We are the Joneses - The Official Texas Longhorns Athletics Thread
- Thread starter satam55
- Start date
Whoaa??!!!
Spade
Superstar
Texas offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert finally came up for air and spoke to the media this past week. It was only the second time Gilbert had a media session since he was hired in December. To his defense, Gilbert was preoccupied with recruiting, teaching the Longhorn staff his offense and assessing players during spring practice. There is no need to waterboard John Bianco.
During Gilbert's press conference, he talked about the installment process of his offense, Tyrone Swoopes and the quarterback battle, plus answered several other questions for around 20 minutes. His offense should be better than anything Longhorn fans witnessed during the very brief Shawn Watson era. Texas is far from a finished product, but Gilbert appears to have a plan.
Obviously, there is a lot riding on Gilbert’s success right now. After two straight losing seasons, this could be a do-or-die year for the football staff. Texas struggled on defense last season, but those young players are expected to get off the canvas and compete when the regular season begins. This offense was inconsistent prior to Gilbert’s arrival, which is the main reason why Charlie Strong hired Gilbert instead of retaining Watson, or promoting former receivers coach Jay Norvell.
Gilbert may not have been Charlie Strong's first choice, but people behind the scenes are convinced he will help make Texas into a powerhouse program again.
“He has such a command,” one source told me. “He knows what he wants to do, and he does it.”
Gilbert has quickly earned the respect and support of people in the building because of his leadership skills. The confidence we see in press conferences is the same swagger Gilbert displays when conducting meetings, or leading his unit during practice. He has never been stumped on a question. So far, he is effectively implementing a new system to his players after spending most of February teaching the playbook to his staff.
Why does it matter?
Last year, Watson tried to install an offense he admittedly was unfamiliar with. After promising to deliver a spread offense, Texas basically ran a slightly quicker version of Watson’s predictable system. Having an offensive coordinator who understands a spread offense has given everyone in the building a shot of confidence.
Texas’ predictable offense was ranked 100th in the nation last season, averaging a mere 26.4 points and 371 yards per game. Meanwhile, Gilbert was the co-offensive coordinator at Tulsa, guiding the Golden Hurricane to rank 14th nationally in total offense (502.8 ypg), 25th in scoring (35.9 ppg) and 11th in passing (329.5). That offense scored at least 40 points in five of Tulsa's six wins. Everyone in the building is optimistic Gilbert will eventually duplicate that success at Texas.
In addition, Watson is viewed as a nice guy who did not challenge his players enough. Watson was not a screamer. He did not have an anger button. However, I have been told Gilbert is a guy with the same attributes, but is not afraid to come at a player like a spider monkey if necessary. He knows how to push buttons, manage egos, and has the respect of everyone in the building.
Sure, it could a simple case of the new person you are dating seems wonderful simply because he or she is not your ex. Then again, sometimes it does not take long to realize the new person is not only better than your ex, but you were settling for the sake of familiarity in that previous relationship.
When players have been asked about Gilbert’s offense, everyone says it is easy to understand. From what I have been told, the reason why is because Gilbert’s approach is simple. Gilbert only attacks one side of the field. Watson tried to attack the entire field. By narrowing the attack, players have been able to pick up the offense a lot easier.
For instance, if a receiver is running a route, he is only looking to see if a cornerback does two things (sometime three) in Gilbert's offense. He is not required to scan the entire defense. That makes it easier for Gilbert’s players to read and react. It also speeds up the execution of his offense.
As much as Longhorn fans do not want to hear it, this is they reason why Gilbert is buying into Swoopes. Even though Swoopes has struggled in the past, Gilbert is optimistic the quarterback can be successful in a simplistic offense. If Swoopes cannot get the job done, Gilbert could turn to Shane Buechele, who is shining during practice, too. Gilbert's system makes it easier for quarterbacks to succeed, which is why the coordinator is giving so many people hope.
If Gilbert’s offense lives up to the hype, he will help the Longhorns to achieve this year's goals. The plan is to establish consistency and show up every week. Texas was embarrassed during the season opener against Notre Dame last year, but had opportunities to defeat California and Oklahoma State (yeah, I skipped the Rice game on purpose). After two competitive games, TCU blew out Texas. Strong's team pulled off a miraculous win against Oklahoma. The Iowa State loss was embarrassing, then Texas closed out the season with a win against Baylor.
Gilbert has a chance to end this emotional roller coaster.
For now, his biggest achievement is giving the Longhorns hope.
Shane needs to start.
Spade
Superstar
Shane made the intermediate throws (Texas hasn't had a qb like that since Colt), is very accurate, and has a good deep ball. He also has command of the offense. His pocket presence needs improvement but so far, I say he needs to start as well.
This offense has a chance to be nice. Beast receivers, beast running back. Oline looks good. Low key, Demarco Boyd looks damn good. Another brother that's supposed to be an afterthought, stepping up. The defense actually looks good when all the starters are out there. They actually only played together for a couple of series in the second quarter and they shut everything down. Definite difference when Malik and Wheeler are out there. Omenihu looks like a difference maker too
I'm hoping they still bring in a Grad Transfer QB. Strong can't depend on a True Frosh QB. Hopefully the rumors about Davis Webb are true.
David Ash (& even Case McCoy) could make thosee throws.
I fell asleep and didn't even notice demarco. Is he at linebacker?
I wish they would have given Locksley a few snaps at least.
Spade
Superstar
It's one thing to be able to make them, it's another to be accurate. I don't remember Ash or McCoy being as accurate as what I saw from Shane today. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Case and Ash were hit and miss. Both were bad at throwing it deep especially, which I always found weird with Ash because he had such a big arm. Davis and Shipley were always bailing both of them out. The year Case beat OU though, that fade to Mike Davis was on the money. Many forget that when we had Harsin and Applewhite, they used to hide them a lot. Lots of trick plays, reverses, fake reverses, short passes, etc.
Demarco was 36. Very active. Pretty good at coverage, made lots of tackles. Was reading before the game how he was expecting to redshirt and to sit and learn, but it looks like will be one of the top 4 linebackers and will play a lot on special teams.
Kris Boyd messin with Strong, lol. These dudes love Strong.
a&m accounts out here on twitter saying the players don't respect Strong