oruvoice Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 It looks like things have settled down. Doesn't look like any movement at TU right now. And, that's a good thing. I'm a TU football fan and I like Graham & Malzahn. Memphis wasn't/isn't a possibility. Gold is correct. Memphis won't spend the money on football and Tommy West (unfortunately), isn't going anywhere. Folks in Memphis seem content with 6-8 wins a season against a crappy schedule and appearances in the New Orleans Bowl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Boy Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Memphis wasn't/isn't a possibility. Not that your voice isn't heard and known internationally, easy and fair enough to assume your insider scoop might be coming from Memphis. So then since it wasn't Memphis, care to share where your sources suggested Graham was going? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oruvoice Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 No. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold* Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 It looks like things have settled down. Doesn't look like any movement at TU right now. And, that's a good thing. I'm a TU football fan and I like Graham & Malzahn. Memphis wasn't/isn't a possibility. Gold is correct. Memphis won't spend the money on football and Tommy West (unfortunately), isn't going anywhere. Folks in Memphis seem content with 6-8 wins a season against a crappy schedule and appearances in the New Orleans Bowl. I like West and dig most Memphis fans. They were really cool when they came to town. They travel well. I guess I respect West because going to little bowls is still better than where TU was about six years back. There was a rumor that Fulmer would come after Malzahn, but that was BS. BCS schools still look down on Malzahn's system. That's fine by me. Good recruits sure don't. Looks like TU will sign the top juco quarterback this weekend (there was an article yestrday that made it sound like he was coming here). You can see video of him on our Rivals site -- granted, it's JUCO, but he sure plays like Paul. Scout has him as a four star. And we might be trying to steal a stud out of Texas to develop long term . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Doesn't TU have a pretty good QB on the bench now? Malzahn's system should be a magnet for QB's and wide receivers. It's amazing to me how many NFL QB's did not play at BCS schools. Also, how great is it that a nice guy like Blankenship did so well this year in coaching the receivers? I love it when nice guys do well. Especially since most of the receivers were new this year and somewhat unknown - I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold* Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Doesn't TU have a pretty good QB on the bench now? Malzahn's system should be a magnet for QB's and wide receivers. It's amazing to me how many NFL QB's did not play at BCS schools. Also, how great is it that a nice guy like Blankenship did so well this year in coaching the receivers? I love it when nice guys do well. Especially since most of the receivers were new this year and somewhat unknown - I think. I think we have two pretty good QBs on the bench -- David Johnson and Clark Harrell (letter bro of Tech QB). Some of our fans wanted to annoint Johnson the starter after the spring game. I thought that was ridiculous -- now those same posters deny they ever said it. Neither has played that much, though. The problem with "BCS" QBs is that most of those same schools run the same run-oriented, conservative offense. It's how people like Franchione, Tommy Bowden, Nutt, and Fulmer keep jobs for years and years. Those systems don't really develop the skills you need to play QB in the NFL, including the ability to make decisions on the fly and play from behind. I don't think that will change. They'd rather win with athletes than risk having someone figure out their gimmick. (The genius of Malzahn is that we have a new gimmick every week, it seems -- for the bowl, it was basically do the opposite of everything we did all year.) Blankenship was incredible this year. Couldn't have expected that. The biggest issue last year and going into this year was that we had no reliable receivers. He took a bunch of no-name, under-recruited first year players and made them into stars. It will be scary to see what he does when the higher rated guys are eligible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Everyone knew Blankenship could coach - just glad to see it demonstrated on the field. He will go places. Who knows - he might end up as the HC at TU when Graham moves on the 2-3 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold* Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Not sure if he'll ever be HC, but he might be OC with time. It's a long road to be a college HC. Plus, I'm not sure we've ever had a better recruiter for local kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Gold*, how are the facilities and support at SMU? can jones win right away down there? i have got to think he will be able to get better athletes in texas as opposed to trying to bring kids to the islands. i'm a big fan of the uptempo offense that TU, Texas Tech, and Jones's teams play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold* Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Some say SMOO has the best facilities in the league. I'm not sure I agree with that, but they do have a really nice stadium and a really nice campus. It will be interesting to see if the university does what it takes to win in terms of athlete support and recruiting, or if they take the course of Rice. Right now, I think UCF probably has the best stadium and TU probably has the best comination of facilities, academics, and support. I will say that I'm not happy we have to compete with them for Metroplex recruits now. I think it's good for the league, but I also remember how Todd Graham's defense punked Hawaii the last time they came to town. That was the game where James Killian lead us in passing, rushing, AND receiving (he caught a 50 or 60 yard bomb for a TD before the half). It's also frustrating that so many spread offense teams are in this part of the country -- Arkansas, Tech, TU, SMU, Baylor, Houston, and even Rice. We'll all compete for the same players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 i had not thought about all the teams in the region that play the spread. i still think TU will be in good shape though. i'm sure there are plenty of athletes to go around. i was out of the country and only got to see the championship game w/UCF and the bowl game. i was not impressed w/UCF's QB and w/their stud running back leaving, i would think TU is in good shape to win the league next year. the numbers TU's offense put up are ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold* Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 If you are flipping channels, our game with BYU this year will likely get replayed on CSTV. It's a classic. The big knock in the preseason rags will be that there is no Paul Smith -- that's fair. Hopefully the competition this spring gets us someone half as good. UCF is bigger and meaner than us, but you're right: they were one-dimensional. The good thing is they play at TU next year. The weird part is it is the last week of the season, so there is a chance we might play them two weeks in a row. I think TU and Tech have the most interesting offenses. Arkansas, Baylor, and SMU are really only running the old run and shoot -- it's the grandfather of this system, but I think we are a lot more colorful. For example, we ran this "starburst" play on kickoffs where a guy catches a ball in the center of the field, turns around, and then tosses it to one of two guys running opposite lateral directions at full speed. It didn't accomplish much, but it was sure fun to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 I've always wondered why teams don't try more creative 'plays' on kickoffs.... I love the creative nature of the spread offense, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold* Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 There was a discussion on the Picker blog about this last summer. Basically, many believe it's about coaches keeping their jobs at some of the blueblood, wealthy programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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