Football Articles
Big 12 Media Days: Mack Brown Unplugged
Posted by Scipio Tex on July 29th, 2009 under Football
Mack performed for just over thirty minutes. Closed his set with Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple. Said a lot of good things, interesting things, and suggested that he may not be able to tell a pass from a run. As with any time Mack Brown speaks, I was pleased, impressed, irritated twice, and only once muttered, “Maaaack, what the f are you talking about?”
Let’s wade in:
From his opening statement –
This year’s team is in a position in preseason more like the 2005 team. It’s more of a dangerous position, but, at the same time, you feel like that because the expectations are much higher, the 2005 team lived up to those expectations. They stepped up.
The most dangerous psychological position for a team is the year after they’ve overachieved. Fans, players and coaches tend to rewrite the script as if we were that good all along. Dangerous anywhere, VERY dangerous at Texas. Where complacency can engulf our players like fat white chicks around our LBs at a club.
On our RB circus –
Fozzy needs to stay healthy. He’s played well when he’s in there. I thought Vondrell probably played hurt a lot last year. We need to continue to work with Cody on conditioning, and he had the bad hamstring pull in the spring.
We have a series of incomplete parts. And the fact that they’re all constantly injured suggests the need for a Todd Wright intervention.
Without a consistent running game, how do we protect Colt?
So I think our thought with Colt’s running is we don’t mind him running. We do want him to be healthy. We don’t want him to get beaten down, and we need to do a better job this year of trying to control through play selection and talking to him when he’s going to run and when he’s not.
Agreed. I’ll take it a step further though. We’re not just protecting Colt in the running game by finding a scheme and back that work, but also protecting him in the passing game. Colt’s primary beatings at year end took place because defenses disrespected our run game and told their outside pass rushers to forget about run responsibilities and allowed their inside LBs and safeties to come on delay blitzes. Colt took real beatings in the pocket against weak teams like Baylor, A&M, and, of course, a quality defense in Ohio State.
TE play is important here – not only in giving Colt a quick check down, but also providing some flexibility in the run game –
It’s not as easy to run the ball without a tight end. That affected us some last year. We had too many zero-gain plays or negative-yardage plays in our running game. We moved Grant in there, and he sprained his ankle and didn’t do a lot in the spring.
Lots of ankle sprains. I’m not sure what Grant gives us in the running game against a traditional defense, but if we can get a team to go nickel or dime and match him up on a WLB or DB, that’s something we can work with. He’s not going to fire out and pin Jeremy Beal on his back.
We are excited about the defensive backs. And not only because we think they’re talented, but there’s a lot of them. And the competition is really driving them. They can’t take a lazy step.
Me gusta los Darwinian processes. We’ve come a long way from the “bled for our program” horseshit. As this relates to Blake Gideon – let’s be clear – if he’s a starter, it’s an admission by our coaches that they don’t trust Earl Thomas or Christian Scott setting up the defense. It’s not Will Muschamp’s misplaced love for a player that reminds of himself. I think Will is a tad more ruthless than that, don’t you? Hell, maybe Gideon gets better too.
But what about the mean Big 12 and their evil anti-Texas conspiratorial tie breaking system?
A lot of that comes from us. We need to learn from that and move on, quit talking about the system and just go play.
Attaboy, Mack.
On the uncertainty at DT –
We have two guys with a lot of experience in Ben Alexander and Lamarr Houston. They’ve been around for a long time, and they’re kind of the strongholds.
Yes, Ben Alexander is our Masada.
Now join me as we watch Mack Brown completely lose his mind!
One of the amazing stats from last year at our conference, at our school — and I want to say this properly because it sounds kind of weird. We had less than 100 runs against us last year, and we had more than 600 passes. That was for the year. And that’s phenomenal that we had less than 100 rushes against us.
Mack is having a Joe Biden moment.
If I count up the Big 12 box scores from last year and don’t count any QB rushes (many of which are running plays – Robert Griffin, Zac Robinson, Stephen McGee) I can come up with 149 carries. I don’t expect that anyone on this staff shall be up for the Fields Medal in Mathematics any time soon.
However, his basic point – which is sound – is this –
So what we’re looking at is if that trend continues in the Big 12, you’ve got to stop the run, obviously, on first down, but you’ve got to get packages for pass rushers. So as much as we’re concerned about the big guys up front, we still have to make sure that we have packages for pass rushers in situations
Right on.
I wrote last year that defense in the Big 12 is nothing more than a bunch of discrete packages based on down and distance. The base defense as your core defense is an antiquated idea. Base defense now means first down defense against a typical set – and if it’s facing Tech, it may well be a 3-2-6 with Houston at NT flanked by Keenan Robinson and Sergio Kindle with Christian Scott blitzing off of Kindle’s left hip. Not exactly a great preparation for ever playing Georgia Tech, but whatcha gon’ do?
