Quinn did have to sling it around against Michigan. We were in several third and longs early and he converted for us. Quinn’s mechanics and accuracy were the difference between the starts in that game and OU.
To further contextualize it:
OU could have had 1st and 10 at their own 25, down 7-3, with 2:21 to go in the second quarter
Instead, they had 1st and 10 at their own 25, down 14-3, with 2:21 to go in the second quarter
Bolden put 7 on the board through pure hustle/heart/etc. He took away OU’s opportunity to go into the half with the lead. Without his play, does Hawkins feel as much pressure to make a play and cough up the ball scrambling? Does Sark trust Wisner enough to give it to him on the next offensive snap? Does Wisner keep his confidence and score? OU received the ball to start the third. The lead or small deficit completely changes the dynamics on both sides in their favor (though we probably still win handedly).
Legend
I agree with all this.
To your first point, college football has some pretty brutal feedback loops that can sometimes bury coaches before they really have a fair chance. That why, imo, first recruiting classes are so important. Sark also stayed consistent in his message
To your point on Sark sharing his life, Brene Brown is an academic that has a bunch of bestselling books centered around her research on vulnerability. Part of her work is on the connection between vulnerability and leadership - that is, that leadership requires a certain amount of vulnerability and that the best leaders lean into it. There's also a concept called leader-member exchange that focuses on the quality of connection between leaders and followers as a primary driver for follower performance. There's quite a bit of research to support it. I personally consider Sark's 2023 offseason commitment to the team (he only took off July 4th weekend) the most admirable part of his tenure here.
I'm aiming more for clarification than distinction. And this is only one way too look at the program. There are many approaches to culture/authority/performance/etc that will bring insight and value.
I'm a PhD student in a social science. I've mentioned before that I might do some write-ups on organizational culture and there was some interest in that. Sark made some comments during his Hail State presser that perfectly fit with one of the topics I've been thinking about: authority. So, I finally took some time to put some words down. I hope y'all enjoy it.
Player-led teams are great. Old guys telling the new guys how things are done. Leadership councils. Colt McCoy driving around in his truck to pick up teammates for players-only practices in the summer. It's something we yearned for during our decade of wandering the college football desert. In this post I'd like to look at the idea of player-led teams a little bit more critically. Specifically, I want to look at the reason why it's a good thing for a bunch of 18-22 year olds to be leading a team. Because that's not a great idea at face value.
Sark's comments
All social theory starts with a 19th century german guy
Back to Texas Being Back
Let's summarize and bring this back to the present. It's year 4. Texas is the reigning Big 12 champ, undefeated, and ranked #2. Sark showed the players that his leadership is good for their interests. If they follow him, they'll develop and win games. Individual players bought in, then most of the team, and now the team as a collective has voluntarily accepted Sark's authority. They believe in his vision and created social dynamics that enforce it. Individual players feel an obligation that requires them to accept his judgement above their own. Player leadership has coalesced around him.
I said at the beginning of this post that I wanted to critically examine player-led teams and to ask why it is good for 18-22 year olds to lead a team. My answer is that player-led teams are a misnomer (or a myth, for clickbait title purposes). When someone says a team is player-led, what they mean is that the players have accepted the coach's authority and player leadership is aligned in enforcing it. The true benefit of player-led teams is how well they follow their coach.
Thompson is the safety that couldn't close on Michael Hawkins on his long TD run (coming from the top of the screen). I don't miss that.
Alex Dunlap's defensive deep dig.
The defense strikes me as a top 25-ish unit so far (stats are better than that, obviously). Which is good, of course. And, importantly, they fit really well with an offense that will put up points, thus forcing the opponent to play from behind and letting our pass rush do its thing. I just want to see us play against a competent passing offense, preferably with Derek Williams back, and get more consistent with run fits and compressing space.
Do you think Arch and his family would feel more disrespected if Quinn struggled and Arch doesn't get a chance, or if Quinn plays well and Arch doesn't get garbage time snaps?
The wheel route on Saturday seemed like a definite throw away to me. There was an unblocked blitzer and Blue wasn't open.
The swing pass to Wingo was probably his worst throw of the day. Backwards laterals are a huge no-no. Like that thing was two yards off where it should have been. He was actually really good at those throws in high school so I'm a bit surprised that's where his struggles are now. He'll get it figured out though.
Just to add to this, I recommend watching his third and longhorn interview for those that haven't seen it. He talks about his bag of rush moves and goes into some detail with Alex Okafor. I think he's a pretty advanced rusher. There's only so much to show in five games.
I’m still really confused why they didn’t push for Jelani McDonald. Dykes inherited a talented senior roster and decided to capitalize on massive year one success by taking guys like Trey Sanders, Tommy Brockermeyer, and Dylan Wright!? When there’s a TCU legacy that is a senior riser with great length and athleticism!? That was a red flag that has stuck with me.
I'm kind of rooting for Akansas this year. I don't share their hatred (even though I was there in 2021) and the offense is fun. They're an underdog story. Pittman seems cool and the Petrino story line is entertaining. I'm hoping they beat A&M and make a little noise in the SEC mid tier.
I think that’s ESPN QBR, which is some mystery voodoo that ESPN uses that goes 0-100. I don’t think there’s a baseline for all incompletions, especially if it’s influenced by things like fumbles.
Passer rating is the one that everybody knows - has been around a long time, used in the NFL, goes up to 158.3 with ~100 being good, and equaling 39.58 if a QB throws all completions.
There’s also NCAA passing efficiency, which is the one only used in college that you’ll see sometimes go up to the 200s for really good QBs.
It’s confusing.
"The guys Georgia, Alabama, and Texas have on the field make our guys look like Group of 5 players."
Yes, but also they look like G5 players because they are G5 players.
Some guys that transferred earlier and are now starting and playing well at their new schools are Logan Parr (SMU), Andrej Karic (Tennessee), and Jamier Johnson (Indiana)
Alex Dunlap from OB does this. He hasn't finished week three yet but here's the first two weeks and last year's data. TL;DR there's a slight decrease in 11 personnel but I wouldn't read much into this early in the year.
Gerry mentioned on the OTF Recruiting Breakdown today that if Zelus Hicks wants to reclassify, he'll have to take at least one, possibly two summer sessions next year, so he wouldn't come to campus until August.
Malachi Nelson, Dante Moore, and Jackson Arnold! That's a pretty spectacular fuckup. Given that Nico and Holstein were the next two QBs after Arch, it's incredible that they went with that trio in front of him.
Peter Woods (Clemson DT) was #4 and Arch was #5.
I'm expecting to see a lot of Niblett the next three weeks. Coaches will need to figure out what he can be trusted to do before we get to the meat of the schedule.