Austin American Statesman reports that RB/WR/KR D.J. Monroe plead out of his DWI offense. He could be eligible to play in the National Championship. Though Monroe obviously did not get preferential treatment for being a football player, it is unfortunate that so many first time DWI/DUI offenders are able to get off this easy. Maybe if punishment for first offenses was more harsh and swift, the other offenses would not follow. That aside, if Monroe plays, he will add (along with Goodwin) an explosion to UT kick return game against 'Bama.

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Other Sports

So, from time to time there are other sports than Football. The UT women volleyball team (29-1) will be playing undefeated Penn State (32-0) this Saturday night (the day bowl games begin!). Penn State will be looking to claim its 3rd straight national title.

On the bright side, NFL football on Thursday night: Colts stay undefeated. The Saints look to stay undefeated on Saturday as well.

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2009 All-American Teams

AP
QB Colt McCoy Texas
RB Toby Gerhart Stanford
RB Mark Ingram Alabama
WR Golden Tate Notre Dame
WR Jordan Shipley Texas
TE Aaron Hernandez Florida
OT Russell Okung Oklahoma State
OT Trent Williams Oklahoma
OG Michael Johnson Alabama
OG Mike Iupati Idaho
C J.D. Walton Baylor

DE Jerry Hughes TCU
DE Derrick Morgan Georgia Tech
DT Ndamukong Suh Nebraska
DT Terrence Cody Alabama
LB Rolando McClain Alabama
LB Greg Jones Michigan State
LB Eric Norwood South Carolina
CB Joe Haden Florida
CB Javier Arenas Alabama
S Eric Berry Tennessee
S Earl Thomas Texas

K Leigh Tiffin Alabama
P Drew Butler Georgia
AP C.J. Spiller Clemson


American Football Coaches Association

WR Golden Tate Notre Dame
WR Mardy Gilyard Cincinnati
TE Dennis Pitta BYU
OL Mike Johnson Alabama
OL Russell Okung Oklahoma St.
C Chris Hall Texas
OL Trent Williams Oklahoma
OL Mike Iupati Idaho
QB Colt McCoy Texas
RB Mark Ingram Alabama
RB Toby Gerhart Stanford

DL Ndamukong Suh Nebraska
DL Jerry Hughes TCU
DL Jared Odrick Penn St.
DL Derrick Morgan Georgia Tech
DL Brian Price UCLA
LB Rolando McClain Alabama
LB Greg Jones Michigan St.
DB Eric Berry Tennessee
DB Joe Haden Florida
DB Javier Arenas Alabama
DB Earl Thomas Texas

P Drew Butler Georgia
PK Kai Forbath UCLA
AP C.J. Spiller Clemson

Football Writers Association of America
QB Colt McCoy, Texas
RB Toby Gerhart, Stanford
RB Mark Ingram, Alabama
WR Freddie Barnes, Bowling Green
WR Golden Tate, Notre Dame
TE Dorin Dickerson, Pittsburgh
OL Zane Beadles, Utah
OL Rodney Hudson, Florida State
OL Mike Iupati, Idaho
OL Russell Okung, Oklahoma State
C Maurkice Pouncey, Florida

DL Terrence Cody, Alabama
DL Jerry Hughes, TCU
DL Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma
DL Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska
LB Pat Angerer, Iowa
LB Greg Jones, Michigan State
LB Rolando McClain, Alabama
DB Eric Berry, Tennessee
DB Joe Haden, Florida
DB DeAndre McDaniel, Clemson
DB Earl Thomas, Texas

K Kai Forbath, UCLA
P Drew Butler, Georgia
RS C.J. Spiller, Clemson


Walter Camp Football Foundation
WR Jordan Shipley, Texas
WR Golden Tate, Notre Dame
TE Dennis Pitta, BYU
OL Russell Okung, Oklahoma State
OL Mike Iupati, Idaho
OL Mike Johnson, Alabama
OL Trent Williams, Oklahoma
C Maurkice Pouncey, Florida
QB Colt McCoy, Texas
RB Toby Gerhart, Stanford
RB Mark Ingram, Alabama
PK Kai Forbath, UCLA

