The kind of a-hole Charlie Strong inherits from Mack

[meangreen15]

A Denton source told me today that UT has had 2 four star commits to decomit in the last 24 hours.

Interesting...

GMG!

http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/01/strong-loses-another-one-second-4-star-dt-decommits-from-texas-in-a-span-of-two-hours.html/

[meangreenthirteen]

A Denton source told me today that UT has had 2 four star commits to decomit in the last 24 hours.

Interesting...

GMG!

The gem speaks truth:

http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/01/longhorn-recruits-courtney-garnett-and-trey-lealaimatafao-decommit-from-texas-on-tuesday.html/

[BillySee58]

Agreed there is a lot that didn't go right for them on offense too. If you need an example go watch the Oregon game.

They don't have a QB

Their OL is soft and below avg

Their WRs are unproductive after Shipley. They lose their #1 Mike Davis

On offense it's all about Malcolm Brown for them. Gray is coming off a big injury.

Their DL depth is razor thin. Especially if Cedric Reed declares

Their LBs are some of the most undiciplined I've ever seen. Still they are really good athletes just need to be put in the right position

They lose their best CB and the rest are avg. I'd imagine their new DC Bedford who is a DB coach will have them playing at a higher level by next yr

Two matchups that we are better than them right now is:

UNT OL over the UT DL

UNT secondary over the UT WRs and passing game

They might be thin at DL, but Desmond Jackson and Malcolm Brown (the d-tackle) are one of the strengths of their team and will be a heavyweight bout against Y'Barbo, Kirby, and Lemon.

As for Gray, I can't help but think getting over 1200 carries in high school didn't attribute to his injury. He's very questionable to return for the start of the season. As is the return for qb David Ash, due to lingering concussion issues that kept him out almost the whole year.

I love that we return Jones and Buyers, not to mention Whitfield and Chad Davis who could make an impact as well. They will allow Skladany to dial up the blitzes and let the safeties play downhill. also think Freddie Warner will cover a lot of ground as a center-fielder type free safety if he can stay healthy. If we can keep the running game in check and force Ash (if he plays), Swoopes, or Heard to beat us with their arm(s) I just can't see them blowing us out.

[BillySee58]

The gem speaks truth:

http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/01/longhorn-recruits-courtney-garnett-and-trey-lealaimatafao-decommit-from-texas-on-tuesday.html/

Yeah, they've lost 3 d-tackle commits. All for the class of 2014, but I'm holding out hope that Booger Kennedy clone and 2015 d-tackle commit Bryce English of DeSoto reconsiders and looks our way. Pipe dream, but I can hope!

[Mean_Green09]

They are losing DT commits bc their DT coach left for USC. I think his name was Bo Davis. I don't think UNT offered the guys that decommited. Could be wrong.

[ragpicker]

Could you imagine if we had that here?

You are right, as long as these old robber barons are around, I wish we had one of them.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Texas does have a QB in David Ash, but he was injured much of the season. But, that doesn't matter. They've got a great stable of running backs, the best in the Big 12.

The three ingredients for winning are still: run, stop the run, and play mistake free special teams. Strong will have the defense ready. They've already got the runners for the run game. They'll have to replace their placekicker who graduates. That's their biggest problem.

[Mean_Green09]

Texas does have a QB in David Ash, but he was injured much of the season. But, that doesn't matter. They've got a great stable of running backs, the best in the Big 12.

The three ingredients for winning are still: run, stop the run, and play mistake free special teams. Strong will have the defense ready. They've already got the runners for the run game. They'll have to replace their placekicker who graduates. That's their biggest problem.

David Ash is unproven at the QB position. Yes they have to replace their place kicker but there other problems that are much bigger than just that.

The main ingredient for winning is score more points than the other team. Has been and always will be.

[meangreenthirteen]

Texas does have a QB in David Ash, but he was injured much of the season. But, that doesn't matter. They've got a great stable of running backs, the best in the Big 12.

The three ingredients for winning are still: run, stop the run, and play mistake free special teams. Strong will have the defense ready. They've already got the runners for the run game. They'll have to replace their placekicker who graduates. That's their biggest problem.

Ash is not a good QB.

[mccox2]

IF Ash starts at QB he would still be prone to a concussion due to his previous experience with concussions. It only takes one solid hit to provoke another concussion. I'm NOT saying that the main goal is to give the guy a concussion, but this sport is a contact sport and the chances of having another concussion increases after having a severe concussion (which ended his season last season). I think our defense will be aware of that and I wouldn't be surprised if we have blitz packages set up to make him feel uncomfortable and not let him develop a rhythm.

Swoopes will not beat us in the air if he is quarterback. He's not accurate, still needs to develop as a passer, and just needs experience. He WILL develop towards the end of the season into a better QB but not the first game of the season. I DO fear their running game because they do have talented experienced backs and they do have Shipley coming back at receiver. UT's offensive line looked like a huge issue last season especially with pass protection. I think UT's offseason will consist of developing an offensive identity that plays to their strengths of the team. Ash and Swoopes will be sharing snaps which means decreased reps for the both of them but they do NOT have a solid good proven quarterback at this point. Maybe mid to end season they will have a proven quarterback but not game one.

[GrayEagle]

Charlie Strong is a very good football coach. As far as I know, Steve Patterson is a fine Athletic Director. The administration has spoken.

