I'm okay with Orlando if he's the guy. UH played a quite a few top 10 offenses and pretty much held them all to check outside of Navy and Memphis. He held OU to their lowest output of the season and completely shutdown Lamar Jackson and UL. Unless you're getting a DC from within the Big 12, there will be concern about whether they can stop the spread but Orlando may have more experience defending it than a DC coming out of the BIG, SEC, and ACC maybe.
Orlando already has a strong familiarity and relationship with Tom Herman. His defense was exceptional outside of the three loses, and UH had severe injuries those weeks. He really game planned well against OK and LOU and did as well as anyone at shutting them down. If I were a UT fan, I would be very happy with Orlando.
I think the fear is that playing Big 12 offenses week-in, week-out can test a coach's defensive abilities. Strong had as strong a defensive pedigree as any coach coming to UT, but he could never figure out a way to stop the spread. Now, I don't know how many breakdowns came because of bad schemes or just poor play (missed tackles, assignments, etc.), but he never looked comfortable coaching against Big 12 schools.
I understand, and there are no guarantees that he does well at UT. However, based on what I have seen and the confidence that Herman has in him, leads me to believe that he will do well if given the chance. His defense was exceptional outside of injuries.
It's not like AAC offenses are trash juice. Houston, Navy, Memphis, ECU, USF, and Tulsa are all top 40.
I’ve never made a thread about UT News so I don’t really get your point. You mean the time I brought it up in the rankings thread and then in the UH thread for a total of two conversations a few weeks ago? Get your facts right. Also, it wasn't garbage. It was about how Herman called out UH fans twice and they stopped selling out games in a tiny 40,000 stadium towards the end of the season.
I was not implying that. I was saying that the Big 12 has a history of teams running gimmicky offenses (Texas Tech, Baylor, Oklahoma State occasionally) that only care about airing it out for four quarters. Strong never adjusted.
It's tough to get good stats on the defensive side of the ball in the big 12. I'm guessing big 12 games average more snaps than any other conference due to the vast amount of teams that run high tempo offenses. Gary Patterson was a defensive coach and he hasn't been able to figure out a good stop to spread offenses either.
Via 247 Walker Little from Bellair is going to announce next Friday. He's thought of as a top 5 offensive lineman in the country. He canceled his scheduled trip to austin last weekend which makes it seem unlikely that he'll attend. Florida St, Stanford, Georgia, and Ole Miss are in play. We talk about 4 star, 5 star players and what that means. Fact is this kid can block. These highlights are from his junior year: Here were his comments about UT: “With Texas having a new coaching staff, it threw a wrench in things,” Little said. “But getting to meet them, they were great. The personal relationship was similar to the last staff. Even though, I’ve only met them two or three times now, I felt pretty close to them. I know they can help me out and help me reach my goals.” “I wanted to meet him and get a feel for his vision for the program,” Little said. “He definitely felt like a family oriented guy. He felt like a guy that would be there for me if I needed him. He’s a high intensity coach that’s going to expect the best out of me. He said people were going to be accountable for each other and play for their brothers. That was something I was impressed by.” “For me, it’s just the place that I think will make me the most successful on and off the field,” Little said. “There are a lot of parts to that — the people there, the football program, a place you can be happy and comfortable at, academics. I’m excited to make this decision.”
Y'all are helpless. "There's no hope for Little." "Orlando sucks." Neither one of those things is true.
Who is this guy you keep talking about? Name names. edit: And the "can't defend against the spread" is a ****ing joke of a copout. What talented defense can't? Why? We've seen "SEC" defenses get shredded by the spread, same as Big10. Sounds like Ziggy Finebaum SEC bullshit to me. Recruit the right guys, coach up the right guys, run the right scheme. It's been done many times before.
Uh when did I say Orlando sucks? I've actually been advocating for him. As for Little, the guy has been recruited by Stanford for probably over a year now and has received his letter of acceptance. Meanwhile, he met Tom Herman and the staff for the first time yesterday evening. Hard to turn down a full ride to Stanford and play for a staff that you've built a relationship with. Hope I'm wrong of course.
I'm not a homer about recruiting. If I thought he was going to A&M, I'd say so. He didn't take his official visits to Texas or Stanford, who every expert thinks are his top 2 schools. He unofficially visited Stanford in September. Herman and staff met with him this week. I don't see how you can look at what's happened between September and today and automatically assume he's going to Stanford. It's not logical.
