THE ROAD BACK

WITH THE 2012 football season just around the corner, Horns Illustrated sat down with the four main on air personalities from AM 1300 The Zone to discuss the current state of the Texas football program. The group has a wealth of insider perspective. Rod Babers and Bucky Godbolt have experience behind the burnt-orange curtain Godbolt coached backs during the Machovic era and Babers played cornerback for the Longhorns from 1999-2002. Craig Way gets….

[s2If current_user_is(s2member_level2)] an up-close view of all the gridiron action as the voice of the Longhorns, and Jon Madani started covering the team when the station first went on the air in 1996. Now that the coaches and players have a year together, what does that time mean for the team and their output this season?

CRAIG WAY: In a word: continuity. The coaches talk about having continuity with the coaching staff almost as much as having it with the players. For Bryan Harsin, it’s important because of the ballyhoo surrounding how he’d work with Major [Applewhite]. But how would he work with Bruce Chambers, Stacy Searals, and Darrell Wyatt? Knowing what each coach needs out of his guys and knowing how it’s all integrated into the system is important.

BUCKY GODBOLT: Everybody is on the same page. Guys were let go and let go is what happened not planned retirement. When Mack Brown made those changes, he had to look at the man in the mirror and say, “I’ve got to do this in order to keep things going.” With a year under their belts, they’re secure that the continuity will be there.

JON MADANI: They’ll all hit the ground speaking the same language. You don’t have to learn the playbook. When you don’t have to come in and learn the playbook, that’s a big advantage. When you’ve got a new system, even the veterans have to re-learn everything. That’s a positive all the way around and it should help them tremendously.

ROD BABERS: The way the relationships develop and how they communicate with one another is like any relationship. If you’re in a relationship with a young lady, the communication gets better over time and you grow closer. Better communication should make understanding the game plan, schematics, and how the other person is thinking easier. For the players, they now know their coach and what to expect. If there’s something your girlfriend harps on all the time, you’re going to get it through your skull. Other than the quarterback, who will make the biggest impact this season?

BG: The wide receivers. The young receivers have a real opportunity. We know what Jaxon Shipley is going to do, and we know that Mike Davis has an opportunity to improve. But outside of those two guys, what have we seen? Nothing. So the young crop of wide receivers coming in can make a real impact.

JM: Johnathan Gray. He’s going to elevate Malcolm Brown, Joe Bergeron and anyone who’s in the backfield. If he’s healthy, and does what he’s expected to do, he’ll elevate everyone’s game. The defenses will draw closer to the line of scrimmage to stop the ground attack, and that will open up everything. Gray’s the pick of the litter … the cream of the class.

CW: The offensive line. Last year, they looked either good or worn down. Mack said they have to build depth in that unit, and I think building depth in the offensive line is only going to make the front line guys better. Having said that, and Mack will agree, the Longhorns need a better running game. To get a better running game you need good backs (they have those), healthy backs (they need them to stay healthy), and your O-line to perform well. Success starts up front, even though it’s all hand in glove.

RB: Jackson Jeffcoat and Alex Okafor. This is a passing conference — quarterbacks will be big. If they get after the quarterback and the defensive backs’ jobs will get easier. The new defensive tackles jobs will also become easier because those guys will be applying pressure, demanding double teams. Jeffcoat and Okafor are the key to the season. Do you think the Texas backfield can live up to the pre-season hype?

JM: I do now. I might not have said that before this group of coaches came in, but they obviously have a commitment to the offensive line. They went places they’ve never gone before, namely junior colleges, and found the guys they needed. Brown saw the SEC, winning five straight [national titles], and said, “Whatever they’re doing, we have got to do.” He went and grabbed some SEC coaches, an SEC philosophy and some linemen from the SEC country. Now you have three stable-ponies running behind a revamped offensive line.

Fans may miss some of the razzle dazzle they got with the old Greg Davis playbook, but when you look up and see that your team is 8-0, nobody will quibble with how you do it.

BG: After a year of weightlifting, Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron will be bigger, stronger and more physical this year. Mentally, they’ll understand what practice is like, how to watch film, how to understand defenses and their position coach. The nicks and pings you get as a running back as a sophomore are different than the ones you take as a freshman. They now know how important it is to play banged up, because if they sit back for too long, Gray may take their jobs.

CW: I’m expecting the pre-season prognosticators to say that Bergeron and Brown showed a lot — when they were healthy. Now Jonathan Gray comes in and supplements them. The questions are: (1) Does the offensive line

keep them up right and give them protection, and (2) Can they stay healthy? But can they live up to the preseason hype, I think so. The talent, skill level and work ethic are there. Johnathan Gray has all of the tools. They’re all capable, if they get the combination of things, like the offensive line and staying healthy.

RB: Those three running backs should rush for 2000 yards. All three could rush for at least 650 yards, and if they do, the Longhorns will win 10 games. If the three combined get 2000 yards, the opposing team will need to put eight in the box to stop them. If they’re putting eight in the box to stop the rush, then the quarterback’s job will become easier because he’ll only throw against one-on-one coverage. Guys like Jaxon Shipley and Cayleb Jones will easily get open in one-on-one coverage. Will the coaches resolve the quarterback controversy this fall?

