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31 minutes ago, Newy25 said:

The third quarter malaise and the red zone issues suggest Sark is great at scheme and design but too busy or ineffective at in game tactics and play calling. Once his script runs out, we go dormant for two quarters. He should keep scheming and scripting our opening but delegate play calling to someone focusing solely on that task. 

I truly think it's the "busy" part. He didn't seem to have these issues as an OC when he could spend a lot of time in-game reviewing/thinking/planning/adjusting. Now he doesn't have that time because he's watching the defense. The problem is that he hasn't compensated. Either he needs more playcalling input from elsewhere, or he needs to step away from the sideline on occasion to strategize offense while the defense is on the field.

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  • Machinator
    Machinator

    So he's been on staffs with Choate, Saban, and Schiano and has Houston/Texas ties. Not going to act like this is some no-doubter but seems like it can work just fine to me.

  • closetojumping
    closetojumping

    My sweet Lord. Reading the thread since the Muschamp hiring is borderline exhausting. Some of the hawtest takes on this recruiting board, ever, on here between pages 45 and 48. I was quoting posts at

  • This is a Nansen hire. He was behind the surge last year to bring him on as an analyst. The plan to hire him has been in place for a while, and if Blake would have stayed and Terry still left they wou

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I think he’s too reactionary to each game. If team a shuts down our screen game doesn’t mean team b can shut it down. He’ll go away from certain play calls that are successful because another team has stopped it before.  Wish he would mix it up more instead of scrapping it. Swing passes to rb should have been a staple instead Georgia shut it down so all teams will. Each game is different and personnel should dictate playcalls per roster we’re facing. 

17 hours ago, AugieBall said:

Mangino is a very, very good coach who has had success everywhere he has been, even Kansas.  He is also a terrible human being who has been run off from everywhere he has been, despite the success.

He’s too fat. 

Is there actually any smoke regarding a red zone coordinator or a play caller or is it all still wishcasting?

On 1/19/2025 at 11:47 PM, DixonHur said:

I hope Sark hires an actual OC to handle the play calling.  

Not questioning Sark's ability as a play caller, and 100% want him deeply involved in game planning the offense and initial script, but I'd just rather he focus on being a HC during the game.

Sark is NOT going to give up play calling. Just stop with that.

 

2 hours ago, closetohumping said:

No, Yes

Fify 

Ryan Day gave up play calling this year.  Sark will have to get kicked in the nuts a few more times before he does so as well.

I'm not sure about the bitching about Joseph.  Guy seems fine to me.  We got faster at CB and S and then the entire secondary played better.  Crazy how that works.

55 minutes ago, TrashMaster G said:

Sark is NOT going to give up play calling. Just stop with that.

 

Fify 

 

15 minutes ago, Fondren & Main said:

Ryan Day gave up play calling this year.  Sark will have to get kicked in the nuts a few more times before he does so as well.

I'm not sure about the bitching about Joseph.  Guy seems fine to me.  We got faster at CB and S and then the entire secondary played better.  Crazy how that works.

I was a hard no on sark being willing to give up play calling.   But I think before this year he was still in prove it stage.  Maybe now that he’s entrenched and got a real bag he’ll let go?  
 

or he’s a control freak

46 minutes ago, Fondren & Main said:

Ryan Day gave up play calling this year.  Sark will have to get kicked in the nuts a few more times before he does so as well.

He didn't choose give it up. It wasn't his idea. The concept that he thought of it and brought it up and wanted to make the change is categorically wrong. 

7 minutes ago, NoName said:

He didn't choose give it up. It wasn't his idea. The concept that he thought of it and brought it up and wanted to make the change is categorically wrong. 

I don’t think it matter if it was his or lot his but a change that was made and now they’re national champions. Steve Spurrier and Jimbo Fisher are the only two play calling head coaches to win titles going back 30 years. Numbers pretty much say it’s not going to happen. 

2 minutes ago, AlrightAlrightAlright said:

I don’t think it matter if it was his or lot his but a change that was made and now they’re national champions. Steve Spurrier and Jimbo Fisher are the only two play calling head coaches to win titles going back 30 years. Numbers pretty much say it’s not going to happen. 

Thanks for getting the point.

The 'it hasn't happened in x years' argument would be a lot more convincing if more coaches did it. How many P5 coaches are good enough to be calling their own plays right now? 4? 5? So yes, by simple math, the odds are not in their favor.

