TexasLonghorns

Agree!

Like which one? Not seeing that myself

The days of saying you don’t have the money to fire a coach has become an excuse if you are a major P4 team.

Arch is fine. The OL and coaching, not so much.

I agree with most of your post, but not that part. Sure, we’ve missed on some OL prospects in past cycles and relied on players down the list, no doubt. But the two you mentioned (Mills and Fasusi) are true freshmen, so they don’t really support the “too much hope in youth” argument for this team. The guys we’re actually playing are older than both. Only one is a second-year player, the rest are third and fourth year guys. This isn’t a young group, they’ve had plenty of time in the program. Also, Neto’s been here four years now, he just hasn’t developed for whatever reason. That’s not a youth problem, it’s a recruiting, evaluation, and development problem, compounded by coaching and scheme issues.

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Good catch, won’t let me edit.

That whole “we’re young” narrative only popped up after the results didn’t meet preseason expectations. Nobody was calling this offense young in August, if someone had suggested we’d struggle because of youth, they’d have been laughed off the board. In fact, we were going to be better offensively because the players being inserted brought more physicality up front from G,C,G, Arch was more dynamic than Ewers, Wingo was the best freshman WR in the country just didn’t get much opportunity and Endries was a plug and play vet that would have a huge impact, etc. Offensive starters: QB – 3rd yr RBs – Baxter (3rd), Wisner (3rd), Clark (2nd) WRs – Moore (3rd), Wingo (2nd), Livingstone (2nd) OL – LT (2nd), LG (3rd), C (4th), RG (4th), RT (2nd) TEs – Endries (3rd), Washington (2nd) That’s 2 fourth-years, 5 third-years, and 4 second year players. Far from young.

That’s fair, haha.

If you worked for Harbaugh for that long as an OL coach, I’d wager he’s good. Didn’t make much difference last week though, granted no idea how much of a voice he has or how much he can change in a few weeks. Can’t hurt having someone on staff with his experience.

I absolutely agree. I’ve defended Flood for years, but at this point I’m questioning everything. The warning signs were there before, I just thought he could reel in more Kelvin Banks type players. Turns out Banks was an outlier. Even with guys like Banks showing individual promise, run blocking in short yardage situations has been a glaring weakness under Flood from day one. Five years in, it’s still a weakness. The OL looks unhealthy, unphysical, and underdeveloped/poor evals and that’s a reflection of both recruiting and coaching. It’s extremely concerning, and honestly, there’s no defending it anymore. Especially considering it’s going to get Manning injured. I’d imagine the Manning family isn’t happy with the protection he has up front. Honestly, no QB would look good behind this OL and it’s hindering Arch’s development in a large way.

I’m not saying Kyle Flood has done enough to keep his job, he hasn’t. Recruiting hasn’t met expectations, and development clearly hasn’t either. Something needs to change, no question about it. But let’s be real, swapping OL coaches won’t fix the core problem. Sark is just as responsible for what we’re seeing. The long developing routes, predictable play calls, blocking schemes, and lack of execution and discipline up front those all trace back to the head coach/OC just as much as it does Flood. Sark and Flood both personally evaluated that OL room and decided Texas didn’t need anyone from the portal. Sark even bragged about it at SEC Media Days. That’s not on Flood alone that’s on Sark’s judgment and his system. Until that changes, the results won’t either IMO.

I’m not sure firing Flood will remedy the issues. Just my opinion though.

This isn’t just a bad week, it’s a measure of consistency. A program that consistently attracts top talent should be performing at a high level. Year 5 should reflect growth and dominance, not unpreparedness and losses against Power 5 competition.

Let’s be honest, making the playoff last year doesn’t excuse disappearing against top-tier programs in Year 5. Down 14-0 with 4 minutes left vs Ohio State, and Texas only scores because the opponent goes into prevent? That’s not competitive, that’s failing when it matters. Yes, the OL and DL have issues, and Arch is a third year QB, not “young” at all. With NIL advantages, portal access, and top ranked recruiting classes, there are no excuses for rolling food out on the offensive line or racking up penalties. “Playing in the Horseshoe and the Swamp” doesn’t justify looking unprepared and undisciplined. This isn’t about throwing in the towel, it’s about holding the program accountable. Right now, Sark’s program is trending in the wrong direction, and the responsibility falls squarely on the head coach. The only two Power 5 opponents Texas has played this year? Totally unprepared, manhandled, and one of those was a 1-3 Florida team coached by Billy Napier with a QB on one leg. That’s on Sark.

Sark’s offense completely disappears against good Power 5 competition. Down 14-0 with 4 minutes left vs Ohio State, and Texas only scores because the opponent goes into prevent. Sark is 0-4 in his last four SEC/Big Ten games.

Exactly. He’s trying to be the head coach, OC, QB coach, and culture cop all at once. When you do everything, you end up doing nothing great. He makes $10M+ a year, the job is to lead and delegate, not micromanage every detail. Great coaches empower their staff.

You’re not wrong about the QB play being underwhelming, but at some point you’ve got to look higher up the chain. Sark is the QB coach, he’s the one designing the offense, developing the room, and making the calls. If every position under his control keeps underperforming, maybe the issue isn’t the assistants. And it’s not just scheme, it’s execution and discipline, too. Sark’s teams consistently fail in both areas, and when you fail there, these are the results you get. You can swap out coordinators and position coaches all you want, but if the same issues keep showing up, that’s on the head coach.

This didn’t just age bad, it spoiled overnight. All that talk about “Florida won’t be close” and “Lagway can’t throw against a real defense”… and then Texas goes out there and looks completely lost. That’s not a player problem, that’s a coaching problem and that coaching problem wasn’t Billy Napier.

The schedule isn’t difficult, play some teams without talent. Vandy at home, at Mississippi State, at Kentucky, those are almost guaranteed wins. Sark struggles vs any team that has similar talent, those teams don’t. At Georgia is definitely a loss though, A&M likely a win at home but probably close. OU with a backup QB? Easily could win that.

“Rebuilding year” yet how many in here picked Texas to lose against 1-3 Florida.

Let’s be honest, no one was calling this a “rebuilding year” before the season started. Texas came into the year ranked #1 by multiple outlets, hyped across the media, and even the mods here were predicting 11 wins and a playoff berth. The narrative has changed only because the results haven’t matched the expectations. We returned a ton of talent, had continuity at key positions, and added through the portal. In today’s era, especially with Texas resources, no team can realistically call itself “young” or “rebuilding.” As Gerry says, that excuse doesn’t hold up anymore. This isn’t about rebuilding, it’s about underperforming. The pieces are there. Now it’s on the staff and leaders to recalibrate, get tougher in the trenches, and clean up execution. Improvement can and should come, but let’s not rewrite history just to soften the reality.

Maybe I’ve been wrong on Flood. In the year after Sarkisian and Flood left Alabama, Flood's recruits underperformed, leading to one of the weakest offensive lines during Saban's tenure, with most players eventually transferring or leaving the program.

It really feels like the NCAA has been holding onto this old-school idea of college sports being all about amateur vibes, even as courts and the real world keep shoving them toward change. The House settlement? It’s like slapping a Band-Aid on a leaky pipe, helpful for a moment, but these new rules they just dropped today feel more like a quick stitch job that might not hold. A federal law paired with a collective bargaining agreement sounds like the ideal fix, smooth, fair, and structured….but let’s be real, getting that through Congress with all its political drama? That’s a tall order.