And – since I will never a let moment pass without taking a shot – thank God Gene Chizik and his failures in creative imagination are gone because the current Big 12 would pack in his shit like a hot Pashtun boy dropped off in a Taliban camp.
That’s why we have this guy:
Mack’s most impressive statement is when he was asked by an Oklahoma reporter what has turned the recent tide in the Texas/OU game given Mack’s struggles in the early part of the decade. His answer was telling -
And I do feel like our guys are relaxed in the game more than they were previous years, and we’re playing better in that game. And Oklahoma is playing great. It’s back to where it’s a great game instead of some of those lopsided games where I didn’t do a very good job coaching.
Talking about that in a forthright way without any defensiveness is good. Very good.
Let’s get it on.
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Milk,
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Nordberg said:
July 29th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
“thank God Gene Chizik and his failures in creative imagination are gone because the current Big 12 would pack in his shit like a hot Pashtun boy dropped off in a Taliban camp.”
Iowa St. says hi!
1991 said:
July 29th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I don’t have any clue what you’re talking about.
Jim Harrison said:
July 29th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Christ, that’s great stuff. Football season is getting close.
jc25 said:
July 29th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
At what point do we stop shitting on Chizik? Dude only contributed to a National Championship.
CrazyJoeDavola said:
July 29th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I think we lay off Chizik when he goes back in time and doesn’t quit on the team mid-season in order to shop for a head coaching job.
Scipio Tex said:
July 29th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
jc25 –
Never. See CJD’s reply for why.
Iowa Stae said:
July 29th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Can I please go back in time too?
TxTower said:
July 29th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
More relaxed? I wish he’d just told the okie reporter “Cause we’re better now – better than OU.”
Sasha_is_a_Longhorn_Dog said:
July 29th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Scip, in light of how dangerous a position you think Texas is in regarding the complacency issue, how have the off-season workout reports (one written by you, I think) influenced your opinion on that? To make that question a little clearer, based on what you’ve heard so far, do you see the guys perhaps falling prey to that, or do you think Colt & a few other team leaders will be strong enough to keep that from happening?
D-line issues aside, complacency is the one thing that really scares the crap out of me.
Scipio Tex said:
July 29th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Sasha:
I really have no idea. If I were to judge based on what I know of Earl Thomas, Roderick Muckelroy and Colt McCoy I’d say this team should have plenty of edge to it.
I would really like to see an OL or two with a more vocal leadership role and a little edge to him – maybe Huey and Hix grow into that.
The problem with complacency is that you usually only recognize it in yourself after the fact. See Florida last year. They were lucky to get a second chance.
Amos Moses said:
July 29th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
The great thing about last year’s overachieving team is that, despite their unexpected success, the thought that sticks with those guys is the feeling they were screwed out of an earned chance to play for at least one championship. In my mind, that should put to rest most of the complacency issues
Carl "Bull" Reese said:
July 29th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
“Mack’s most impressive statement is when he was asked by an Oklahoma reporter what has turned the recent tide in the Texas/OU game given Mack’s struggles in the early part of the decade.”
Because I’m catching lots and lots of fish these days…
dick said:
July 29th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
The leaders of this team are Colt, Shipley, Muck and Earl (maybe missing an OL). I just don’t see guys like them letting complacency settle in to this team. Esp with Coach Boom.
Jenny Craig said:
July 29th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
“Ben Alexander is our Masada”
Always thought Ben was carrying too much unnecessary and superfluous weight, probably about 20 pounds of it. Ben being blown up like a balloon is one accusation which could legitimately placed at the desk of Maddog, another man carrying alot of superfluous weight. A thinner, trimmer Ben, one on a Jenny Craig’s diet, could end up being a sound if not a spectacular player for the Horns this year.
Scipio Tex said:
July 29th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Jenny, Jenny- where could he turn to?
Horncasting said:
July 29th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
You misheard Mack on the rushing quote. He said UT only had 100 rushes against them by Big 12 QUALITY teams. Clearly this excludes A&M and CU.
Horncasting said:
July 29th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
“The great thing about last year’s overachieving team is that, despite their unexpected success, the thought that sticks with those guys is the feeling they were screwed out of an earned chance to play for at least one championship. In my mind, that should put to rest most of the complacency issues”
Good point.
I think the fact that they have so few players on the preseason all conf. lists has to help too.
ed said:
July 29th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
I understand that Mack doesn’t want to tip his hand on players and schemes. I DON’T understand why he doesn’t hire a ghostwriter to come up with some clever responses to questions me and you and a dog named boo knew were coming.
