ChanmanV

Outside of the tackle position, Kyle Flood has been awful in developing and recruiting interior OL since he's been at Texas. Here are the list notable OL he's recruited: DJ Campbell Cole Hutson Connor Robertson Hayden Connor Neto Umeozulu Connor Stroh Daniel Cruz Nate Kibble Jayden Chapman Jordan/Devin Coleman Max Merrill Andrej Karic Nick Brooks Brandon Baker None of these guys have been standouts (JAGs mostly) and some have even transferred which is crazy given how poor the starters have been. That's a lot of misses for 5-6 years. You'd think at least 1 player would have been all conference material from a reputable OL coach. He's put 2 OT in the NFL and soon to be 3 which he should get full credit for but the interior line has been an issue almost every year. He's lucky Jake Majors (Herb Hand/Herman recruit) carried that role for him so long but since he's been gone, it's been a disaster. It's clear as day that high school recruiting for interior offensive line has been a huge failure for us. So either we need to put more money into getting top talent at every position on the Oline (ie Ohio State) or Kyle Flood needs to go. We're all tired of the same Oline narrative every year.

I definitely feel this could be the beginning of the end of the Sark era for us. It might be in a couple years that he moves on but his ego, stubbornness, and loyalties keeps him from ever being an elite coach. He's a good head coach when it comes to recruiting/branding side of the job but when it comes to the football itself, he's been failing for awhile now because there is no accountability for the core of the offensive coaches. Flood, Milwee, and Sark as the playcaller would have been let go by now by the top coaches purely on performance. Outside of the the tackle position (1 first rounder, 1 second rounder), Flood has been terrible developing and recruiting the center and guard position. Jake Majors was our only decent center and he was from the Herman/Hand era. Cruz was a disaster and we've yet to see Christian. Connor, Campbell, Hutson, Robertson, Kibble, and Stroh have all been bad at protection and just average at run blocking. Nick Brooks transferred. That's a horrible track record for 6 years. Only 2 of those years our OL has not been on of the biggest weaknesses of the team. Milwee's biggest strength is recruiting but Quinn and Arch have had flaws from the get go that never improved. Quinn had bad footwork from day 1 to the day he left. Arch's decision making is arguably worse now than he was as a freshman. It's crazy how limited Sark's playbook is right now with Arch. At least with Quinn, he was very good at running Sark's pre-snap eye candy. Arch can't even do that right now. So you have to question, did they recruit the right QBs for their system? Or are they just inept at building up and developing QBs? Whichever way, it's been a failure as a coach. So the question is why is someone like PK that for the most part produced quality defenses fired before guys like this. My guess is they are "yes" men Sark likes to have around or they are his buddies (include Jeff Banks in that). At some point every head coach has to protect himself by scapegoating his assistants. I think we're getting close to that when it comes to these guys, but ultimately it will be Sark's demise as long as he is the playcaller too. Chesney and Stein are showing you what you can do with even limited talent when you're team has an identity and are discipline.

Yes Kiper still has him at the end of the 1st round which is insane. Just think about how hard he would struggle in the NFL given the struggles here.

*Ahem* KJ Lacey

Finally something we can cheer for and a legitimate contender. This football and volleyball season have been killing me with the deficiencies. Basketball season (men and women) can't come fast enough. Can't wait to see the team on TV.

#FreeKJ

From the limited time I've seen Lacey play and what people say about him, he's accurate and he makes quick decisions (good or bad). That's already a big upgrade from Arch right now. On top of that, he's more adept at midrange and short throws vs the deep throw (opposite of Arch), which most of Sark's office lives in that space.

To be fair, we need to start judging Sark by recency and not continue to think of him when he was Bama 7-8 years ago now. Jimbo Fisher was a good caller at one point too. Offenses revolutionize every year and a lot of people have copied the good parts of Sark's offense already so I don't know that he's "cutting edge" any more. That said, Arch and that OL don't allow him to maximize his scheme either. If Arch played for that Bama team, they'd have just as much problems except Saban would force Sark to bench him.

