year he would've easily pulled this and ran for the TD. This year apparently he can't do a basic RPO. I really do wonder what Sark is saying to him before each play or doing with him in practice. Because none of this makes sense to me. He looked different in 2024 compared to 2025 and now he looks worse in 2026 than he did in 2025. 

[AusMOJO]

5 hours ago, Nate C said:

Bad offensive line play hurts my soul more than anything. A good offensive line fixes a lot of issues but this one is just terrible. Arch is obviously struggling badly but this line has done nothing to help him. I’m not sure what all Sark can do at this point. QB can’t hit the short ones. Lineman can’t block for the long ones. No one communicates at the LOS. head scratcher 

OL comes back to scheme and ultimately Sark. Everything wrong circles back to Sark. It's that simple really. Arch's regression from 2024 to 2026 is crazy. How he has kept the same offensive coaches outside of RB for several years now and still the same results. But good thing we got rid of PK so he can focus on the O now....

[AusMOJO]

4 hours ago, Glass Joe said:

He’s not.  The entire offense is just Sark joysticking the plays he designs, he likes, he is certain demonstrate his schematic brilliance.

The players are just mindless robots used as props by the brilliant puppetmaster himself.

Wait until you see what Arch can become at Miami next season under the tutelage of a real OC like Shannon Dawson.

Sark is just John Mackovic 2.0, complete with the bogus, unworthy reputation for offensive brilliance and the arrogance that leads to the failure.

I've noticed this. Sark's scripts look great and to Rod B's point, he doesn't seem to adjust very well. So it kind of explains why the team looks great to start a game and then in between they look completely lost. Like he's just throwing play calls out there. 

As for Arch, I thought he'd maybe go the LSU route, team up with Kiffin. He's a lot of things but he can develop QB's and has a QB friendly offense. 

[AusMOJO]

4 hours ago, Jordan91 said:

What’s worse? Arch was never that good? Sark managed to get back to back five start quarterbacks and not develop them?

Sark is sounding like Shaka 2.0 lol. Maybe that's an unfair comparison. But the fact that personnel has changed and the problems persist. From year to year, that should tell us who the problem is. 

All off-season what did we hear non-stop "we needed the change at DC to be more physical and aggressive"...."we're going to be a more physical team"..blah, blah, blah.

Yet Will Stein first year HC with a team he put together from the portal, is way more physical at the LoS than we are. He plays to his players strengths and schemes things up well.

Now this isn't a "hire Will Stein" post, just that if a first year HC has it more figured out than you after 3 years in the SEC and 6 years at the helm of a blue blood program. What the heck are you doing? You wanted all these "big human's" and they look like they couldn't push a 90 year old grandma out of the way. 

[AusMOJO]

4 hours ago, Crusher Crew said:

We might get run out of the stadium Saturday night against Ole Miss.  I don't expect that to happen, against my better judgment I am thinking our guys will somehow find a way to make this competitive and maybe even win. Maybe they have some pride.   But, a 45-10 drubbing is definitely possible.

I don't know the ins and outs but I think Sark's buyout is $36mil.  Not impossible.  Glad to see you here @MBHORNSFAN, I came over from OB then IT.  

The question after that is who do you F'n hire?  Chesney?  Stein?  Traylor?  I've always liked Matt Ruhle but the fact we are even having this discussion is simply mind blowing. 

I like Traylor, but they're not going to spend all that money buying out Sark and his coaching staff to go hire a G6 HC. I like Matt Rhule but I'm not sure he would be on the list either. Chesney I actually like, I believe he came from JMU and is having a good amount of success at UCLA.

It's hard to decide who to hire, I'm sure CDC and the people around him have a short list. Right now all we can do is hope by some miracle Sark figures it out and they go on some 6-0 run and make the playoffs and make a run there.

Right now I'm struggling to see it.