Texas Longhorns Begin Spring Football Practice With Questions to Answer

With today’s first closed practice for the Texas Longhorns on the Forty Acres, the second most important sport in Texas is underway, spring football.

After a disappointing 5-7 campaign in 2010, a tumultuous off-season coaching carousel and a challenging post-season recruiting cycle, Mack Brown and his staff have multiple questions to answer this spring leading up to the traditional Orange-White Spring Game on Sunday, April 3rd.

The Longhorns will go with closed practices throughout the spring.

Typically this isn’t the case, as the team has opted in the past to open practice to the public on occasion, but given the new coaching staff and the glare of the public eye, it makes since for Texas this time around.

Texas fans across the country will be watching closely, even if not in person.

The 2011 spring practice season promises to be one of the most closely scrutinized of Mack Brown’s tenure.

Let’s take a look at some of the most pressing questions Mack Brown and the Texas staff are facing, starting today:

1. Who will emerge as Texas’ starting quarterback for the 2011 season?

After Garrett Gilbert’s struggles in 2010, a quarterback competition is certain to be underway over the course of the next month.

While Gilbert is the favorite to win the position and take the first snap of the 2011 season, it will not be given to him for free.

Two other Longhorn quarterbacks are waiting in the wings, sophomores Case McCoy and Connor Wood.

Belton, Texas freshman David Ash could even surprise and become a part of the picture, but it is more likely he will be redshirted.

It’s reasonable to assume newly hired co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin will want to evaluate the quarterbacks under his system and on his own terms.

Harsin and Major Applewhite will be looking for a leader to emerge and take active control of the new Texas offensive scheme.

If this leader is someone other than Garrett Gilbert, the player will have earned the position through leadership and making plays when they matter most during the month of March and into 2011 fall practice.

As they say, the backup quarterback is the most popular person on the Texas campus.

This year is certainly no exception.

You know things are fragile when the offensive coordinator is on the hot seat before a play is ever called.

2. Who will emerge as Texas’ defensive leader?

With the departure of senior defensive leaders Curtis Brown and Sam Acho, its unclear who will emerge as the go-to guy for new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz.

There are several potential candidates including senior defensive back Blake Gideon, sophomore linebacker Jordan Hicks, sophomore defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat, and junior defensive tackle Kheeston Randall.

Diaz’s scheme emphasizes blitzing and zone coverage among the defensive backs. This is where Blake Gideon will be called upon to make big plays and emerge as a leader.

Gideon has all of the traits needed to be just that, and, as a four-year starter, he has the respect of his teammates and the coaching staff alike.

Jackson Jeffcoat and Jordan Hicks are very talented athletes who are quickly learning what it takes to compete at the collegiate level each Saturday.

If all three of these players rise to the occasion and make the plays they have to make, and Kheeston Randall can help control the line of scrimmage, the Texas defense can get back to its dominating ways in 2011.

3. Will the new coaching staff gel quickly enough?

The level of coaching change for the 2011 Texas Longhorns has no precedent.

Mack Brown will be working with a staff he patched together over the course of a couple of months after the resignation of offensive coordinator Greg Davis, the departure of Will Muschamp to Florida and several other coaching moves.

Each of Mack Brown’s new coaches has something in common: youthful enthusiasm.

This enthusiasm will be a necessity as the Longhorns coaches will be in for long work weeks in the coming months as they effort to mold their schemes into a cohesive gameplan.

There is no doubt these young coaches will be motivated, but are their motivations all the same?

None of the group has seen their first head coaching opportunity, and it’s easy to assume that working at Texas is now seen as a first-class resume builder.

Are the eyes of Manny Diaz, Bryan Harsin, Bo Davis, Stacy Searels and Darrell Wyatt firmly on Texas, or will greater aspirations come to the surface?

Texas fans can only hope that these coaches gel and can co-exist without any issues coming to the surface.

Anything less could spell disaster for an already fragile situation.

Will the Texas Longhorns compete for a national championship in 2011? Probably not.

Even so, nothing less than a 10 win season in Austin will be tolerated by fans and the Texas administration alike.

Too much is at stake. 

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