After Saturday’s disaster in Provo, Texas coach Mack Brown smartly recognized that firing defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was the next logical step in trying to return the Longhorns to college football’s summit.
But Brown’s decision to bring back old pal Greg Robinson means only one thing: Brown himself will be the next to go.
Robinson isn’t the answer in Austin. The talented Longhorns probably won’t give up 550 rushing yards again like they did in the 40-21 loss at BYU, but this defense is deeply flawed, from the head coach to the coordinator to the sideline calls to how the players buy into the system, or don’t.
Brown surely must realize now that his days, too, are numbered in Texas. At the end of the season — and Saturday showed us that it indeed will be another disappointing season — Brown will resign, or rather, just like the euphemism assigned to Diaz’ dismissal, will be assigned elsewhere in the athletic department.
(Truthfully, grandfatherly old Mack will be an excellent fundraiser and a wonderful addition to UT’s external recruiting efforts. He’ll continue to glad-hand with all the right boosters and will thrive in helping the rich get richer. He’ll also continue to be a driving force in landing prized recruits. What the next coach — Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris, maybe? — does with those recruits is the big question. And hey, maybe then Mack will have time for all those Longhorn Network segments.)
How disappointing is this turn of events for Longhorn Nation? This Texas roster has 19 returning starters, most of any major college team in the nation in 2013, and won nine games last season. It was supposed to be Mack’s big comeback from three years of wandering in the wilderness.
Instead, a lackluster beginning last week (down 7-0 to New Mexico State with two minutes left in the first half) and an utter embarrassment this week (BYU’s scoring drives covered 60, 76, 75, 59, 77, 79, 51 and 73 yards, and Texas gave up 600 yards or more for the third time in 10 games) show just how far these Longhorns have to go to be those Longhorns.
The 2011 team that Diaz’ inherited (take a look at these names: Okafor, Jeffcoat, Acho, Vacarro, Diggs, Byndom) led the Big 12 in total defense (306 yards allowed per game, 11th nationally), but he never had the coaching chops to fortify Texas for the long term. His second UT squad yielded 404 yards per game, 67th nationally. So far this season — now with three years to learn his edgy system, remember — Texas ranks 115th in total defense, giving up 515 yards per game.
Clearly, Diaz had to go.
But Robinson?
His two years working for Rich Rodriguez at Michigan, Robinson’s defenses ranked 82nd in 2009 and 110th in 2010. And that was in the offensively challenged Big Ten. What will be Brown’s measure of success for Robinson in the supercharged Big 12?
Before that, Robinson was head coach at Syracuse for four years. Syracuse alums would rather forget the Robinson era, when the Orange won 10 and lost 37 — in the squishy soft Big East, no less.
Brown brought Robinson back this summer as a video analyst. Whatever that means.
Big 12 offenses are hardly recognizable from what they were in Robinson’s last stint in the league, 2004. Plus, he’s been gone. Having Robinson analyzing videos in Brown’s plush suboffices for a few months probably made Diaz uncomfortable (what a waste of a year for Texas players and recruits, by the way, studying under Diaz and buying into his system), but it’s certainly not enough to inject life into BYU fans’ new favorite defense.
Mack Brown’s train has run off the tracks. Now the only questions are when does it finally come to a stop, and how much damage does it actually cause?
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