The Truth, The Whole Truth, And Nothing But The Truth
If you're the type of Texas Longhorn fan who watches Longhorn Network obsessively, and thoroughly enjoys all the sugar-coating they provide, this isn't an article for you. If you're the type of fan who knows Mack Brown and blindly gives him a pass because of his gentleman qualities, and because he brought this program back from the depths Mackovic took it too, this isn't an article for you. If you're not the type of fan who critically analyzes your team, athletic department, and university, then this definitely isn't an article for you. Actually, if you are one of those fans mentioned above, maybe this is the article for you. Maybe these words will get through to you. Hopefully they will make you reassess your view of our athletic culture at Texas, and question what needs to be done on the Forty Acres. Like Manny Diaz's defense tonight, this isn't going to be pretty.
Before we get into the meaty diatribe this piece will ultimately become, I feel it is only appropriate that I let you know my history with the University of Texas to better understand where I'm coming from. I was born and raised to be a Texas fan since I was a young tot. My earliest memories, good and bad, are the upset of Nebraska in the inaugural Big XII championship, and the infamous "Route 66" game against UCLA. After attending many games with my family during middle and high school, I started attending our glorious university in the Fall of 2007. I was there for "the good, the bad, and the ugly." I was there when Colt struggled as a sophomore, and people were calling for John Chiles every weekend. I was there for both runs at National Championships, from the Crabtree catch in Lubbock to the Colt McCoy injury the Rose Bowl. Finally, my senior year was the season of 5-7 epic failure, the one that many would argue created the monster we are currently left with. I love my alma mater, am deeply invested in it, and want only the best for our school in every single way. So when you read the following following paragraphs, you know the analysis and opinions aren't coming from some jackwagon who has never attended a game at DKR, much less the university.
Tonight was the full reveal of the institutional failure that has pervaded our athletic department for some time now. To some, this is nothing new, as many people have pointed to the shortcomings at Texas over the past few years. These fans have often been called irrational, and short-sighted for blaming the higher-ups who got us to where we are today. For others, the ones who have stuck by the team, coaches, and athletic department through thick and thin, tonight has to be the realization that there is something wrong within our athletic department. This goes far beyond blaming Manny Diaz, Major Applewhite, or any other positional coaches. After all, this staff was hand-picked by the head coach, and they are paid quite handsomely for their coaching duties. Instead, this loss points directly to the arrogance and blindness of the two most powerful people on the Forty Acres: Mack Brown and Deloss Dodds. Yes, I'm talking about the coach who said this was the year Texas would be "back." Yes, I'm talking about the athletic director who has given loose leashes to Mack Brown and Rick Barnes based on their performances many moons ago, despite their inadequacies and failures in their most recent seasons. Due to the success Dodds and Brown achieved in the mid to late 2000s, they think they can get our program back to where it needs to be. Yet in reality, they are the ones driving it into the ground, refusing to let go of the reigns when change is desperately needed, almost as if they are the sailors saying "the captain goes down with his ship."
I know no other way than to lay it out in the simplest manner possible. We have top-notch facilities, an incredible environment for students, and more money than most colleges and third-world countries dream about. There is no reason an institution such as Texas should fail at anything for an extended period of time based on the advantages it has. The head coaches of our two biggest revenue-generating sports, football and men's basketball, have underachieved for multiple seasons. Despite this, the Athletic Director has refused to make any changes, and even worse, President Powers has backed him on it. If you can't see the easily-apparent institutional failure here, the only thing I can assume is that you've consumed far too many adult beverages tonight, induced by the Longhorns performance.
The only thing the belief held onto by Powers, Dodds, and Brown has led us to is mediocrity. No longer are we a feared team on the football field. No sir, the days of Vince Young, Will Muschamp, and us imposing our will on people is long gone. We are no longer the best football program in the state, or even the second-best program in the state. Hell, we might not even be the third-best program in the state. What we truly are is a soft, entitled program mocked by much of the country, led by two of the biggest egos in the entire state that refuse to realize what they have done.
For those of you who will try to rebut where Brown and Dodds have led us, and argue that no changes should be made, the only argument you can really bring sounds something like this: "they got us here, they've earned the right to stay, and they do things the right way." In truth though, the only "right way" is to win. The reality is that everything comes second to winning. It's the reason why Bobby Petrino will be coaching at a major program in a year or two, and it's the reason Johnny Manziel's antics are forgotten and why he is the starter at Texas A&M. The good guys at Texas who used to win are no longer winning the way they used to, and it's a fact that cannot be denied. If you think Texas, one of the biggest and most powerful universities in the country, can't find someone better, or you are afraid to risk further failure that may come with a change in the status quo, then you too have resigned yourself to mediocrity, because there will be no major improvements made under this regime. Don't let yourself fall into the same trap that Brown and Dodds are ensnared in. All you have to do is open your eyes...
I understand where you are coming from. However, My argument is not, "they've already done it, they've earned the right to stay." My argument is that they can do it again. We have hit so many homeruns under Mack Brown's watch. Assistant coaches moving on and being great coaches elsewhere, recruiting world class college athletes, landing our own television network, dominating licenced merchandise sales, additions and renovations of the stadium, oh yah, and your favorite, winning.
ReplyDeleteMack has done things that haven't ever bee done at Texas before. We named the stadium after a guy who's records Mack has beaten.
Everybody hates losing. Especially Texas. I have faith that Coach Brown is doing everything he can to get the program back on track. But remember, he created that track. We can't just go buy Coach Satan and think it will all be better overnight.
Of course, if we go 5-7 then fire his ass. I doubt that will happen though.
I have no doubt that Brown is trying to get this program back. I also have no doubt that he wants to be the one to get Texas "back", because he doesn't want to leave the program worse than when he found it.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, your entire argument is based on a five year stretch of home-runs where we dominated OU and contended for BCS National Championships in three seasons. Outside of those five years from 2005-2009, when he had arguably the two greatest QBs to ever play at Texas, he has been well below Texas standards. When you don't include those five years, he has only one victory over OU in the 90s, and zero conference championships.
5-7 shouldn't be the threshold for removal. The threshold for removal should be anything less than ten wins, as anything beneath that would be a step back from the moderate gains achieved over the last three years. Don't fall into the same rationale of thinking that Penn State and Florida State did about Paterno and Bowden at the end of their careers.