The Summer Wind
The summer wind came blowin’ in from across the sea
It lingered there, to touch your hair and walk with me
All summer long we sang a song and then we strolled that golden sand
Two sweethearts and the summer wind
– Johnny Mercer
Ah The Summer Wind, a nostalgic yearning for a lost love best performed by Frank Sinatra—my kind of song. If I was to go all nostalgic for a lost summer love it wouldn’t be a yearning for a summer girlfriend but a yearning for the summer of 1976. That summer my life-long friend Joe and I worked Monday – Friday, 8am-4pm with as lightly supervised groundskeepers at an upscale apartment complex in a forested neighborhood in Reston, Virginia. Nights, Joe and I drove around smoking marijuana, looking for girls, parties and more marijuana. On weekend nights we sometimes pursued those goals in the Georgetown bar district of Washington D.C. In my memoir the chapter on that sublime summer will be titled, “White Rabbit, White Mustang.”
But I digress.
There’s been another kind of wind blowing around the Longhorns this summer. Or should I say hot air? All of our favorite Longhorn broadcast and blog analysts—with the exception of yours truly—has been bloviating about what a great summer Tyrone Swoopes has had. He is going to gain the team’s confidence by improving his body language and not throwing interceptions. Ingenious! Aside from his dabbling in a little “Gangsta” rap we’re told that Daje Johnson has also had a great summer. I’ve even heard that extremely demanding Longhorn Strength and Conditioning coordinator Pat Moorer thinks his Longhorns have had a great summer. These great summers, mind you, were going on even before fall practice started a few weeks ago. Here’s what I have to say about these great summers, “Blow it out your wazoo.”
Here’s what we really know about the Longhorns five days before they go to South Bend. The starting quarterback is Tyrone Swoopes. Remember him? Two of the offensive line starters are true freshman. The best linebacker, Malik Jefferson, is a true freshman and there is no depth at that position. On paper the starting defensive line could be very good but the starting tackles; Hassan Ridgeway and Tank Jackson (he of the infamous UCLA coin-toss call) are coming off injuries and haven’t practiced much since season preparations began. According to practice reports the wide receivers can’t catch very well. Uh, this could be a problem.
The Quarterback “Situation”
Using some Charlie Strong vernacular, “when you look at it,” Texas is in worse shape now at the quarterback position than they were last year at this time. Last year David Ash was the starter. Now we have Tyrone Swoopes. Last year the backup was a sophomore with some game experience. This year the backup is a redshirt freshman. Okay, its’ a flawed comparison because last year the quarterback position went way south very quickly but here’s my point. After one season and two recruiting seasons, Charlie Strong’s and Shawn Watson’s answer at quarterback is Tyrone Swoopes. Good summers notwithstanding, how much better can Swoopes be after 12 starts then he was after 11. How much better can he be on September 5, 2015 than he was on December 29, 2014? There must be some kind of research by economists or mathematicians on the range of change—I believe the technical term here is delta—possible for a given metric when you have a large data set on that metric on-hand. I think Darrell Royal said something to the effect, “if a dog is going to bite you, he’ll bite you as a pup.”
Did Swoopes bite anybody last year? Maybe Jerrod Heard just isn’t very good. I haven’t had the benefit of seeing what Swoopes was up to over the summer or how he’s performed in August practice, so I guess I’ll suspend my disbelief and believe for now that Strong and Watson know best. Still, I’m disappointed that Swoopes is the starting quarterback. I’m also worried about the longer term prospects for the Longhorns because Strong and Watson haven’t found someone better than Swoopes. To me it’s a red flag on Strong’s vision and management of the program. In the short term, in my opinion, Swoopes as the starter makes it unlikely that Texas can win more than seven games in the 2015 regular season.
I know we’re excited about the new season being at hand so take heart. What makes a less than optimistic preseason analysis and prognostication good is that it’s sometimes very wrong.
Quick Openers or Off-the-Cuff Observations
Jonathan Gray is overrated. From what I saw last year I’d like to see more D’Anta Foreman and less Jonathan Gray.
At last count four true freshmen and one redshirt freshman are starters and five or six more are going to play right away. Given the state of the program this is good news.
If you’re going to South Bend for the first time, you’ll have a good time but you might be surprised by what you find. I know I was when I went to the Texas-Notre Dame game there in 1995 with my aforementioned life-long friend Joe who is a Notre Dame graduate. Joe and I had a good time, but then again, we always do.
I’m trying to remember when a quarterback followed up a really putrid year with a good one.
I spent my first waking moments the other day trying to put my left hearing aid in my right ear.
Speaking of metrics, keep your eye on Texas’ special teams. Last year they were bad. I think it will be another red flag on Strong if his special teams are again a major liability.
Jordan Spieth, now there’s a good summer.
Daje Johnson has to have the ball in his hands at least 15 times a game for the Longhorns to reach their full potential.
How ‘bout that Art Briles and Baylor?
Zach Gentry, the four star quarterback recruit who flipped from Texas to Michigan, will redshirt in 2015 and is taking snaps at tight end. Maybe Texas inadvertently dodged a bullet here.
My favorite song download of the summer is It Never Entered My Mind by the Miles Davis Quintet…as in it never entered my mind in the days, weeks and months following the end of last season that Tyrone Swoopes would be the Longhorns’ starting quarterback for the Notre Dame game.
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Forty plus years of closely following Texas Football have left me jaded about highly praised in-coming freshmen. Jadedness aside, this year four are definitely first game starters—and at least a few more are going to see serious playing time early—so comment is warranted. Starting linebacker Malik Jefferson, since arriving in January, has lived up to the coach’s high expectations. Starting offensive guard Patrick Vahe and starting offensive tackle Connor Williams have looked so good that knowledgeable observers are slating them as future NFL players. The Horns haven’t had that caliber of offensive lineman in a while. John Burt, one of Charlie Strong’s Florida recruits, is a tall and fast wide receiver. Big and speedy receiver DeAndre McNeal has the best hands on the team, according to preseason practice reports, and brings big play potential to the offense. Big, fast running back Chris Warren (I know this is getting repetitive but these guys really are big and fast) has been impressive and will push for serious playing time.
What may be different about this year’s highly touted freshmen is that we can be reasonably assured that since these are Charlie Strong’s recruits, they won’t be sidelined by academic, drug or other off-field issues.
If he hasn’t already, Coach Strong needs to figure out the quarterback position.
HooK ‘eM.
W.E.
A compact Notre Dame Pregame column will be delivered with Willie Earl’s Fabulous Over/Under Contest late Thursday.