No one has done it since Jimbo Fimbo is also a really fancy way of saying if your name isn't Smart, Saban or Dabo, you probably don't have a title in the last 10 years.

Again, I'm not totally against the idea but if the reasoning is doing it just because other people did it, that is a poor way to operate.

1 minute ago, AlrightAlrightAlright said:

I don’t think it matter if it was his or lot his but a change that was made and now they’re national champions. Steve Spurrier and Jimbo Fisher are the only two play calling head coaches to win titles going back 30 years. Numbers pretty much say it’s not going to happen. 

It ABSOLUTELY matters when it's pitched as "Ryan Day made the decision to give up play calling and it worked out for him" - which is how it's been pitched probably ten times on Surl.

Also Pete Carroll called plays in 04 I'm pretty sure. The Athletic said he did a while back but can't verify via Google. Tom Osborne I believe called plays for Nebraska for all their national championships.

Are we acting like Saban didn't have an inordinate amount of impact on what defensive plays were called week in and week out? Or that Kirby doesn't now and didn't early on at UGA and even after that today?

2 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

No one has done it since Jimbo Fimbo is also a really fancy way of saying if your name isn't Smart, Saban or Dabo, you probably don't have a title in the last 10 years.

Again, I'm not totally against the idea but if the reasoning is doing it just because other people did it, that is a poor way to operate.

We're in a pretty heavily defensive led decade of CFB right now.

Texas was the #3 DFEI team this year at 0.82, behind Ohio State at 0.83 and ND at 0.84.

DFEI isn't perfect but easy to get to on mobile and it's good.

DFEI rankings of last handful of champs

24 Ohio State 2

23 Michigan 1

22 Georgia 1

21 Georgia 1

20 Alabama 17 (1 offense)

19 LSU 11 (1 offense)

18 Clemson 1

17 Alabama 2

16 Clemson 9 (2 offense)

15 Alabama 1

14 Ohio State 7 (4 offense)

Norm Chow was USC’s play caller and as for Tom Osbourne, he may have in the 90s but the last time they played for a title he was not. Either way you’re looking as far back as Spurrier/Osbourne in the 90s and only Jimbo at the turn of this century. 
 

Of course Saban and Kirby know their their DCs call and may give help but they generally let them call the game. But those two guys are in both huddles especially when things aren’t going well. How often has Sark been in the defensive huddle to motivate them?

It would be much better for the program if Sark self scouts himself and sees he needs the change rather than his boss and other people telling him to do so. Watching the red zone woes the past two years and short yardage situations is unacceptable. Our 3rd quarters the past two years have been unacceptable. 
 

people all agree Sark is a magnificent script writer and game planner but his in game calls and adjustments leave a lot to be desired and if we didn’t have those issues this year we are likely hoisting the title trophy. 
 

 

Edited by AlrightAlrightAlright

17 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

The 'it hasn't happened in x years' argument would be a lot more convincing if more coaches did it. How many P5 coaches are good enough to be calling their own plays right now? 4? 5? So yes, by simple math, the odds are not in their favor.

No one has done it since Jimbo Fimbo is also a really fancy way of saying if your name isn't Smart, Saban or Dabo, you probably don't have a title in the last 10 years.

Again, I'm not totally against the idea but if the reasoning is doing it just because other people did it, that is a poor way to operate.

Right now there are zero at it that are good enough to be doing it. The only ones that do it and have success right now are all NFL coaches which include McVay, Shanahan, and Reid. 
 

No other college coach right now is good enough at it to win a title in my opinion 

Edited by AlrightAlrightAlright

15 minutes ago, NoName said:

Tom Osborne I believe called plays for Nebraska

Tom's teams ran the ball 77% of the time in those seasons.  It's not like he was running a complicated offense like Sark uses.

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3 hours ago, AlrightAlrightAlright said:

Norm Chow was USC’s play caller and as for Tom Osbourne, he may have in the 90s but the last time they played for a title he was not. Either way you’re looking as far back as Spurrier/Osbourne in the 90s and only Jimbo at the turn of this century. 
 

Of course Saban and Kirby know their their DCs call and may give help but they generally let them call the game. But those two guys are in both huddles especially when things aren’t going well. How often has Sark been in the defensive huddle to motivate them?

