Longhorn News/Discussion (Non-Recruiting)

[Eastexhorn]

The Baker hire might be for recruiting in Georgia.

 

[Drb522]

He might be a great hire but my gut tells me he wasn’t the first choice. I would assume we could have hired him a week ago since the Dolphins were done.

Look at Choice’s resume! It didn’t scream awesome hire but it turned out to be. I’ll give him the opportunity to prove himself like choice has

 

[TFloss32]

 

[DMAC]

I see a lot of posts about him being a great developer and energetic recruiter. That is awesome if so because we need both in replacing Davis.

I am curious though what is the evidence or the resume regarding his recruiting prowess? Did he recruit at a high level at a previous school?

I heard Choice mentioned as an example but I am pretty sure Choice had a good recruiting resume at Georgia Tech, including the relationship with CJ Baxter, before coming to Texas.

When Geoff Collins moved from Temple to Georgia Tech, he hired Choice to coach in his home state and Choice responded by landing three four-star running backs over three cycles, including 2020 signee Jahmyr Gibbs, who was a top-100 national prospect

The biggest reason why Texas has emerged from doldrums of mediocrity is due to the massive improvement in both the OL and DL. I dont believe I had seen Baker's name mentioned before this hire.

 

[Basis Points]

I see a lot of posts about him being a great developer and energetic recruiter. That is awesome if so because we need both in replacing Davis.

I am curious though what is the evidence or the resume regarding his recruiting prowess? Did he recruit at a high level at a previous school?

I heard Choice mentioned as an example but I am pretty sure Choice had a good recruiting resume at Georgia Tech, including the relationship with CJ Baxter, before coming to Texas.




The biggest reason why Texas has emerged from doldrums of mediocrity is due to the massive improvement in both the OL and DL. I dont believe I had seen Baker's name mentioned before this hire.

It is January and we won't figure out if he was a good hire for months. Like many posts, I am scratching my head, but know that nothing will prove it except results in this case which are months out Hopefully they can sprinkle some NIL on the position like they did with the OL a couple years back. I had similar questions on Rod Wright. Is Assistant DL in the NFL that impressive? Rod had been in the position for one year i think? Anyhow, in the interim, it is in Sark we trust.

 

[tejasrulz]

I can't stress enough how networking is huge. To the younger folks on this board, please heed this advice if nothing else.

 

[DMAC]

It is January and we won't figure out if he was a good hire for months. Like many posts, I am scratching my head, but know that nothing will prove it except results in this case which are months out Hopefully they can sprinkle some NIL on the position like they did with the OL a couple years back. I had similar questions on Rod Wright. Is Assistant DL in the NFL that impressive? Rod had been in the position for one year i think? Anyhow, in the interim, it is in Sark we trust.

I am just curious what is the evidence of his recruiting skills?

Many posted Twitter posts from others claiming he will be good at recruiting. What is this based on? To make such claims there has be at least one example of him bringing a high profile recruit somewhere.

It should be easy to evaluate his development skills etc. I am not familar with him but can easily research him. I am sure the staff has their reasons but was just curious of his recruiting history since he is being referred to as a "recruiting monster" , "high energy to burn on the recruiting trail" etc

 

[TexCoyote]

I’m not worried about if the new coach can recruit. As big is Sark is on recruiting, I think it’s a given that this guy can recruit or Sark wouldn’t even considered him.

 

[DMAC]

I’m not worried about if the new coach can recruit. As big is Sark is on recruiting, I think it’s a given that this guy can recruit or Sark wouldn’t even considered him.

Again saying "its a given" Explain how its a given. I am asking for one example of why its "a given" or why Sark thinks its a given or any of the other social media posts. Just claiming it is simply a baseless hollow accolade.

Unless you have an example of why its a given then maybe the claim is better stated "potential" recruiting monster

 

[dssl]

I’m not worried about if the new coach can recruit. As big is Sark is on recruiting, I think it’s a given that this guy can recruit or Sark wouldn’t even considered him.

He hasn't coached/recruited at a place like TX. I agree that Sark must think that his relative success at Western Kentucky recruiting, and his presentation will translate to being a successful recruiter at TX.

I definitely Trust Sark, and am optimistic that the hire will work out, but this hire doesn't seem like an obvious home run, like most of his previous hires were.

 

[DMAC]

There is plenty of articles on Baker being an high energy coach who develops players.