But, what I don't get is that a long-time Texas alum who has given more than $100 million lifetime to UT is called an a-hole for expressing his opinion?

[JesseMartin]

Charlie Strong is a very good football coach. As far as I know, Steve Patterson is a fine Athletic Director. The administration has spoken.

But, what I don't get is that a long-time Texas alum who has given more than $100 million lifetime to UT is called an a-hole for expressing his opinion?

I don't think the problem is his opinion. I think the problem is that he apparently believes that every hire they make should be cleared with him first. If that was the case, there would be no reason to have a full-on AD, because the hiring and supervision of coaches would all be done via a committee of the richest donors.

As to the game itself, I think if we see the type of all-around play that we saw this year against Ball and Rice, there's a decent chance we take this one unless UT has a huge improvement by the 1st game. If all of the question marks regarding new starters lead to the same level of pleasant surprise as we had this year, we could have quite a game on our hands!

[scrappyman1]

The Texas fans are already talking sh--t to me about their game with us, They are

telling me they will run us out of the stadium and put 60 on us. I told them they

are full of it, and they will be in for a very rude awakening come next Aug. 30 th

[GrandGreen]

I wish NT had a bunch of "a-holes" like this.

People who think most big donors don't influence decisions are naive at best.

[IslandEagle]

I wish NT had a bunch of "a-holes" like this.

People who think most big donors don't influence decisions are naive at best.

Being an Austin native and a graduate of both UNT and UT, it is people like him that make Longhorn football not enjoyable. I find North Texas football to be much more entertaining than the semi-pro, spoiled jocks at UT. Even my UT friends admit that it isn't really fun anymore, because they are disappointed 99% of the time when the Horns fail to win a conference title and national championship. So, even if UT wins 7,8 or 9 games in a season, they are upset, because they didn't do as well as they had fantasized. Believe me, that gets boring after awhile.

[KRAM1]

I wish NT had a bunch of "a-holes" like this.

People who think most big donors don't influence decisions are naive at best.

Yep...and I predict we see this o-called "a-hole" donate several more millions to the program and fall right in line behind Coach Strong....as long as he creates a winner at Texas.

[KRAM1]

Being an Austin native and a graduate of both UNT and UT, it is people like him that make Longhorn football not enjoyable. I find North Texas football to be much more entertaining than the semi-pro, spoiled jocks at UT. Even my UT friends admit that it isn't really fun anymore, because they are disappointed 99% of the time when the Horns fail to win a conference title and national championship. So, even if UT wins 7,8 or 9 games in a season, they are upset, because they didn't do as well as they had fantasized. Believe me, that gets boring after awhile.

Big time programs are much like this across the nation. UNT supporters who have not experienced "big time programs" first hand do not realize just how good they have it at UNT regarding access, inside info, relationships, etc., etc. many wish to be "big time" like the Texas program, yet when UNT moves a bit further along that spectrum the wail and cry about their loss of influence, etc. hard to have it both ways. Change is hard, but at these programs donations of a size that gives special perks at UNT get you absolutely ZERO at places like Texas, OU, Alabama, etc., etc.

Many fans at such places are required to make much higher donations to get seats on the 10-20 yard lines and "points" and seat locations are re-set annually in some cases. Matters not how long you have held "your seats".... Money matters.

But, they win...so, you get what you pay for and you adjust to the changes. UNT fans are going to have to "adjust" as well if they want that "big time" atmosphere.

It's not a value judgement here, just facts. As this program grows and develops, changes will occur...not good, not bad, just change and fans will need to accept the changes or move on ... If they want the program to move forward. Change is tough individually at times...heck, they have even written books about it.....Who moved my what?

Edited January 11, 2014 by KRAM1

[JesseMartin]

I didn't mean to say that huge donations shouldn't/wouldn't involve a bit of influence, but there is a difference between influence and absolute control. If you want people to slap down huge checks, you're going to have to let them get a little bit of an inside track. But the AD has to be able to do his job as well, and the reason you have one is SUPPOSED to be for them to make the tough choices when necessary. I don't want this to turn into a derailment involving RV's hires, but it still holds...the donors can throw names to the AD and get a scoop before it hits the news, but it's still the whole reason you have someone in charge of the department, no matter which school. And let's not forget the fact that he has to referee the tug-of-war between fans, coaches, donors, admin, etc. What if 10 huge donors at University X all want a different coach? Do you cave to the one with the most cash? Don't think so. It seems pretty apparent that a bunch of them wanted Saban and assumed that they would get them because they're UT. Well, it didn't work out that way, did they want him to hold the job until Saban or one of their other top 2 or 3 choices changed their mind?

[untjim1995]

What does that have to do with having a discussion about news in college football?

Literally, he's the worst poster on this website--and its not even close...I'm glad TFLF seems to have him on the ignore list. I encourage others to do it, as well.

[cwb]

IN!!!!

[JesseMartin]

Literally, he's the worst poster on this website--and its not even close...I'm glad TFLF seems to have him on the ignore list. I encourage others to do it, as well.

The key mitigating factor is that he almost single-handedly engineered the campaign for attendance growth. That's the primary reason I am willing to put up with the rest.

[Baby Arm!]

So glad we dont have big $ donors that make a stink about coaching fires & hires.

Mattress Mac says hi