It would be much better for the program if Sark self scouts himself and sees he needs the change rather than his boss and other people telling him to do so. Watching the red zone woes the past two years and short yardage situations is unacceptable. Our 3rd quarters the past two years have been unacceptable. 
 

people all agree Sark is a magnificent script writer and game planner but his in game calls and adjustments leave a lot to be desired and if we didn’t have those issues this year we are likely hoisting the title trophy. 
 

 

Carroll was the defensive play caller for his teams at USC. 

The fantasy talk of Sarkisian ending his own playcalling tenure is as boring as it is tedious. 

Sounds like some great jobs for the surly armchair warriors 

6 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Several jobs posted on the UT website 

image.thumb.jpeg.5c65fa3d89c1f738792155f3cdd34010.jpeg

Any word on if these are additional spots or replacement?

 

Hazelton was the special assistant, right? Or was he just a coach?

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Ryan Day gave up playcalling two years ago and gave Brian Hartline a shot. They really struggled, that’s why he brought in Kelly. I chuckle when I think of what would’ve become of Ohio State if Bill Obrien never got offered the Boston College job. That’s a fun alt history.

The Sark playcalling conundrum is fascinating. Sark is a very emotional playcaller and that’s what makes him great. He uses not only his scheme stuff but he relies on his relationships with his players and his knowledge of what they are confident in(very baseball-like). He’s mentioned this being a big part of his philosophy and he said that it was the main reason why he made PK come down from the press box after his 1st season. All that being said, the 3rd quarter stuff has got to get fixed because it’s unacceptable to be as bad as we were. We never scored more than 7 points in the 3rd quarter against a P5 opponent, yet we tripled our opponents in 3rd quarter yards lmao. It makes no sense. 
 

As far as the redzone stuff is concerned, Sark has got to have a plus run game or he becomes a prisoner to his creativity. The Bama and SC offenses were historically elite in the redzone because they had backs who could do it on their own. We were great in years one and two with Bijan and we’ve fallen off since. I think simply that without an elite back, Sark just has some serious Redzone demons. His redzone struggles cost 2019 Bama vs LSU, Atlanta as OC in the playoffs on a 4th and 1, and at Texas he threw a quick screen on 4th and an inch to Xavier Worthy in Dallas and obviously the semifinal endings in back to back years. I don’t think it has to do with him being the HC I think it’s just who he is.

2 hours ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

As far as the redzone stuff is concerned, Sark has got to have a plus run game or he becomes a prisoner to his creativity. The Bama and SC offenses were historically elite in the redzone because they had backs who could do it on their own. We were great in years one and two with Bijan and we’ve fallen off since. I think simply that without an elite back, Sark just has some serious Redzone demons.

For reference:

2021: 74.5% TD / 93.6% Score

2022: 62.1% TD / 89.7% Score

2023: 50.8% TD / 80.3% Score

2024: 63.8% TD / 79.7% Score

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1 minute ago, texifornia said:

Two sources told Horns247, Sarkisian has interviewed Ohio State assistant defensive line coach LaAllen Clark to work with the Longhorns' defensive ends.

Clark was the defensive ends coach at Southern in 2022 before joining Ohio State as a graduate assistant in 2023.

Clark, who played defensive end at Grambling State and Northwestern State, began his coaching career at Prairie View A&M in 2019. He is originally from Baton Rouge, La., and has an excellent reputation as a recruiter, especially in Louisiana.

As the CEO of LC Performance, Clark has trained current and former NFL defensive linemen, including Ed Oliver of the Buffalo Bills, Jeffrey Simmons of the Tennessee Titans and Danielle Hunter of the Houston Texans.

Texas posted a job opening for an assistant coach more than a week ago, and it's now clear Sarkisian would like to add an assistant to help develop the team's defensive ends - a role defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski has handled each of the last four seasons. 

Recent NCAA rule changes allow for on-field coaching from members of a football staff previously restricted to only designated on-field coaches.  This allows for more flexibility in staff utilization and specialized coaching roles across teams. 

Louisiana recruiting is only going to get hotter with that hire. It also takes a load off PK. 

13 hours ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

We never scored more than 7 points in the 3rd quarter against a P5 opponent, yet we tripled our opponents in 3rd quarter yards lmao. It makes no sense. 

What the fucking fuck?  How the fuck is that even possible? 

49 minutes ago, RabidM said:

What the fucking fuck?  How the fuck is that even possible? 

Turnovers, missed field goals, and shitty red zone play make shit like this possible.

8 hours ago, RabidM said:

What the fucking fuck?  How the fuck is that even possible? 

So you didn't actually watch our games, eh? 

