Horns247 Board

Two years? Ha. More like two quarters of the first game.

Good one. I get it.

Quarterback makes a great point, though, about giving these guys leash and TIME. Things were so shaky on both sides of the ball last year, and the unbalance these guys are facing -- a dearth of talent and even bodies at some positions and an overabundance of guys who can barely earn their scholarships at other -- that there are bound to be a lot of shaky moments before everybody gets comfortable with the new schemes. if we expect too much from our none-too-close vantage points, both Harsin and Diaz will be perceived as failures long before they have a chance to succeed. And that'll be too bad if it happens, because I'm confident, even convinced that both of these guys will be bringing great things to the program. And as bad as our product on the field was last year, and considering everything the players are going to be processing and learning, we all need to be patient.

And Victory10, I agree totally with your thought -- I think it was you -- that it's Diaz who will be feeling the most pressure from this peanut gallery and others, simply because of how popular Boom was here. Anybody who coaches at Texas is like the object of light under a magnifying glass, anyway -- we are Texas, after all. I think there will be a lot of people here and at other sites screaming this year when things go the slightest bit wrong, then crawling back into the woodwork by 2012 when Harsin, Diaz, Applewhite, Wyatt et al have the Horns right back in the thick of the chase for the Big 12 title, if not No. 1 in the land.

Every football coach is under pressure, and more of it is self-imposed than fan / alumni / media imposed...Every coach worth a hoot coaches best with his back to the wall, too...Funny, he works his tail off to stay out of the back-to-the-wall situation, but it's that situation that drives him to his best...There are no comfort zones--ever--for those striving for excellence...Not one lazy rep...That's why you do it....

That was a great response. In general all OC are targets. I have many friends who are die hard fans of other football teams. To a man they hate their OC and blame him for their team not being the mnc.

Is Harsin under pressure? Am I on the right board?

Seriously, somebody help me understand how in any way can Harsin (and Diaz) not be under a world of pressure?

Any reasonably intelligent football fan will rejoice at the improvement in our offense. Greg Davis had become so incompetent in his use of talent that high school coaches laughed at our offense.

I'll tell you who is under pressure........some ESPN executives......

the next few "years" will be painful? Tap the breaks on the doom and gloom. Texas has lots of talent. Some of it inexperienced. Some of it that was not coached up well last year or in the best physical shape, but the cupboard is FAR from bare. There is no reason this program should be going through YEARS of painful seasons. Last year sucked, but I think history will show it as more an aberration than anything. Its the only of its kind under Mack and there were far more reasons Texas went 5-7 than just pure talent itself. From coaching, attitude, conditioning, etc they all had bigger impacts. This team should not be winning just 6-7 games next year given what is on campus and the staff they have now,

I think the greatest issue Harsin will have to overcome is expectations.

Basic thought #1: Greg Davis sucked and is predictable, so much so my grandmother could predict the plays. Any decent high school OC would be better. He may not be the worst of the worst, but he's real bad. If only we had a good coordinator, our talent will be able to light up the scoreboard like a pinball machine. Harsin's offenses have been lighting up the scoreboard like a pinball machine, therefore he must be great -- certainly better than GD. It is therefore inconceivable that Harsin will not greatly outperform GD.

Basic thought #2: If Harsin could run record breaking offenses with the poor ole talent level available to Boise, just think what wondrous things such a man could do with the true talent the like of UT enjoy.

I just don't think it works out so simply. Those thought processes are creating unjust expectations that will in turn create undue pressure.