The ‘good coaching’ bellwethers
Texas fans — the ones who don’t have battered fan syndrome, anyway — find upside in the season based on a new coaching staff known for getting the most out of talented rosters.
The coaches find upside in the season based on the ability to unlock athleticism through a course correction in S&C, tailoring scheme to fit the pieces on hand, and improving fundamentals and football IQ across the board. This is commonly referred to as “coaching ’em up.”
Indeed, if the staff can coach up a roster containing a good mix of talent and experience, Texas could be back yet again, yet again.
To get an indication if the coaches are as advertised, here are some signs we’ll be looking for through August camp and the early portions of the season.
Quarterback — Getting through progressions
Both quarterbacks can at times lock on to a primary receiver. This has led to a couple of ill-advised throws where it appeared the throw was predetermined pre-snap.
Hudson Card is a little quicker through his reads, but he can still show improvement.
Casey Thompson is showing more aggression throwing to his receivers rather than checking down, but he does go from primary read to check-down too quickly.
Running backs — Finding the right mix
It’ll be incumbent on the coaches to find the sweet spot of featuring Bijan Robinson and spelling him with Roschon Johnson or Keilan Robinson.
When in 20 personnel, they’ll want to maximize who is doing what. Roschon Johnson is a game blocker who plays with urgency and anger. K. Robinson is legitimately fast, has excellent hands, and punches above his weight when it comes to running hard. If there’s a guy you want in space with open grass, it’s him. B. Robinson can do it all.
Playing talented guys to their strengths is a good problem to have but too often in the past we’ve seen a good play-call go to the wrong player.
The running back room is already well versed on the nuances of the position, now it’s time to cut them loose individually in the most effective manner possible.
Wide receiver — Beating the press
If you can’t get off the line of scrimmage as a receiver it doesn’t matter how good you are otherwise. For Texas to take advantage of the play action passing game, the speed guys to the outside are going to have to consistently beat pressure at the line.
Sarkisian will employ tricks to get Xavier Worthy open, motioning him like he did DeVonta Smith to allow the build up of speed pre-snap, but Worthy will become that much more dangerous earlier in his career if he can win off the snap from the X or Z position. The same goes for other sinewy players like Joshua Moore and Kelvontay Dixon.
Tight end — Blocking
The coaches are going to have to motivate these guys to get after it, especially from an attached alignment. Jeff Banks seems like the guy to do just that.
Jared Wiley’s length should serve as a structural advantage many other tight ends don’t have. There’s no excuse for him to not become a plus blocker.
If these guys don’t get it done as blockers, Sarkisian is going to need to prove he’s not Tom Herman by altering course and going with more 20 or 10 personnel.
Offensive line — Unit cohesion
A good way we’d understand this is how well they pick up stunts. So far in practice they’re doing okay at it, but we’ve also heard running line games needs to improve for the defensive line so we’re entering zero sum territory.
We might not have clarity on this until a few scrimmages at the earliest, but more likely during the season when they’re seeing different stunts for the first time.
Top 10
- 1New
CFB Hall of Fame
2025 class announced
- 2Hot
Lou Holtz
ND legend jabs Ryan Day
- 3
CFP beer prices
Concession prices for title game
- 4Trending
Carson Beck
UGA myth dead, Bama pursued
- 5
Quinn Ewers
Texas QB declares for NFL
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
The first two games should tell us a lot.
Defensive line — EDGE’s getting to the QB
Pete Kwiatkowski has the reputation for developing pass rushers from the bottom up. He’s routinely taken lowly rated players and developed them into NFL draft picks.
The trade of Oscar Giles for Bo Davis and PK represents the greatest positional coaching improvement stemming from the overhaul. PK doesn’t have the depth and overall talent to work with Davis does, but he does have two physically mature veterans who should be solid at minimum. Reminder to the internet, not everything is a strength or weakness.
Both Jacoby Jones and Ray Thornton will play the run well, but will either one, let alone both, be able to consistently get pressure on the quarterback? By simply playing their position, interior pressure should funnel quarterbacks to them, but this defense will have the chance to be very good if the ends are able to win one on one on their own. Improved fundamentals should help.
Linebacker — Playing decisively
When was the last time we saw this? I guess for spells in 2017? Decisiveness stems from quality coaching and leads to fast linebackers. So far, DeMarvion Overshown and Luke Brockermeyer are playing pretty decisive. They’re fitting the run well — with an assist from the defensive line — and taking quick, confident drops into the curl/crossing zone leading to turnovers.
As the offensive coaches dial up schemes and introduce more conflict, we’ll be paying attention to whether or not the linebackers are still playing decisively.
Secondary — Ball-hawking
Texas will very likely start four seniors and sophomore Jerrin Thompson who possesses good instincts and field awareness. The best secondaries are often as experienced as they are talented.
Brenden Schooler and D’Shawn Jamison both possess good ball skills. BJ Foster still has some pure football ability he’s shown sporadically throughout his career, and he has better play-making ability than his two career interceptions indicate. In limited playing time, Je. Thompson got his hands on a good number of passes. Jo. Thompson‘s coverage ability will have him in 50/50 contention quite a bit.
The corners are going to have their eyes on the quarterback more so than they have in the past. This should play well in Jamison’s favor, other than when it doesn’t. He’s a gambler by nature but the thinking is he’ll beat the house more often than not.
Ball-hawking can stem from elite athleticism, but some of the best ball-hawks are high IQ football players who were in the right place at the right time, by design.
We’ll be looking for that design and whether or not the players can take advantage.
Sarkisian the head coach — Projecting himself on the team
In many ways, Sarkisian’s prepared, humble, laid back approach, is the prefect course correction from Tom Herman. The team is clearly looser and enjoying itself much more than it has in the recent past. Will that manifest on Saturdays in the All Gas, No Brakes fashion Sarkisian is hoping for?
That question can’t be answered until week-three at the earliest, but if the above questions are answered positively, I have an idea how Sark’s first season is going to go.
Cover photo by Joe Cook for Inside Texas