When it comes to success, your playcaller and QB coach should put your QB in the best position to succeed. But with if your QB is deficient mentally during games? Why are we trying so hard to make something work that obviously doesn't fit? Right now Arch and Sark are a square peg in a round hole. It's hurting Sark, Arch, and the team. Something has to give but I'd prefer seeing how much Lacey can handle Sark's offense over some Tebow like ugly offense that would likely result in Arch getting hurt anyways. If Lacey is accurate and makes quicker decision, we can run at least 75% of Sark's offense. Right now I think Arch only fits about 25-30% of it. Though I don't disagree with Sark receiving a lot of the play calling blame, I think there's a limit to "dumbing down" the offense that crosses the line of "you don't have a quality QB" and I feel like we are there with Arch Manning. If he doesn't even use his hot routes or dump offs, how much of the playbook do we really want the playbook to be reduced just to make a said player the QB? Sark makes the big bucks. He needs to start making tough decisions that warrant that salary and stop looking like his hands are tied.

If they can't this week after a loss and so much scrutiny, I don't think they ever will this season.

It will be better but his issues are still issues even against bad defenses. He didn't play that well and threw 50% completion rate against UTSA (120 ranked). He'll have a few more good drives but we'll still see a fair share of 3 and outs. If he just throws to whoever McClain is defending this week, Arch will look like a Heisman candidate. 😄

In regards to the playoff committee, this loss will hurt us like the Florida one did last year. OU is not a good team and will rack up more losses. If we have 3 losses we will be in a similar dilemma we were in last year because the committee has shown they only care about how many losses you have and who you lost to. They don't care who you've beaten. I hope they understand that and the urgency is at code red.

I'm glad you and CJ are speaking the harsh truth. He has most of the attributes you want in a good QB but right now he lacks the most important one which is the one between the ears. His decision making is at freshman level in many ways right now. I don't know if it's the fault of his coaches (Texas and private) and their teaching styles (Quinn struggled too) or if it's just Arch not having the ability to process and pick up new things fast. He's been in Sark's system 3+ years and studied film (being a film junky) and the playbook but what he shows on the field really make him look like he doesn't have enough competency in the plays and system. His reads are slow and doesn't seem to have a high understanding of how certain plays fit with certain defenses. You can tell by where his eyes start and where they go in the first 2-3 secs of a snap. The reality is he is behind as a 4th year player and his window is closing fast. Sark can't waste the rest of the team waiting on something that may never happen. Sark hasn't done him any favors like he didn't set Quinn up well early on either. He struggles with rhythm and progressions at this level. I can't even imagine how much he'd struggle in the NFL . Unfortunately, I don't think Sark will even pull the plug on Manning even if it's necessary because he's too all in with the Manning family. Arch is likely to want to come back next season and create a scenario Sark avoided last year since Quinn opted to leave. Unfortunately the casualty in all of this maybe KJ Lacey. We'll all keep hoping some miraculous A'ha moment happens for him but at this point, it's fair to wonder if it will ever happen.

Has Kyle Flood shown any ability to develop HS centers? Cruz was a disaster and if Christian was any good, he'd be getting some reps somewhere. He was the one responsible for the Cole Hutson at center experiment to start last season. Something tells me Cole Hutson will be 2nd string once he gets on the roster and he's up to speed. Center is one of the most important pieces and we haven't had anyone with a NFL future at that position since Majors. Our leaders are Simmons and Manning that both made mistakes at crucial moments at the end of the game. Vasek (another upperclassman) missing a block on the punt protection. The failure is across the board but less on the defense only giving up 13 points. You don't win many games when your offense and special teams gives up 14 points. So sure those guys haven't been in that game, but they didn't lose us this game as much as some of the vets did.

Not sure why Royal would come to Florida or Texas with the QB play at both right now. If I'm Sark and staff, I'd spend more money and time trying to get Legree in the portal.