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Texas

Drinking the Burnt Orange Kool Aid

by: Sean Adams07/27/15
Charlie Strong
Charlie Strong. (Will Gallagher/IT)
Charlie Strong. (Will Gallagher/IT)

Charlie Strong. (Will Gallagher/IT)

Look, I will be honest with you, I’ve taken a good long swig of the Charlie Strong and Texas Kool Aid. Unless you have taken a drink or two with me, you may hate what I’m about to write.

Whether it was Lou Holtz at Minnesota, Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, or Mack Brown at Texas, a change in attitude can go a long way for a team.

Strong and the Texas football program rolled into Big 12 Media Days last week with a whole different style than they did in 2014. Last year, Strong alarmed Texas fans when he exclaimed early that ‘We [Texas] will not be in the national championship game this year.”

In 2015, Charlie Strong had a different feel.

Charlie Strong was confident.

Charlie Strong was comfortable.

After Media Days, Strong went on a national radio show and said, “We are better than we think we are.”

There is a mentality to winning. There is a mentality to being great. The difference between winners and losers at the level of the University of Texas plays is small. It is easy to harp on the quarterback position. It is easy to focus on the offensive line. It is even easy to focus on the lack of experience in the spread concepts of co-offensive coordinator Shawn Watson.

It is no secret that the resolve and personality of the latter years of the Mack Brown era at Texas were lacking. They had really good players and some players played with what Henry David Thoreau called, “Quiet desperation.” But most did not. The team and the program did not possess the attitude and resolve that leads to greatness.

While Texas is still trying to recruit speed, depth, talent and attitude to fill out the roster, the molding and shaping of the current players that has happened since Strong and staff have been on campus is palpable. Strong was joking with the media, laughing and poking fun at his players and speaking of his belief in the process. The Big 12 needs Texas to be good to add credibility to the conference especially until Baylor and TCU build more of a national brand for themselves.

I am bullish on Texas. In fact besides Miami (FL) and Michigan, Texas would get my vote for the most improved team in the country for 2015. Yeah, yeah I know I’m drowning in the Kool Aid now. I don’t think they are going to win the National Championship, make the CFB Playoff or even win the Big 12 Conference this season.

BUT, if you are a Texas fan, I believe you will have a clear understanding by the end of the 2015 season that Texas is headed in the right direction. In fact, based on my prediction for the in-season, I would not be shocked at all if UT started 2016 in the Top 15.

Print this out and hit me next July.

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