DL Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska
DL Jerry Hughes, TCU
DL Terrence Cody, Alabama
DL Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma
LB Rolando McClain, Alabama
LB Eric Norwood, South Carolina
LB Brandon Spikes, Florida
DB Eric Berry, Tennessee
DB Taylor Mays, USC
DB Earl Thomas, Texas
DB Joe Haden, Florida
P Drew Butler, Georgia
KR C.J. Spiller, Clemson

The Sporting News
QB Colt McCoy, Sr., Texas.
RB Mark Ingram, Soph., Alabama.
RB Toby Gerhart, Sr., Stanford.
WR Golden Tate, Jr., Notre Dame.
WR Jordan Shipley, Sr., Texas.
TE Aaron Hernandez, Jr., Florida.
OL Mike Johnson, Sr., Alabama.
OL Charles Brown, Sr., USC.
OL Bryan Bulaga, Sr., Iowa.
OL Maurkice Pouncey, Jr., Florida.
OL Russell Okung, Sr., Oklahoma State.
K Kai Forbath, Jr., UCLA.
KR C.J. Spiller, Sr., Clemson.

DE Jerry Hughes, Sr., TCU.
DE Von Miller, Jr., Texas A&M.
DT Gerald McCoy, Jr., Oklahoma.
DT Ndamukong Suh, Sr., Nebraska.
LB Brandon Spikes, Sr., Florida.
LB Sergio Kindle, Sr., Texas
LB Rolando McClain, Jr., Alabama.
CB Perrish Cox, Sr., Oklahoma State.
CB Joe Haden, Jr., Florida.
S Kurt Coleman, Sr., Ohio State.
S Eric Berry, Jr., Tennessee
P Drew Butler, Soph., Georgia.
PR Antonio Brown, Jr., Central Michigan.

These 5 lists are used to count consensus All-Americans. Colt McCoy was a unanimous pick as first team All-American QB. Earl Thomas earned consensus honors by being on 4 out of 5 lists; he was left off the Sporting News in favor of Kurt Coleman (Ohio State). Jordan Shipley just missed consensus honors with 2 out of 5 lists. Sergio Kindle and Chris Hall both garnered one first team honor. Of the undefeated teams, Alabama had a much greater showing on the All-American lists than Texas; but it would seem that undefeated TCU, Cincinnati, and Boise St were all underrepresented. Though it happens every year notice this inconsistency: 6-6 UCLA churned out 2 players on these AA lists while undefeated TCU and Cincinnati supplied 2 combined! Boise St. was left completely off the AA lists while in-state ‘rival’ Idaho had 1 AA honoree. Overall, it is nice to see the post season awards, but football is a team sport. Can't wait for bowl season to start!

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McCoy for...3rd Place

In case you haven’t heard, Colt didn’t win the Heisman trophy. The award went to a running back on a different undefeated team, Mark Ingram. Ingram was the most productive (I would call Julio Jones the “best”) offensive player on the team that finished the regular season at #1. If that is the criteria for the Heisman, then he deserved it! He had a school record for rushing yards in a season for a great football program, Alabama. He helped lead his team to a great season, and that should not be denied. The Heisman Memorial Trophy is supposed to go to “the most outstanding player” in college football. Technically, the Walter Camp Award and the Maxwell Trophy both are awarded to the “best” player, 2009 winners were Colt McCoy and Colt McCoy.

Should the most productive player in the country no matter how their team faired over the season be considered the “most outstanding player”? If that is the case it should have been Case Keenum, Levi Brown, Toby Gerhardt, and Freddie Barnes. Barnes and Gerhardt both deservedly won awards, but their performance was not so outstanding that their teams did not lose a few games along the way.

Should the trophy be awarded to the most explosive player or most athletic player or player with the most potential to make big plays? If that were the case, C.J. Spiller had to be at the top with Golden Tate, Dion Lewis (who should be on 2010 watch list by the way), Joe Webb, and Mardy Gilyard. All these are great players with the potential to lead their teams to victory, but what did Coach Royal say about potential?

