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Longhorns say they've got their swagger back
Keith Whitmire
DALLAS — The easy-going grin dissolved from Texas safety Blake Gideon's face and morphed into a dead-serious stare when he was asked about the possibility of the Longhorns having another season like last year.
"There's no way that's going to happen again," Gideon said. "I can say that beyond a shadow of a doubt. We're not going to let that happen again."
Texas plummeted from the ranks of college football's elite teams with a 5-7 record last season. Longhorns coach Mack Brown and a handful of players at Monday's Big 12 media day did their best to convince everyone that last season was a fluke, a temporary deviation from the norm of 10-win seasons.
"There's so much passion and emotion right now on our team, and so much belief in it," Gideon said. "There's a lot of people that don't know what's about to happen when this season starts."
Gideon meant that in a positive way, but he's right: No one really knows what to expect from Texas in 2011.
For the past decade, it didn't take much thought to pencil Texas into the top 10 every preseason. But no more. A recent media poll has the Longhorns finishing fifth. In the conference, not the nation.
Until last season, Texas had won at least 10 games for nine consecutive seasons, going 13-1 in 2009 and 12-1 in 2008.
Until last season, Texas finished in the top 15 nationally for 10 straight seasons. The Longhorns are the only team to be ranked in 11 of the past 12 final BCS polls.
Until last season, Texas could win some games just by walking off the bus.
"We lost our swagger," Brown said. "And then people start playing better against you, because they feel like they have a better opportunity to win. Sometimes in the past, people would not think they could come into Austin and win. We let that slip away, for whatever reason, as a group."
To get the swagger back, Brown overhauled the coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp left on his own to take the Florida head coaching job, and longtime offensive coordinator Greg Davis resigned. There are six new coaches in Austin, including co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin from Boise State and defensive coordinator Manny Diaz from Mississippi State.
For Brown to make major staff changes in his 14th season at Texas was no easy thing to do.
"The standard that we have at Texas is so high," linebacker Keenan Robinson said. "We work so hard all year down to win 10 games and go to bowl games. Something had to be done."
New coordinators mean new systems and new terminology to learn. There could be an extended period of adjustment at a place that has no patience for rebuilding, but there are immediate benefits to adding new personalities to the mix.
"We brought in a pretty young staff," running back Fozzy Whittaker said. "We have guys that are 30, 31 years old and just passionate about football. You can see the energy that they bring is affecting everybody."
The Longhorns have just five starters returning on offense, and one of them is quarterback Garrett Gilbert, whose job is no longer secure. Things look a little better on the defensive side with seven starters returning.
The number Brown is most concerned with is minus-12. That was Texas' turnover margin last season, which ranked 116th in the country. The Longhorns committed 30 turnovers while forcing just 18.
"We win four or five more games if we just don't turn it over and take care of it," Brown said. "It's amazing we won as many games as we did when we didn't force turnovers and we didn't protect the ball."
Gilbert contributed 17 of those turnovers with interceptions. Colt McCoy proved to be a tough act to follow, and now McCoy's little brother, Case, is one of the quarterbacks competing for the job.
"The No. 1 thing we want is leadership," Brown said of his search for a new quarterback. "We want somebody that can get the swagger back and make sure that the rest of the kids know this person's going to lead them to victory."
There's that word again: swagger. It's another way of saying confident.
Brown is confident he's made the right coaching changes. Texas players are confident they won't have another season like the last one. Texas has too much talent, too much tradition and too many resources to fall into an extended slump. But until the Longhorns prove it, there will be doubts.
"We've got to make some good decisions. We've got to make some hard decisions," Brown said. "And then we've got to make the decisions work."
NEW TEXAS COACHES
Bryan Harsin, co-offensive coordinator, from Boise State
Manny Diaz, defensive coordinator, from Mississippi State
Bo Davis, defensive tackles, from Alabama
Stacy Searels, offensive line, from Georgia
Darrell Wyatt, wide receivers, from Kansas
Bennie Wylie, strength and conditioning head coach, from Tennessee (prior to that, seven years at Texas Tech)
Keith Whitmire
DALLAS — The easy-going grin dissolved from Texas safety Blake Gideon's face and morphed into a dead-serious stare when he was asked about the possibility of the Longhorns having another season like last year.
