Scipio Tex: Christian Jones, Jalen Catalon, Interim Coaching Traps, the Title Game Blowout
A few thoughts on myriad issues in the Texas Longhorns football world and elsewhere.
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Christian Redemption
The return of Christian Jones to Texas for his 6th season is terrific news. Texas now returns all five offensive line starters for 2023, but beyond the obvious unit continuity benefits, the individual redemption arc for Jones is exciting. The 6th year Jones is a late bloomer who showed tremendous progress from a rocky 2021 to a strong 2022. I’m truly puzzled by the responses from some Texas fans wondering whether he’ll be a starter in 2023 or where he’ll play. Are you reading my postmortems? Are you reading Ian’s postgames? Do you watch the games on Saturday? What is it you’d say you do around here?
Christian Jones took a massive leap last year, evolving from a major deficit in pass protection to an average to above average pass blocker while serving as the most impactful run blocker on the Texas offensive line. He cleaned up mental errors and found real consistency in what had once been haphazard “well let me try this out on this play” technique. That improvement allowed a 6-6, 330 pound monster to unleash his physical advantages. He may still be leveling up.
Are we really asking whether a player with 35 career starts and a massive uptick in performance last year who is likely still improving…will be a starter?
There are good reasons to be excited about Cameron Williams or Malik Agbo but the notion that either will beat out Jones means one of them is an absolute superstar. Jones would be a guaranteed starter at guard anyway. That’s improbable at best. The smart money says Christian Jones is the best starting right tackle in the league next year. And if Kelvin Banks is the best left tackle, that means Texas is some interior OL improvement away from having a potentially great unit.
Title Game Learnings
65-7 says it all, but watching the game it somehow felt even worse. Georgia’s blowout of TCU was remarkable and only made possible by a rare triple crown of deficits yet unseen in bowl history. It takes some doing to suffer the worst blowout in all of bowl game history, but in the title game? Without suffering some massive spate of injuries and trotting out your 5th string QB?
Yes Georgia was much more talented across the board, but that’s not responsible for 65-7. Talent mismatches have occurred before in bowl games. That deficit accounts for a 35-10 result. The kindling on the talent fire disparity was that TCU was globally ill-prepared and not ready to play. At any level. They struggled badly to deal with Georgia’s misdirection, hurry-up sugar huddles, man free defensive coverages with a 3 or 4 man rush and couldn’t even line up right. Bulldog OC Jeff Monken did a hell of a scout on TCU and I loved the game plan, but he didn’t exactly reinvent offensive football as Kirk Herbstreit intimated during the broadcast.
There were multiple blown coverages from a veteran Frog secondary, terrible edge defense from the 3-3-5 and they failed to identify superstar TE Brock Bowers as receiver eligible on a Georgia offense that doesn’t have a WR#1. The lack of individual player composure was also striking, confirmed by the sideline reporter mentioning that TCU DC Joe Gillispie told his defense on a 2nd quarter Georgia touchdown drive that they’d lined up incorrectly on 8 consecutive plays. The final part of the blowout trifecta was the TCU players themselves. They played scared and tentatively – effectively overwhelmed – clearly psychologically unprepared for the big stage. The game result will be simplified into various narratives, but it takes a village to get your ass beaten that badly on a big stage.
The Interim Coach Trap
The Texas basketball team has had to navigate a tumultuous season. Chris Beard was fired before conference play even began in earnest and the distractions preceding that have been significant, but I’m offering my caution now to snuff out any push crafted by media or fans should Rodney Terry stabilize the ship…
Don’t fall into the interim coaching trap.
It plays out every year, in every program, at every level of sports, in every sport. I don’t know if it’s misplaced sentimentality, ignorance, fear of the unknown, complacency, or the odd belief that player opinions are the most meaningful part of the calculus, but whatever the reason or combination of reasons, don’t do it.
Has it ever worked? Yes. That list fits on an index card. The failure list couldn’t fit in an encyclopedia. Younger readers, an encyclopedia is a big book which is basically a printed Google search.
Catalon Caution
I love Jalen Catalon. He’s a really good player and his play style reminds me a lot of former Longhorn great Quandre Diggs. Physicality and natural baller instincts are a rare combination. The difference is that Little Giant Quandre Diggs was forged of iron while Jalen Catalon has started a grand total of 7 games over the last 2 years. Catalon’s brain and spirit are willing, but his body isn’t. Texas absolutely had to take him, but he’s a scratch off lottery ticket. We hope it’s a Pick 6, of course. But lottery tickets don’t address need.
Treat his addition as speculative and go get another safety in the portal. If Catalon is healthy all year, Texas just got a difference maker. If he’s not, you took your shot and still shored up secondary depth.
What the coaches can’t do is think they’ve addressed the problem. If Catalon goes out, don’t blame it on bad luck. A player missing most of the last two seasons has had very predictable luck. Bring him in, throw every medical and rehab resource in the world at him, and hope the stars align.
But hedge the bet.
