Texas Football 2010 (aka "The Blame Game")

            Texas Longhorn football has not been good at all this season and fans are beginning to turn on the team blaming whoever they feel is at fault. As a faithful UT fan I have always supported the team, but I am sick and tired of hearing people complain about the team. I also believe there are several people at fault for the way Texas has been playing, but I do not blurt out what I am thinking every time someone mentions the most recent game we had. The most annoying ones who blame players who don't have control over the things they do like Garrett Gilbert for example.

Gilbert is constantly blamed for interceptions and the play calling, but there are many things wrong with this accusation. First of all, Greg Davis calls the plays, not Gilbert, and secondly, the majority of Gilbert's interceptions have come off of tipped or dropped balls, because his receivers dropped the ball or his lineman didn't cut block like they should have. Now that the season is over and we failed to make it to the post-season it is time for Mack Brown to make staff changes. Following former coach Darrell Royal's old saying, "scratch where it itches", we should be seeing "a four-coach housecleaning". This year the poor play of the team has come from the poor coaching and performance of the offense, particularly the offensive and receivers, and the special teams. Davis will probably not be fired, but instead reassigned to a different position on the staff, but the other coaches may not be as fortunate.

The other three coaches are offensive line coach Mac McWhorter, wide receivers coach Bobby Kennedy and defensive tackles coach Mike Tolleson. They haven’t shown improvement as the season dragged on and they failed to help the players reach their potential. The have effectively wasted the talent of these young players by not doing their job, helping these athletes grow and learn as a player to prepare them for the NFL. As for the other offensive coaches Major Applewhite (running backs) and Bruce Chambers (tight ends), their players also struggled throughout the season, but both coaches are good recruiters who are key parts to the always rich recruiting classes Texas manages to bring in every year. These coaches, although they recruit well, need to also improve their coaching to get the most out of the talented players has, because having a top five recruiting class means nothing if those players aren’t properly coached or prepared for the season.

As a fan I will always have my own opinion like everyone else; however I wish people would try to keep it to themselves, unless it is directly asked what they think or if they are defending the team. Maybe the whole coaching situation will fix and everything and we can get back down to business. After we do that the fans can actually get back to supporting the team like we are supposed to instead of blaming and bashing them.

original link: http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/colleges/2010/12/expect-sweeping-changes-when-texas-coach-mack-brown-makes-them.html
-jag13