Mack Brown Borrows Page From Coker's Playbook
15 comments so far
October 17, 2006 by
In the wake of the ugliest college football brawl in recent memory, you might imagine that coaches around the country would come down especially hard on that kind of misconduct, so as not to see a repeat. Miami, with the exception of one indefinite suspension, handed out one game suspensions - against the mighty Duke Blue Devils. That'll teach 'em.
The Dallas Morning News reports that star Texas wideout Limas Sweed will not be disciplined by head coach Mack Brown for a punch thrown at Baylor cornerback Anthony Arline. After all, the Longhorns don't face Duke this Saturday, they face the seventeenth ranked Cornhuskers in Lincoln. Principles are one thing, suspending arguably your best offensive player before your toughest remaining game is another. Let's just say there are some areas where Brown is still yet to surpass Bob Stoops.
There are two schools of thought on discipline. Bobby Bowden and Jimmy Johnson have admitted over the years that you don't treat all of your players the same. In some ways, sitting Sweed would be like punishing your whole team. But what message does that send? Play well enough and you truly are above the law? That was the message Oklahoma's Rhett Bomar was hoping to get. Unfortunately for him, and perhaps for the whole Sooner team, he got another message altogether.
So this Saturday when the favored Longhorns visit Lincoln, the Husker defensive backs will no doubt be cautioned to watch out for Sweed. After last Saturday though, that takes on a whole new meaning.
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alistair lewis Oct 17 06
The punch to which you are refering was nothing. It was worthy of a 15 yard penalty and that's it. Sweed and Arline were going at it all day, and if you you came away with an opinion other than two tough competitors getting a little too physical in the heat of an important game then you were watching something else. I guess Brown kicking Romance Taylor off the team before the season started doesn't count?
Steve Oct 17 06
Yeah, kudos to Brown for kicking a FELON off his team when he had better options anyway.
Sweed's punch could have easily invited one in retaliation, then teammates jump in and before you know it you have Miami-FIU. One of the things that should stop these kids is a voice in their head saying, "the coach will punish me severely if I do this, I'd better cool down".
Considering the healthy state of the program at Texas right now, it would seem the BEST time to take a hard line. As much as it pains me to admit, the Longhorns probably don't need Sweed this weekend (even though he's been HUGE this year). Why not send a message to your team that you are not going to allow that garbage? A wasted opportunity IMO, that could haunt Brown later.
John Oct 17 06
Please. See Tarrel Brown before the Ohio State game. Cleared of all charges before the game took place, but Mack sat him down because it was the right thing to do. Our secondary suffered as a consequence.
Darren Oct 17 06
I love how most discussions of to suspend or not to suspend lead to comparisons. In reality, this choice need to be made on its own merits alone. I don't care about Brown and the OSU game, or Taylor being kicked off the team. And, honestly, I won't draw comparisons to the thug life that is happening at "da U" right now, either.
In my book, and in the minds of many other folks, there has to be some penalty for throwing a punch. You throw a punch, you sit. Otherwise, football (a violent sport by nature) would devolve in to something like hockey, where fighting is basically allowed.
Punch. Sit. 'Nuff said. Just offering that guiding principle for the game.
Scott Oct 17 06
Guys,
Refresh my memory. Is this during a play that happened near the end zone??? If so, I think there should be some sort of punishment handed down. If you don't punish, it gives players opportunities to do it again knowing the punishment will not happen or it will be minor in nature. But I don't think Texas will turn into another Miami anytime soon. That's been going on at that place as long as I can remember.
Maybe this is an isolated incident with Limas Sweed. Maybe he's a good kid who made a bad decision. I don't know. I'm not one to judge Mack Brown on how he runs his program. Just like Tom Osborne did with Lawrence Phillips and his situation. He is just doing what he thinks is right. And whatever decision Mack Brown makes, he will be criticized either way so there really is not a right or wrong answer. Personally, maybe a game suspension. Maybe one quarter, one series. To go unpunished is not the right decision in my opinion. Let him know that what he did has no place in football, no matter what level you play at.
I know the Texas-Nebraska game will be one played with good sportsmanship. Any Texas fan I've encountered over the years has been extremely friendly and passionate about the game and I hope most other Nebraska fans feel the same way. I know Texas fans will travel will this weekend so lets show them how real fans treat the opposing fans and team.
Steve Oct 17 06
People are quick to forget that Phillips was suspended for six games. It's not hard to argue it should have been more, but you can't say it went unpunished by Osborne.
Sweed's offense is nowhere near as horrific as LP's, nevertheless a 15-yard penalty would seem like an insufficient deterrent to keep it from happening again.
Oh Brother Oct 18 06
C'mon, Husker fans. Y'all can do better than this. Carping about a non-issue is the mark of a program like Texas A&M or some other has been that doesn't want the best players on the field.
The Limas Sweed penalty was a penalty for an over-aggressive push. A suspension would have been ridiculous.
Nut up.