What makes new Texas defensive line coach Kenny Baker a rising star in the coaching industry?

Horns247 spoke with Western Kentucky head coach Tyson Helton, who Baker worked under for three seasons, about what the Longhorns can expect from their new defensive line coach.

247sports.com

Baker, 37, isn't a household name, but he's shown in a short time he can develop talent and connect with his players. Those traits will be needed immediately when Baker arrives on the Forty Acres with Vernon Broughton, Alfred Collins, Colton Vasek, Sydir Mitchell, Jaray Bledsoe and the rest of the defensive line room being counted on to step up in 2024 without Sweat and Murphy.

Before spending last season with the Miami Dolphins, Baker spent three seasons at Western Kentucky coaching defensive ends in 2020 and the entire defensive line in 2021 and 2022 under Tyson Helton, the son of longtime college head coach Kim Helton and the younger brother of former USC and current Georgia Southern head coach Clay Helton.

 

[DMAC]

Sounds like most of the talk is based on personality which is a good quality for recruiting. This video explains some of it and Shipley did say Sark never hires anyone without doing a lot of homework.

 

[DMAC]

Old but some quotes from Sark regarding his hiring process

How Steve Sarkisian put together the jigsaw puzzle of his first Texas coaching staff

On the three big factors that Sarkisian used to assemble a coaching staff that checks almost all the boxes.

www.burntorangenation.com

“Forming a staff is a really intricate process when you start talking about staff culture, when you talk about recruiting, when you talk about player development, when you talk about being a leader of men, when you talk about ties to the university, ties to the state of Texas, there’s a lot of integral parts that go into it,” Sarkisian said.

“When you can start to slot those spots and hire great coaches that want to be at the University of Texas because they hold this job in such high regard, you feel good about it. Now we’ve got work to do, but kind of this first step of getting the staff hired has been a good one for us.”

As Sarkisian went to put together his first coaching staff with the Longhorns, three factors were at the forefront of his search — recruiting ties to the state of Texas, experience coaching at the highest level, and the ability to build relationships and develop players.

 

[General Hooker]

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

Texas (Shanahan) vs agsy (Campbell) this weekend.

 

[TFloss32]

 

[TFloss32]

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I see a lot of posts about him being a great developer and energetic recruiter. That is awesome if so because we need both in replacing Davis.

I am curious though what is the evidence or the resume regarding his recruiting prowess? Did he recruit at a high level at a previous school?

I heard Choice mentioned as an example but I am pretty sure Choice had a good recruiting resume at Georgia Tech, including the relationship with CJ Baxter, before coming to Texas.




The biggest reason why Texas has emerged from doldrums of mediocrity is due to the massive improvement in both the OL and DL. I dont believe I had seen Baker's name mentioned before this hire.

Thing is, Bo Davis wasn't a very good recruiter. It would not take much to be better than he was.

Develop, yes. Recruit, no. He frequently had to have other coaches step in and help close recruits.

Take a long look at our DT depth chart. There are no big time players that we recruited. Sweat and Byron were both here before Davis was.

The thing with our new DL coach, he speaks well and the confidence and beliefs in his heart come right out when he speaks. You can see it in his face. People are drawn to that. So yeah, I would easily believe the new guy has that particular edge over Bo Davis.

 

[DMAC]

Thing is, Bo Davis wasn't a very good recruiter. It would not take much to be better than he was.

Develop, yes. Recruit, no. He frequently had to have other coaches step in and help close recruits.

Take a long look at our DT depth chart. There are no big time players that we recruited. Sweat and Byron were both here before Davis was.

The thing with our new DL coach, he speaks well and the confidence and beliefs in his heart come right out when he speaks. You can see it in his face. People are drawn to that. So yeah, I would easily believe the new guy has that particular edge over Bo Davis.

Good points.

We did miss on quite a few good DL in Texas. I liked Bo Davis, especially the rant but he did a great job in development. It seems Bo Davis has more skins on the wall when it comes to development than does Baker but Bo has had more time to establish that though. It would be nice to pull some talented DL recruits. We lost a few to the hapless ags over the past few years. Nolan is one who comes to mind. Kyle Flood on the other hand absolutely killed it recruiting for the OL

 

[TXFF]

Perhaps the most important recruiting skill for a coach is a personality that draws recruits to him. Sounds like Baker is that kind of a person. Texas has an excellent recruiting support system for coaches that can make that most important connection.