So, should the Heisman be a career award? Would a great career coming to an end be considered outstanding? In some cases, I think so. If that is the case, Tebow and McCoy deserved to be sole finalists as their great careers came to differing ends with numerous records falling as they took the field in 2010.

Since 2000, only on player, Carson Palmer in 2002, won the Heisman without being in the National Championship Game. So, does playing for the National Championship make you the “most outstanding player”? Not in my opinion. But, if it did, that should have narrowed the list to Ingram and McCoy.

Maybe all these things should be considered somewhat. In that case, the 5 Heisman finalists deserved to be there (even if Suh only stamped his ticket with the performance in the Big 12 Championship). When you take all these things into consideration: production, explosion, among the all-time great careers, being the most productive player (and leader) of an undefeated team playing for the National Championship, and receiving the awards for being “the best” collegiate player in the country, the award (in my objective and humble opinion) should have gone to Colt McCoy. At the very least, McCoy’s body of work over the season (and possibly his career) should have been given more weight than the Nebraska game that ended the regular season. (Reminder: McCoy (and all the flaws) did lead the game winning drive.) If the 13-game season had been weighed more than that one game, Ndamukong Suh would NOT have won the Southwest region that encompasses the Big 12 Conference. Despite Ingram winning the entire East Coast, if McCoy had won HIS region, he would have won the Heisman, as he should have.

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Is Mack Brown Worth $5 Million?

With his recent raise, Mack Brown became the highest paid college sports coach in history. He now makes more than Bill Belichick! Mack makes more than any other college football coach and more than all but a handful of NFL coaches. And, this raise has received harsh criticism from the UT faculty council as being “excessive” during a time of financial hardship at the University and in the state of Texas. The University of Texas is a school and not an athletic program, right? Should Mack Brown be making 50 times what many professors make? I would argue that a great winning percentage is deserving of a good raise but not one this big. I would argue that winning a National Championship and going to another one in the past five years is worth something, but is it worth $5 million a year for the life of a contract? Is being a great recruiter and even better people manager really worth this kind of a payday during a national recession? To all of these, I would have to say “no.” However, there is one thing that makes Mack Brown worth $5 million a year: University of Texas Football revenues are at a national high of $73 million! That is a football program that brings in $73 million dollars every year. Now, that price tag comes because Mack is a great recruiter, who has won 3 Big 12 championships, at least 1 National Championship, and had 9+ wins every season this decade. Successful leaders are in high demand across many industries. During a time of recession when the state is looking for money, institutions are looking for money, our federal government is in great debt, and business are seeking bailouts, what is the market value for a leader who can transform an entity into the one with the largest revenue in its industry? Well, in college football, the price tag is about $5 million.

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About this Blog

The past 10 years of my life (dating then marriage) have been with a wonderful woman, but she and her family are BIG fans of the University of Texas. Her dad, my father-in-law is a graduate of the school from the “glory days” of Earl Campbell. I have had the great privilege for the past 5 football seasons of being a frequent guest of his (and his season tickets) to most of the UT football and a few UT basketball games. I am not a Longhorn fan. Much to my in-laws chagrin, I am not really a fan of any team. I am generally an objective person, and in football, more so. My father coached high school football in Texas while I was growing up. As a coach, you cannot be too much of a fan of any one team because they may your opponent the next year. Your loyalty cannot lie so much with the University of Texas (or any school) that a phone call and job offer to coach football at Texas A&M (or any other school) is not something most coaches would turn down! Therefore, though I love football, I am an objective observer to UT athletics and will blog from that viewpoint. Please join me as we discuss UT football, coaches, players, recruits, and the like. Along the way (because there are a lot of days between early January and late August), we might even chat about those lesser sports (a bit of sarcasm from the beginning) basketball, baseball, track and field, or the like. If we get real bored, we might even talk about the country club sports like tennis, golf, or swimming (which I have heard UT does pretty decent in…) The Objective Eyes of Texas are upon You!

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