Why sound like a politician misreading his teleprompter when you can get the media to smile and nod and even laugh out load with some creative answers?
ed said:
July 29th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
oops. laugh out “loud”
hopefulhorn said:
July 29th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
“VERY dangerous at Texas. Where complacency can engulf our players like fat white chicks around our LBs at a club.
Complacency has been our historic Achilles heel. Another reason to really like Muschamp.
dasmithjones said:
July 29th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
8-6-7-5-3-0-9
djmagno said:
July 29th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
C.Scott will be ready this year. He may not be where Blake is mentally quite yet, but he has come along. Last year before two-a-days he knew about 10-20% of the playbook…this year I would say 80-90%. Once two-a-days are over, he will most certainly be ready. We talk all the time about his mental preparation. Last year he admitted to having screwed up and didn’t take things that seriously. This year, it’s all business and no B.S.
GET READY TO RUMBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEE!!!
Scipio Tex said:
July 29th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
dasmithjones for the win.
Kafka said:
July 30th, 2009 at 4:20 am
Good to emphasize that the horns over achieved last year, at least partially because of the great leadership exhibited by some of the senior players. Will the horns over achieve again this season? Most likely the horns regress to the mean.
Good point that DJ Grant run blocking against nickel and dime formations will be very important.
“Defense in the Big 12 is nothing more than a bunch of discrete packages based on down and distance. The base defense as your core defense is an antiquated idea”. The major offensive innovation last season was OU’s hurry up offense. The hurry up offense reduces the impact of the opposition’s DC because the DC does not have time to swap personnel and deploy packages that are optimized for down and distance.
OU is going to frequently force the UT D that is currently on the field, to stay on the field. OU will also squeeze the time that Coach Boom has to think/create/signal his call/players move into position.
In the future, it seems inevitable that in this realtime coaching strategic war, computers will start calling the plays both offensively and defensively (eg: directly controlling the portable electronic signs used for communicating directly with the players on the field). There might be a sign for each player to simplify communication (for the player’s perspective).
Because of the difficulty in deploying specialized packages, it will be very important that players (both offensive and defensive) on the field are multiple. For example, offenses need TEs (and big receivers in general) who can both run block and run down field to pass receive.
Coach Boom bleeding while he intensely coaches was a great picture but did you notice that Muck was not paying attention to Boom?
TKO said:
July 30th, 2009 at 4:56 am
That wasn’t lack of attention. He was averting his eyes for fear that he might be the next to bleed.
glenn said:
July 30th, 2009 at 6:04 am
good grief, kafka, take a pill.
the hurry up doesn’t reduce the impact of the dc, just changes the focus. forces a dc to be more of a generalist, just like the oc running it since neither can substitute freely. and it puts an emphasis on conditioning since players can’t be spelled on a moment’s notice. also, of course, depth becomes really important. when a dc has to rest a starter, the replacement must be good enough to play an entire series. certainly a tactical shift that plays to the advantage of a grant over a lee, but might, in fact, make the role of the dc as tactician more important since his decisions will likely affect more than just a play or two.
what’s with the boom pic comment? change your pad and look again. first place, boom isn’t talking to muck. and secondly, the problem with a photograph as evidence is that it records an instant in time. no telling where muck was looking three seconds before or after this shot, and a photograph doesn’t record what someone is thinking. silly comment by someone just looking to complain.
bighornfan32 said:
July 30th, 2009 at 7:34 am
the taking of the pill shouldst be done by thee.
ponderos said:
July 30th, 2009 at 8:46 am
But what about the mean Big 12 and their evil anti-Texas conspiratorial tie breaking system?
A lot of that comes from us. We need to learn from that and move on, quit talking about the system and just go play.
Somebody should put that on an airplane banner.
glenn said:
July 30th, 2009 at 8:51 am
rule 1: anyone who feels the need to state he or she is a fan is probably not one.
glenn said:
July 30th, 2009 at 8:56 am
rule 2?
get thee fast away from someone who pretends to be unbiased.
Donkey Punch said:
July 30th, 2009 at 9:04 am
“Somebody should put that on an airplane banner”
Tried, wouldn’t fit. Settled for FUCK OU, 45-35..
glenn said:
July 30th, 2009 at 9:20 am
nice, punch.
say ‘hi’ to donkey judy for me, will you.
Woody Bombay said:
July 30th, 2009 at 9:22 am
I love getting tweaked about sportsmanship from a guy whose favorite head coach never lost a game he couldn’t blame on the officials and stomps around the sideline yelling at them like he was an 11-year-old who didn’t get to eat pizza for dinner.