20 hours ago, skipmcgee said:

For reference:

2021: 74.5% TD / 93.6% Score

2022: 62.1% TD / 89.7% Score

2023: 50.8% TD / 80.3% Score

2024: 63.8% TD / 79.7% Score

Bijan
Bijan
No Bijan
No Bijan, No Baxter, shitty Bert season

8 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:
  Reveal hidden contents

Quinn

 

We know. You blame him for everything 

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

Bijan
Bijan
No Bijan
No Bijan, No Baxter, shitty Bert season

At least the TD% picked up off the abysmally low 2023.  I wonder if Sark was more inclined to just go for it given how terrible the FG kicking was

1 hour ago, skipmcgee said:

At least the TD% picked up off the abysmally low 2023.  I wonder if Sark was more inclined to just go for it given how terrible the FG kicking was

We also had quite a few redzone turnovers that contributed to us coming away with nothing. I can think of at least 3 turnovers from Ewers (INT against CSU, INT and fumble against A&M). There may have been a few more I'm forgetting. We also took a knee inside the 10 against Florida to end the game. 

We only attempted field goals 16% of the time once we got in the red zone, which was one of the lowest rates in the country, so we went for it quite often. https://cfbstats.com/2024/leader/national/team/offense/split01/category27/sort07.html

On 1/23/2025 at 10:13 AM, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

 We never scored more than 7 points in the 3rd quarter against a P5 opponent, yet we tripled our opponents in 3rd quarter yards lmao. It makes no sense. 

 

The Office Cringe GIF

On 1/19/2025 at 10:50 AM, Mother mopar said:

Nansen has been a really good addition to the staff and PK. He's done good thing with the LBs. 

People seem to forget his impact. Without his knowledge, who knows how good the defense would be. Same with Kenny Baker making Collins a possible day 2 pick, and Broughton actually getting drafted. 

On 1/19/2025 at 11:20 AM, horny_gunman said:

Can we get rid of Terry Joseph? This is my annual time to bitch that the secondary is not up to par - but the safeties were great and recruits consistently mention Gideon.  So….

Gideon is a wizard with the safeties. Love that dude now. 

Man I hope we hire the fOSU guy. He would make a huge addition, especially in the Boot. 

On 1/19/2025 at 12:00 PM, horny_gunman said:

I’ve never liked the Joseph hire that’s all I’m saying.   I think he’s been a recruiter more than a coach at his previous stops and it was a bit of a comfort hire.  I think he has done less over the long haul than the other defense staff that has stayed on. He’s the weakest link on the top defense in CFB. He was gifted a tremendous athlete and motivated DB in Barron. It would be tragic if he had fucked that up.  But that’s like saying that the OSU secondary coach is the best ever because Downs is a freak.  

Akina is tanned, rested, and ready. 

On 1/19/2025 at 1:06 PM, Tex-19 said:

It'll be interesting to see how they change things now that there is no limit for on-field assistant coaches. He could hire a full-time ST coordinator, add totally new position coach roles, or more experienced assistant position coaches.

Grab everyone from Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia, and anywhere else that has success. I'm kidding, but I'm also not.

On 1/19/2025 at 8:09 PM, Navin R. Johnson said:

I was just about to say it’s all about the running game. Baxter and Arch will help, but we need to be better running up the middle.

Meet James Simon. He's a fucking great RB who can run through tackles, had a freakish stop-cut and go. He's the real deal.LSU posters were pissed Kelly didn't go after him sooner. They were like "fuck! What is Kelly doing? This kid is elite!' They didn't even mention Harlem Berry, which makes me think Simon is probably the better RB. 

 

IMG_0859.jpeg

17 hours ago, Funk Doctor Spock said:

Gideon is a wizard with the safeties. Love that dude now. 

Yeah, I don't think there was ever a question about his knowing the right place to bo... just doing the right thing when he got there. 

5 minutes ago, Tex Long said:

Yeah, I don't think there was ever a question about his knowing the right place to bo... just doing the right thing when he got there. 

His lesson on where to be shows recruits what not to do. Now he has a war chest to get some real talent. 

34 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Michael Terry getting his own personal coach? 

Looks more like a personal coach for Parker Livingstone.

IMG_7998.jpeg

10 years on Gundy's staff, that's an interesting hire. Wonder what his role will be. Hopefully something that helps in the red zone.

Maybe this gives Banks more time to coach Special Teams too.

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