CW: That comes down to the definition of resolution. According to Harsin, the resolution could involve both quarterbacks producing. In a perfect world does one guy take the majority of the snaps? Yes, and Mack will be the first to say that. But the coaches said all spring they want two quarterbacks ready to go. They don’t want to run into what happened when Colt got hurt. Jevan Snead wasn’t ready to go and Garrett Gilbert didn’t get enough reps or snaps. They want two guys that are equal. Maybe one is better than the other, and one separates himself  from the other. I’ve heard Mack and Bryan say that if all things go the way they want, they still want the number 2 quarterback to play in games. They want the position to be productive — they may want one guy to take the lead on it, but they want the other guy to be ready.

JM: I’m in the minority — you don’t have to name a starting quarterback. I’ve seen quarterbacks removed from a situation, when they weren’t effective, to create a spark. The coaches have to know their personnel. If a kid’s not strong enough to deal with being benched, then he has no business being on a field in front of 100,000 people. If you’re having a bad game, own it in front of the media. At the end of the day, it’s about winning football games. Somebody will be under the center to start the first game. If that guy doesn’t take every game snap, I don’t have a problem with it.

RB: The guys know who should start. I went through some quarterback controversies and we always knew who should play. I don’t think there’s a controversy any more — David Ash is the guy. A solid starter will help the team. This type of controversy destroys any type of team chemistry. Who will be Texas’ toughest 2012 opponent?

CW: Cue the broken record: Oklahoma. The key to winning the Big 12, to putting yourself in the chase for the National Championship, is the second Saturday in October. And it’s not only that way for Texas — it’s that way for Oklahoma. Bob Stoops, the coaching staff and the players all agree that the key is the Texas game. Texas still needs to take care of their other games, including West Virginia, who the Longhorns face the week before. The lynchpin to the inside track to the Big 12 Championship is beating Oklahoma, and has been since 2000. Oklahoma State broke through that barrier last year. For Texas, it still starts and ends with OU.

RB: Oklahoma. Landry Jones is the most experienced quarterback in the country — he started as a freshman. Oklahoma will be hard. That West Virginia game will be tough too. I’m scared of those WVU guys. They have two 1,000-yard receivers. Quarterback Geno Atkins is a mobile guy and he can throw. Dana Holgorsen was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State before last year, and they’re still running his offense there. He’s an offensive genius, along the lines of Mike Leach. They scare the hell out of me because every now and then they’ll have a great defense too. Oklahoma will be the toughest game. Dana Holgorsen knows that’s a carrier builder.

BG: Oklahoma. Yes, they have problems with their wide receivers right now, but don’t think for a minute some of those guys won’t be back on the team when the season starts. All-in-all, OU will always be the team. TCU will be tough. West Virginia is no joke offensively. But WVU doesn’t offer much of a threat defensively if the Longhorns can run the ball. They’ll pound them. Offensively, Manny Diaz and his defense will see something they’ve never seen. These aren’t West Virginia kids — they’re Florida kids. WVU is like OU recruiting in the state of Texas —they recruit the Florida kids that can run. They’ll come here trying to prove a point.

JM: Ole Miss. If you’ve never been down to The Grove in Oxford, it’s a strange and magical place. It’s like going back in time. The walk, the women in their Sunday dresses, men dressed to the nines — they do it up big down there, and you can get caught up in all of that. Then its game time and you haven’t been focused on football. Head coach Hugh Freeze is brand new, and we’re only going to have a game or two of tape. It’s a classic sandwich game and the only meeting between the Big 12 and SEC this year. It just has trap game written all over it. If the kids don’t have their heads right, they’ll go down to Oxford and lose. Last year’s team motto was “Brick by Brick.” Choose this year’s slogan.

JM: Texas is getting back to its roots — we’re going to play great defense and we’re going to run the ball. I need the Walter Cronkite voice for this, but I’d like to steal from an existing campaign, and go back to “We are Texas.”

CW: At the risk of sounding like George Herbert Walker Bush I’d say, “Stay the Course.” The Longhorns put a good plan in place last year and started to build on it. They have to continue what they started last year and do better than what they did last year. “Brick by Brick” starts it and if they “Stay the Course” in terms of what they’re building, then they have a chance to go to the next level.

RB: “Minor setback for the major comeback.” People are underestimating Texas. Texas is about to jump right back on top. Coach Brown even said we’re in a position where we could win a national title in the next two or three years. He’s right — in 2013 we’ll be back in national title contention.

BG: “Win Baby Win!” I’m not much of a motto guy. Give me one crazy prediction for this season.

BG: Texas will win the Big 12 Conference.

JM: The Longhorns will lose a football game they’re clearly favored to win, and they’ll win a game that everyone expects them to lose.

CW: Texas and Oklahoma will meet each other in a BCS Bowl.

RB: Texas plays in a BCS bowl.  [/s2If]
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