jdhdavis

May to July is usually the season of coaches in the Media--or at least the "long format" versions compared with shorter in season availability. Sark made his usual rounds with the various Touchdown clubs, podcast, and media sites. I think he's really good at it. It can be repetitive if you listen to multiple sessions. But he has a lot to say and a lot more than traditional "coach speak." I would give somewhere between a B+ to A-. The only deduction is him having to clarify himself too often--mostly on topics he clearly has thought about and rehearsed and could have self edited better. The player cap space topic is a good example. Of course our rivals ran with that on X with the concept that Texas runs players out of town and has no loyalty. On the Eisen show he clarified that other teams made great offers to some of our players and we declined to match given the other players they wanted to sign from the portal. I give props for him saying this out loud and its of course true that all teams do this. But get that one right in the first place. Before living in Texas, I was in Virginia for a long time and Tony Bennett with their basketball program was, I think, the GOAT for media sessions--always thoughtful, interesting, educational. Too bad he retired early. On the other had, I lived through Bill O'Brien coaching the Houston Texans--the perfect example of coach speak with zero substance. What is your take on high end coaches with the media that make viewing worth our time? Follow-up eval--if having trouble with insomnia, tune into a Dave Aranda press conference--solved..

Just a fun re look, assuming ChatGPT accurate: 2021--Big 12--Bijan Robinson, Keondre Coburn 2022--Big 12--Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson, Jordan Whittington, DeMarvion Overshown, Ovie Oghoufo 2023--Big 12--Quinn Ewers, Xavier Worthy, Jordan Whittington, Jaylan Ford, Jahdae Barron 2024--SEC--Quinn Ewers, Kelvin Banks, Jahdae Barron 2025--SEC--Arch Manning, Anthony Hill, Michael Taafe 2026--SEC--Arch Manning, Trevor Goosby, Colin Simmons Great roster of players--especially the group attending more than 1 year. This year's group did well at the mic--clearly trying to be careful and not generate locker room material for opponents. I thought the repeated question on "goosebumps" coming out of the tunnel was a bit silly, but the players managed to give decent answers.

With the “Manning might come back for 2027” comments and the line up behind him, makes you wonder which QBs we will see start between 2027 to 2030 range. Lacy—Bell—Knudsen—Laurence What a great situation to ponder.

Mine: if he was a backup kicker he is suspended and no challenges. Over. per Josh Pate— what if the same problem drops on UT or amy other blueblood, ie high dollar transfer with clean record has same gambling story break 3 mo later. Does the story go differently? I think UT handles it better and the story of Coach Beard may be precedent that they can make difficult decisions even if winning changes hurt in short term. Other blue bloods may go down similar path to tech. Curious what others think.

Brutal analysis--only 4 of 30 finished at TA&M For UT 2022--the first full class for Sark--looks like they finished 9: Campbell, Banks, Blue, Guilbeau, Hutson, Burke, Williams, Robertson, St Louis. Seemed like more in real time but a lot of attrition still. Wonder what the ongoing norm will be for 4 years at 1 school--maybe a third at best.

You would think 4th and goal would be a sore topic for him:

Saban used to sell recruits the value of developing in the early years with elite and developed athletes going to the NFL. Now the temptation is to go to lesser ranked programs to play earlier and get paid, but practicing against a lower tier of teammates with the hope of transferring up in later years. Will be a challenge to compare which model works best for the NFL.

Bellaire, Texas Weekends--Lake Conroe DKR Weekends--East Austin KOA in the Airstream!

My observation is that its 2 issues and not just drops. The other is he has a very thin resume at making truly contested catches where there is contact but excluding PI (or even "missed PI). Once there is legal contact, he seems to be out of the play more often than not.

How do you see the LB rotation today? More Bo Barnes?

I don't speak Spanish, but the highlights are awesome. https://fb.watch/C-S6kkQyg0/

Of course the question will be at what point in the draft is a yearly contract lower than a player’s NIL potential as a 4th or 5th year in college.

True. Still he had some 2-3 round predictions in the teams need qbs argument. But this year not so many compared to last year.

Specific to the Longhorns and rounds 1-3, the NFL teams certainly rewarded several players who came back to finish eligibility--Baron, Broughton, Collins, Mukuba. Leaving early--worked out for Banks and Golden Not working out for a high pick--Ewers, Blue, Williams, Bond (other issues). Probably Williams ends up being the biggest mistake and wondering if this affects future year decisions. Completed eligibility and did their best--Helm, Sorrell, Majors, Conner, Gbenda, Bolden, Holmes, Norton. Hoping for a good Saturday for the group. Plenty of time for this group to do well in the league despite draft status.

I guess the OMG moment was not a pick/reach, but the Sanders slide.

Everyone loves mock drafts. But every year there is a (usually 1st round) pick that stuns the experts and throws multiple team boards into disarray. Then becomes the headline of next day draft grades. I can never predict the first major “reach.” Thoughts ?

Works well for other sports and hobbies. Addicted to Reels.

FB postings with fake news on recruiting, portal, anything shocking. Earlier this week a post saying Sark died in a plane crash.

What a sea of fake Longhorns news. Reporting fake news does not seem to deter. Perhaps the upcoming community notes helps. Everyone else seeing this ?

I mostly watch in person, but for TV viewing, the aerial camera shots from over the QB are really interesting. A common theme I see when Quinn sacked or forced to a checkdown for minimal gain is the combination of 1) extra pressure arrives, disrupting the timing, 2) Quinn has to make a decision and unlikely to run out of it to buy time (occasionally works), 3) You have typically 3 vertical threats working their routes but no one's head is looking at Quinn to adapt the play, and he can't make a throw. I'm no passing game expert, but seems like the route trees need more variety such that at least someone is on a shorter timing pattern and available for an early release. We did have that nice 2nd TD to Blue on a wheel route timed over a blitz--should have had a lot more of those this year, including UGA games.

Several online comments out there about ASU out-coaching UT. From a big picture view, I would argue that winning coaches are not out-coached as a summary comment, even if the losing teach had in-game successes like shutting down the UT run game. You are what the final score says you are.

I'm more interested in: 1) why the run game stuffed, 2) If ASU overplaying the run then why minimal successful targets to Bond and Wingo (although a nice catch in OT), 3) have we stopped any special teams trick plays?. Defense was amazing considering how long they were on the field.

They say that orthopedic surgeons can make some money hanging out around ski resorts. Cardiologist could do the same hanging out around Longhorns fans.

Casey Cain entered the portal. Surprised he has eligibility and wondering the plan.

Back in the portal again... Denver Harris--recalling the staff spent a lot of time on his first recruitment. He's already down to 1 year left. I think on the long Arch manning TD run against UTSA, Harris had an angle to tackle near the goal line but too late. An article from his OV: https://www.si.com/college/texas/football/top-2022-cb-denver-harris-impressed-with-longhorns-after-visit-to-austin Isaiah Neyor again--some articles talk on NFL possible. From our own portal activity, it was interesting to look back at the 2023 class with Jelani McDonald and Tausili Akana ranked right next to each other, but very different development directions.