The Longhorn and The Offensive Coordinator – a fable

The offensive coordinator is historically a detested position at the University of Texas.

In recent years, whatever anger and frustration that’s boiled over from fans has typically been consolidated into passionate hatred for the play caller. The offensive coordinator so often takes the brunt of criticism and is so engrained as public enemy No. 1 it wouldn’t be a stretch to deem the collective hatred of him a necessity. [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]

There’s been a long line of hated play callers in years passed, yet none has experienced the wrath of Longhorn fandom more than the infamous Greg Davis. Davis was so profoundly despised that online petitions, Facebook pages, and websites dedicated to the hopeful canning of him received thousands of signatures, visits and likes.

One petition that has over 1,300 signatures and still lingers online reads as follows:

“We politely suggest that Greg Davis be removed as QB Coach and Offensive Coordinator for the University of Texas Football team. We suggest he be replaced by a proven Coach in the Division 1 ranks who has consistently shown the ability to coach a top 10 ranked Offense. We suggest an OC who has a more balanced offense than Texas Tech. We also suggest a thorough search of an OC from the NFL wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

Of course, these are normal fan shenanigans, but it portrays Texas fans’ delusions of grandeur and the unflinching culture of criticism it engenders.

The petition concluded with the following statement:

“We fully believe that replacing Greg Davis is the last step Texas needs to take to get to a Big 12 Championship or National Championship. We believe Greg Davis has been an asset to the program and hope a position can be found for him somewhere in the Athletic Department.”

This petition was written after Texas’ 2004 campaign; the year Texas defeated Michigan in the Rose Bowl, and the year before Texas won the 2005 National Championship with one of the most prolific offenses of all time.

I recall the days when all of DKR collectively moaned every time Chris Simms threw another swing pass. Yes, Davis’ plays were few, predictable and boring, so the criticism leveled against him had merit. But it’s hard to argue against success, and the fact is, Davis called plays during one of the most successful periods in Longhorn history.

One could give all their thanks to the Longhorn recruiting effort, as having the talents of Simms, Vince Young and Colt McCoy behind center makes life a lot easier. However, Davis, who doubled as the quarterbacks coach, was able to utilize the unique strengths of each of the above quarterbacks to create stellar offenses.

In the 12 seasons Davis coached, the Longhorns posted a record of 133-34, a .796 win percentage, and averaged 449.5 yards per game. In the three years since Davis’ firing, the Longhorns have averaged 411.9 yards per game and haven’t ranked above 37^th in total offense in the nation.

There are too many factors to list that contribute to these statistics, but one of them is the offensive coordinator.

Texas fell apart after McCoy’s senior season. With Garrett Gilbert taking snaps, the Longhorns went 5-7 and failed to make a bowl game for the first time in the Mack Brown era. Longhorn fans got their wish and Davis was summarily sacked.

Davis’ long tenure gave way to the short era of co-offensive coordinators Bryan Harsin and Major Applewhite.  Harsin stayed only two seasons before jetting for a head coaching gig at Arkansas State (Harsin will begin the 2014 season as head coach of his alma mater, Boise State).

Applewhite, meanwhile, never starved for criticism. Despite dealing with a multitude of injuries to starters, fans were hard on the former Longhorn quarterback’s inability to sustain a prolific offensive attack. By this time, however, fans became impatient with the head coach, and Applewhite dodged any online petitions.

In 2012, Davis got a new gig doing the same old thing at Iowa. When asked about his rocky ride at Texas, Davis spoke fondly of his time in Austin.

“When I put up the whistle forever, Texas will obviously be one of the highlights of my coaching career. To be able to be at the state school where you grew up, to become friends with Darrell Royal, whom you idolized as a young coach, and to be able to coach athletes that we had, it was an absolute ball. I woke up every morning excited.”

Today, the Longhorns have a new offensive coordinator in Joe Wickline who will work hard and respect his players. Let’s hope Longhorn fans show him the same courtesy.[/s2If]
[s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]

[/s2If]