College Football Yap!
DALLAS (105.3 THE FAN) - Thursday is the start of spring football in Austin and as the season gets underway there are more questions than answers with the Longhorns in 2011.
1. Will Bryan Harsin's Boise State offense work at Texas?
It will work but it won't be a quick fix. There are too many unknowns with this group to predict quick success in 2011. Texas doesn't have a proven running back yet (although most expect big things from incoming freshman Malcom Brown), they have an inexperienced offensive line and a quarterback that struggled last year which may make it tough sledding for the new coordinator. Texas has had a tough time running the football over the past few seasons but the biggest beneficiary of Harsin's offense should be the running game. Harsin's offense produced 4 1,000 rushers in his 5 seasons as the O-coordinator at Boise.
2. Is Manny Diaz the man to turn around the defense?
It makes me more than a little nervous that Texas hired a guy with so little big time experience. Manny Diaz only coached the defense at Mississippi State for one season before getting the call to Austin. He spent the previous 4 seasons as a coordinator at Middle Tennessee State.
In 2010 with the Bulldogs, Diaz guided a defense that ranked 22nd in the nation in scoring defense (19.9 ppg), 17th in rushing defense (214.9 ypg) and 17th in tackles for loss (7.0 pg). That was a dramatic turnaround for MSU from the season prior to his arrival. In 2009, the defense finished 71st in scoring defense, 62nd in rushing defense and 89th in TFL. Mississippi State also finished ranked 13th in red zone defense (.73) and 22nd in turnovers forced (28) nationally in 2010.
He may have gotten the opportunity at Texas too soon, but he is a good young coach!
3. Is Garrett Gilbert good or bad?
It is hard to say, at times he looks like he can develop into a great QB for the Longhorns, but there are far too many times when he looks confused and out of his league. I think the kid is going to be just fine but the patience with Texas fans is wearing thin after years of stellar QB play from Vince Young and Colt McCoy. Gilbert needs to take the reigns of this team in 2011 to establish himself as the leader of the offense or Longhorn fans will be calling for his head by midseason.
4. Can Mack Brown turn it around?
Nobody was expecting a 5-7 finish in 2010 for Texas, but the team didn't lose because they weren't talented. They lost because they had a sense of entitlement from Mack Brown on down to the water boys. Texas realized that they couldn't just roll the helmets out onto the field and get a win in the Big 12, they needed to stay hungry and didn't last season. Mack Brown took major steps in the offseason to address some of those issues. He hired young coaches in Harsin and Diaz to do what he couldn't....bring energy and enthusiasm EVERYDAY! Face it, college football is a young man's game and Mack's staff had gotten older and fatter and happier. The coaching changes addressed that issues and the Longhorns should be able to right the ship sooner rather than later.
There is still plenty of talent in Austin and a fresh crop of talented freshman arriving soon, Mack has addressed the coaching issues and only time will tell if he is the great rebuilder or the guy who killed Texas football.
Follow Gregg's college football tweets @collegefballyap or @Gregghenson