Steve Oct 18 06
Oh Brother(Where Art Thou?),
Somehow this "non-issue" made print at the Dallas Morning News - not the College Station campus paper. Maybe it was written by a bitter old TCU fan taking out his frustrations at being stuck in a worse conference than the old SWC?
I seem to remember a pretty bad brawl between some Horns and Hurricanes way back in the day. So don't tell me it can't happen. If you think that left unchallenged, these kids won't continue to push boundaries, you're living in a dream world. The adults need to set those boundaries, and if they don't we're going to see more of this garbage more often.
Brown had a real opportunity to send a message here, but instead decided to look the other way. Time will tell if he's made to regret it. I certainly don't want to see Texas devolve into a program like Miami's. That stuff gets real old real fast.
Dan Oct 19 06
When did Texas and Miami get into a fight? This is pretty stupid, actually.
Mack Brown suspended Tarrell Brown despite charges being dropped. He kicked Taylor off the team (and no, Texas didn't have better options, the guy scored 15 touchdowns last season and was our best kick returner). He kicked Timmons off the team three years ago when we desperately needed a wide receiver....yet you cling to this Limas Sweed "incident" as evidence that Mack is a win at all costs guy? Yeah, that makes sense.
If you're going to insult our program, at least get the facts straight.
Steve Oct 19 06
Dan,
Here's a recap of the 1991 Cotton Bowl from the Dallas Morning News:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/cottonbowl/history/1991.html
I realize no one in the state of Texas wants to acknowledge this game that was both embarrassing in terms of the final score (46-3) and in the conduct of both teams. There were personal fouls all over the field. It was a disgusting display. And tell me why it can't happen again? What's to stop these kids if the coaches are going to look the other way?
Yes, Mack has held some kids responsible for OFF-THE-FIELD activity. I'll even give him the benefit of the doubt that he might not have been compelled by some athletic department rule or policy to do so.
Nevertheless, Sweed takes a swing and 15 yards is all it costs him. The coach lets it go. Spin it any way you want, but that fact is indisputable. And I think it's wrong.
darren Oct 19 06
Again, this isn't complicated in my mind. You throw a punch, you should sit, just on principle alone. ON field stuff needs to be addressed for the sake of the game.
I think it is valid to bring up if the Dallas media is running a story. Steve is not out of bounds with this post. Though, I think the Miami reference is clouding things some.
About the choice not to suspend him with NU coming up, that's not for us to say. But a Texas blog sure had thoughts about it -- http://www.bevosports.com/2006/10/17/no-suspension-for-sweed/
Thanks for the reminder to nut up, "Oh Brother". Whatever.
This should be a great game on Saturday. I'm kind of glad to have some chatter leading up to it.
JOHN Oct 19 06
Oh please. This is the short-sighted type of reporting that makes me yawn in disbelief. The same pansies praising mack brown for "laying down the law" before the much more important OSU game are saying that he doesn't measure up to Stoops after a minor violation happened on the field? Whatever. Find a real story to report or find another job. I need a nap after reading this mundane bs.
Steve Oct 19 06
John,
Ironic that you accuse me of being short-sighted when that's the concern I had about Brown. If it's all about the next game, then of course look the other way when your studs cross the line. But when you are the steward of a program that has bright prospects for the long term future, why put up with that kind of nonsense?
If Stoops were on the hot seat, would he have made the same choice about Bomar? Maybe or maybe not, but Brown was in a position to take action for the long term good of his program and he passed. His job wasn't in jeopardy with a loss in Lincoln. His program was not in jeopardy. What's the downside - you might lose one game in a season where most Texas fans admit the Longhorns won't win a national championship anyway? THAT'S shortsighted.
I haven't heard anyone try to justify the punch, only minimize it or attack the messenger. Because we all know that if one guy gets away with it, the next guy will think he can too. And if every program behaved like the Hurricanes, college football would be hard to watch - unless you're into Jerry Springer. I'll take FOOTBALL over Springer any day.
Jason Oct 19 06
"Find a real story to report or find another job."
I'm not sure which of those suggestions is funnier.
I'll take the fact that you mistake us for reporters as a compliment. (Although, to be fair, the stuff Steve and Darren write every day is usually more informative and entertaining than the average newspaper.)
Just don't go putting ideas into their heads about this being a J-O-B. That means I'd have to pay them $ instead of the 5 runzas per week that they currently get.
Scott Oct 20 06
I think the key thing to remember is that this is a great place for people to express their OPINION.
I can understand both sides of this argument. No, Texas is nothing close to what Miami is and has been. Texas still runs a great program and has great fans, passionate fans. This incident has done nothing to dissuade that. But there should be some kind of punishment to go with that type of behavior. That punishment is for Mack Brown to decide, if anything should be done at all. Mack Brown will do what he thinks is best for this situation.
I feel some sort of punishment should have been handed down. Wind sprints, not starting, sitting out a quarter???? I don't know what the right answer for that is. But like I said, that is just my OPINION.