Willie Earls Longhorn Blog

With apologies for the tardiness, (I took a Holiday from anything remotely resembling work during the Holiday Season), here are the results of the Alamo Bowl Over/Under.

We had a pretty good turnout considering the Horns 7-5 regular season.  Mark Adams and Mike Frank tied for first place with eight correct answers.  They both went 1-1 in the first round of the tiebreaker by picking Baylor and Alabama so the contest came down to the Alamo Bowl score prediction. They both predicted the Horns would win but Mike’s prognostication of a 38-24 victory for the Horns gave him the win over Mark’s 28-21 prediction.  Certainly a fine performance by both finalists.

David Frink, David Bergstrom, Clayton Frink, Dan Yoxall, Kelly Malek, and Wes Peoples tied for third with six correct.

********

In years gone by I’ve threatened to author off-season columns but I haven’t since the summer of 2011 with The Unfinished Odyssey of Mack Brown. 

I’m threatening again.

Hook ‘em,

W.E.

Old Veteran (or old vetran as the guys from Beaumont would say) Rick Mosher outclassed the field this week and is the winner with seven correct answers. It’s always heartwarming when an old vetran comes through with a victory.

David Frink finished second with five correct.

The averages score was a paltry 4.4.

I just read on Espn that Todd Orlando has been fired.  Inside Texas reports that passing game coordinator Drew Mehringer has also been fired and offensive coordinator Tim Beck is being reassigned.

According to the Willie Earl theory to be unveiled later this week, these staff changes portend the end of Tom Herman’s tenure at Texas.

Hook ‘Em,

W.E.

You know the head coach has one, maybe two years left before he’s fired when he makes wholesale changes to his coaching staff.

I’ll have more in depth on this theme after the Texas Tech game.

Hook ‘Em,

W.E.

Baylor Over/Under Results

Michael W. Frank, aka MWF, turned in a solid performance last weekend winning the Baylor Over/Under with seven correct answers and staying to the bitter end of the Cowboys’ bitter loss in bitterly cold and wet conditions at Gillette Stadium Sunday evening.  Well done MWF.

Mark Adams, D.R. Flower, Andy Garrod, Clayton Frink, and Mitchell Frink tied for second with six correct.

The average score was 5.2

W.E.

Tom Herman’s recent struggles got me thinking about what kind of experience is needed to be a successful coach at a high-profile, power five football program with a rich tradition and a demanding fan base. 

Herman’s resume was similar to Charlie Strong’s.  They both came to Texas after successful stints at mid-major programs.  Strong was the head coach at Louisville for four years. Herman came to Texas with only two years’ experience at Houston.

This week Herman comes up against Matt Rhule who was the head coach at Temple for four years before arriving at Baylor three years ago, at the same time that Herman arrived in Austin. Right now at 16-7, Rhule has a slightly better record for 2018 and 2019 than Herman’s 16-8.

Mack Brown’s first head coaching experience came at Tulane for three seasons before he went to North Carolina for 10 seasons.  Hmmn . . . Texas’ last successful coach had 13 years’ head coaching experience—three at a mid-major and 10 at a power five program—before taking center stage at Texas.

Food for thought if Herman ultimately fails in Austin.

Hook “Em,

W.E.

Willie Earl’s Texas-Baylor Game Model

This week Texas came out on the short end of a 39-31 score according to the unbiased model.