Cbz40
The Grand Poobah
- Messages
- 31,387
- Reaction score
- 39
[SIZE=+2]Burned Orange? Not if Texas' Muschamp can help it
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]02:59 AM CDT on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
[/SIZE]
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/standing/sports/columnists/mugs/mug_ksherrington_new.jpg
• E-mail
AUSTIN – At a table in front of a probing band of sportswriters sits Texas' best hope of upsetting Oklahoma.
Come to think of it, "sits" probably doesn't describe Will Muschamp.
"Percolates," maybe.
The latest in Mack Brown's line of S.O.S. defensive coordinators, Muschamp would rather be on a sideline or in a meeting room or back in his office, gaze locked on an endless video loop.
Do not be fooled by the hushed tones or hip glasses or wave of Troy Donahue hair crashing over the forehead.
Underneath the serene surface, Muschamp is all roiling seas. Check the foot under the table, tapping like the Marconi operator from the Titanic.
A reporter jokingly asks Muschamp if, given the gravity of the game in the Cotton Bowl, he'll sleep in his office this week.
"You do what you have to do to win," Muschamp says, so soft you almost fall out of your seat to hear it.
He is not smiling.
Texas fans, take heart. If the Longhorns are going to figure out a way to get to Sam Bradford, Muschamp is your sleep-deprived man.
He'll be worth most of his $450,000 salary if Roy Miller or Brian Orakpo or Sergio Kindle creates havoc around the Sooners' quarterback.
Prediction: If Bradford continues to have time to throw – he's been sacked just twice – he'll pick Texas' young secondary to pieces.
How difficult is Muschamp's assignment? Besides facing a QB with Bradford's arm, poise and accuracy, the Sooners would have one of the most talented huddles in the nation if only offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson employed one. On top of the no huddle, OU occasionally likes to quick snap.
Result: Because opponents don't have time to make personnel changes, OU has outscored its opponents, 103-3, in the first quarter, proof of what it's like facing the Sooners on the fly.
Considering the problems OU presents, it's probably better to counter with difficulties of your own.
Here's where Muschamp comes in. Loudly.
By now you've probably read or seen YouTube evidence of his slightly psychotic sideline behavior. He screams, he curses, he chest bumps players, he head butts them. But Muschamp doesn't simply incite riots.
Fortunately for Texas, he has a few ideas, too. A playbook from stops with Auburn, the Miami Dolphins, LSU and Valdosta State is about four inches thick. Players say they've used only a fraction of it.
He also has experience beating OU in a big game. He was the architect of LSU's defense in the '04 Sugar Bowl.
The heart of his philosophy? Harass the quarterback. Ask Jason White, sacked seven times.
The Sooners are a vastly different bunch from the Sugar Bowl team, but Muschamp's approach is still correct.
Even better, he tunes his defense to the personnel on hand, not the other way around.
Case in point: Until Muschamp showed up last spring, the most unfulfilled talent on Texas' roster might have been Woodrow Wilson's Kindle. In his first two seasons at linebacker, he had 31 tackles and a half sack. He didn't start a game.
In five games this season, Kindle has 2.5 sacks and 21 tackles and a penchant for disruption.
The difference is that Muschamp has lined up the 6-4, 239-pound junior at defensive end. He's even put him inside Orakpo.
"Will has done an amazing job finding where Sergio fits," Brown says. "And Sergio gives us another super pass rusher with quick feet."
Moving Kindle around also allows Texas to put its 11 best players on the field at all times.
"I never coached a bad player to play good," is how Muschamp explains it.
He'll need all the good ones he can find come Saturday. As for sleep, well, there's always December.
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]02:59 AM CDT on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
[/SIZE]
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/standing/sports/columnists/mugs/mug_ksherrington_new.jpg
AUSTIN – At a table in front of a probing band of sportswriters sits Texas' best hope of upsetting Oklahoma.
Come to think of it, "sits" probably doesn't describe Will Muschamp.
"Percolates," maybe.
The latest in Mack Brown's line of S.O.S. defensive coordinators, Muschamp would rather be on a sideline or in a meeting room or back in his office, gaze locked on an endless video loop.
Do not be fooled by the hushed tones or hip glasses or wave of Troy Donahue hair crashing over the forehead.
Underneath the serene surface, Muschamp is all roiling seas. Check the foot under the table, tapping like the Marconi operator from the Titanic.
A reporter jokingly asks Muschamp if, given the gravity of the game in the Cotton Bowl, he'll sleep in his office this week.
"You do what you have to do to win," Muschamp says, so soft you almost fall out of your seat to hear it.
He is not smiling.
Texas fans, take heart. If the Longhorns are going to figure out a way to get to Sam Bradford, Muschamp is your sleep-deprived man.
He'll be worth most of his $450,000 salary if Roy Miller or Brian Orakpo or Sergio Kindle creates havoc around the Sooners' quarterback.
Prediction: If Bradford continues to have time to throw – he's been sacked just twice – he'll pick Texas' young secondary to pieces.
How difficult is Muschamp's assignment? Besides facing a QB with Bradford's arm, poise and accuracy, the Sooners would have one of the most talented huddles in the nation if only offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson employed one. On top of the no huddle, OU occasionally likes to quick snap.
Result: Because opponents don't have time to make personnel changes, OU has outscored its opponents, 103-3, in the first quarter, proof of what it's like facing the Sooners on the fly.
Considering the problems OU presents, it's probably better to counter with difficulties of your own.
Here's where Muschamp comes in. Loudly.
By now you've probably read or seen YouTube evidence of his slightly psychotic sideline behavior. He screams, he curses, he chest bumps players, he head butts them. But Muschamp doesn't simply incite riots.
Fortunately for Texas, he has a few ideas, too. A playbook from stops with Auburn, the Miami Dolphins, LSU and Valdosta State is about four inches thick. Players say they've used only a fraction of it.
He also has experience beating OU in a big game. He was the architect of LSU's defense in the '04 Sugar Bowl.
The heart of his philosophy? Harass the quarterback. Ask Jason White, sacked seven times.
The Sooners are a vastly different bunch from the Sugar Bowl team, but Muschamp's approach is still correct.
Even better, he tunes his defense to the personnel on hand, not the other way around.
Case in point: Until Muschamp showed up last spring, the most unfulfilled talent on Texas' roster might have been Woodrow Wilson's Kindle. In his first two seasons at linebacker, he had 31 tackles and a half sack. He didn't start a game.
In five games this season, Kindle has 2.5 sacks and 21 tackles and a penchant for disruption.
The difference is that Muschamp has lined up the 6-4, 239-pound junior at defensive end. He's even put him inside Orakpo.
"Will has done an amazing job finding where Sergio fits," Brown says. "And Sergio gives us another super pass rusher with quick feet."
Moving Kindle around also allows Texas to put its 11 best players on the field at all times.
"I never coached a bad player to play good," is how Muschamp explains it.
He'll need all the good ones he can find come Saturday. As for sleep, well, there's always December.