Blazefire

September 8th, 2013 at 9:53 PM ^

I know EXACTLY how this happened.

At a press conference:

"Coach Brown, some fans have started asking, 'Could the defense possibly be any worse?'"

"You know son, that's a good question. I wonder... *Mack Brown begins rubbing his chin in speculation.*"

bronxblue

September 8th, 2013 at 10:44 PM ^

I know this thread devolved rather quickly, but this hire never made sense.  The problem, though, is deeper than a DC.  Brown has been coasting at Texas for years now, and at some point he needs to be let go.

UMgradMSUdad

September 9th, 2013 at 12:00 AM ^

It doesn't seem like such a bad hire to me. The worst move Robinson made at Michigan was to accept the position of DC with so many handicaps in place (forced to run a defense he'd never run before with the position coaches he was stuck with). It was a setup for disaster from the get-go. I'm assuming he and Mack Brown are on the same page and as long as the position coaches are decent he has an opportunity to change things for the better, in time.  His biggest problem will most likely be that fans will expect significant change in a short period of time, something I'm not sure anyone would be able to do.

chatster

September 9th, 2013 at 1:11 AM ^

Was he threatening to reveal some very damaging information about Mack Brown and Texas football?  Or does he get credit for his one previous season as Co-Defensive Coordinator at Texas when he didn't make the defense worse than it had been the previous season?  Is this going to be the "Gergian Redemption Tour, Part Deux?"   (Part One at Michigan was an unmitigated disaster.)  Did no one in the Texas Athletics Administration check out his most-recent accomplishments?  Did Jerry Van Dyke turn down the job?

Last year, he was coaching long snappers and helping with the defense at a California high school.

"Gergian" defenses in the NFL ranked 24th with the Denver Broncos in 2000, and then, with the Kansas City Chiefs, 23rd in 2001, 32nd in 2002 and 29th in 2003 when he last coached in the NFL.

His most-recent college defenses were ranked 57th (using Paul Pasqualoni’s players) in 2005, 107th in 2006, 111th in 2007 and 101st in 2008 at Syracuse; and 82nd in 2009 and 108th in 2010 at Michigan.

In those ten seasons, six of his defenses finished in the bottom 20% of all teams. The one "good" season out of those ten (2005) saw his defense ranked just barely in the top half of all NCAA FBS teams.

So, Texas takes the Costanza Method for solving its football team's problems.

 

saveferris

September 9th, 2013 at 9:45 AM ^

While I think GERG has a chance to be moderately succesful since I'm guessing Mack Brown won't make him run a defensive alignment he doesn't understand or make him retain position coaches who don't know how to coach their positions, I still don't understand this move.  Texas has more money than any other college athletic department in America.  You can throw Mattison-like money at any coaching guru you want.  Narduzzi, Diaco....anybody, and you pick GERG?!

chatster

September 9th, 2013 at 3:26 PM ^

GERG-le, GERG-le, new Lone Star?
Has Texas football slipped so far
That thinking that his coaching skills
Somehow would fix their Longhorns’ ills?
 
In Austin there’s just one believer
Who wanted GERG and his stuffed beaver
To run the Lomghorns’ new defenses,
But that man might’ve lost his senses.
 
At Michigan and Syracuse,
GERG’s defenses were coached to lose.
Did Texas like his silver mane
Or was their thinking just insane?
 
Texas football might come back,
But prob’ly not with GERG and Mack.