"There's no way that's going to happen again," Gideon said. "I can say that beyond a shadow of a doubt. We're not going to let that happen again."
Texas plummeted from the ranks of college football's elite teams with a 5-7 record last season. Longhorns coach Mack Brown and a handful of players at Monday's Big 12 media day did their best to convince everyone that last season was a fluke, a temporary deviation from the norm of 10-win seasons.
"There's so much passion and emotion right now on our team, and so much belief in it," Gideon said. "There's a lot of people that don't know what's about to happen when this season starts."
Gideon meant that in a positive way, but he's right: No one really knows what to expect from Texas in 2011.
For the past decade, it didn't take much thought to pencil Texas into the top 10 every preseason. But no more. A recent media poll has the Longhorns finishing fifth. In the conference, not the nation.
Until last season, Texas had won at least 10 games for nine consecutive seasons, going 13-1 in 2009 and 12-1 in 2008.
Until last season, Texas finished in the top 15 nationally for 10 straight seasons. The Longhorns are the only team to be ranked in 11 of the past 12 final BCS polls.
Until last season, Texas could win some games just by walking off the bus.
"We lost our swagger," Brown said. "And then people start playing better against you, because they feel like they have a better opportunity to win. Sometimes in the past, people would not think they could come into Austin and win. We let that slip away, for whatever reason, as a group."
To get the swagger back, Brown overhauled the coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp left on his own to take the Florida head coaching job, and longtime offensive coordinator Greg Davis resigned. There are six new coaches in Austin, including co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin from Boise State and defensive coordinator Manny Diaz from Mississippi State.
For Brown to make major staff changes in his 14th season at Texas was no easy thing to do.
"The standard that we have at Texas is so high," linebacker Keenan Robinson said. "We work so hard all year down to win 10 games and go to bowl games. Something had to be done."
New coordinators mean new systems and new terminology to learn. There could be an extended period of adjustment at a place that has no patience for rebuilding, but there are immediate benefits to adding new personalities to the mix.
"We brought in a pretty young staff," running back Fozzy Whittaker said. "We have guys that are 30, 31 years old and just passionate about football. You can see the energy that they bring is affecting everybody."
The Longhorns have just five starters returning on offense, and one of them is quarterback Garrett Gilbert, whose job is no longer secure. Things look a little better on the defensive side with seven starters returning.
The number Brown is most concerned with is minus-12. That was Texas' turnover margin last season, which ranked 116th in the country. The Longhorns committed 30 turnovers while forcing just 18.
"We win four or five more games if we just don't turn it over and take care of it," Brown said. "It's amazing we won as many games as we did when we didn't force turnovers and we didn't protect the ball."
Gilbert contributed 17 of those turnovers with interceptions. Colt McCoy proved to be a tough act to follow, and now McCoy's little brother, Case, is one of the quarterbacks competing for the job.
"The No. 1 thing we want is leadership," Brown said of his search for a new quarterback. "We want somebody that can get the swagger back and make sure that the rest of the kids know this person's going to lead them to victory."
There's that word again: swagger. It's another way of saying confident.
Brown is confident he's made the right coaching changes. Texas players are confident they won't have another season like the last one. Texas has too much talent, too much tradition and too many resources to fall into an extended slump. But until the Longhorns prove it, there will be doubts.
"We've got to make some good decisions. We've got to make some hard decisions," Brown said. "And then we've got to make the decisions work."
NEW TEXAS COACHES
Bryan Harsin, co-offensive coordinator, from Boise State
Manny Diaz, defensive coordinator, from Mississippi State
Bo Davis, defensive tackles, from Alabama
Stacy Searels, offensive line, from Georgia
Darrell Wyatt, wide receivers, from Kansas
Bennie Wylie, strength and conditioning head coach, from Tennessee (prior to that, seven years at Texas Tech)