The beginning of the end.

This blog today is for Longhorn fans.  Sorry all you other sports nuts.  But here goes.

Mack Brown resigned the other night and although it doesn't take affect until after the Alamo Bowl game against Oregon, the die was cast many months ago. Some say when Texas lost Will Muschamp to Florida the beginning started there. I don't think so.  I think it happened in the Rose Bowl National Championship game between Alabama and Texas.

Here's my point of view. McCoy was out at QB.  Garrett Gilbert, a freshman was in.  The clock was winding down at half with the Longhorns trialing 17 to 6.  Not insurmountable, but certainly worthy of getting back to the dressing rooms and discussing their strategy for defeating the Crimson Tide.

With just seconds to play in the first half, Texas calls time out.  What?  Why?  Let the clock run out and get to the dressing rooms and regroup.  You are still in this game.  Why call time out?

Next play...the infamous shovel pass interception by 'Bama. Suddenly, game over. Emotions drained.  It was a stupid mistake by a coaching staff that never recovered.  Not that night. Not the nest year or the year after that or this year either.

That shovel pass interception and the time out that lead up to it was the bonehead beginning of the end for Mack Brown at UT. Texas has not recruited at nationally ranked first round QB since.  God love David Ash and Chase McCoy, but nope.  Texas even passed on Heisman winner, Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston, the kid from Florida State who just won this year's Heisman. Texas has been recruiting A- to B+ players for the last few years.  Stars who once sought to wear the orange and white are now going elsewhere to more exciting philosophies. Brown’s return to the ground game is good, but it doesn’t win championships anymore nor does it win the hearts and minds of young men with dreams of playing big time on Sunday.
And it all started with a stupid time out and an even dumber shovel pass call. Many blamed Gilbert.  Not me.  It was all Mack’s doing.  I love the guy.  He is a great man, but his career became unhinged after those two acts in Pasadena.