Fans firing critiques at Herman
The 2017 season is upon us, and the Whys of Texas is back for another season.
Texas is likely to fix some of its problems against San Jose State, but will that satisfy anybody? Nope. The real test comes the following week at USC. Tom Herman had a knack for getting Houston ready in big games. That certainly qualifies.
On to this week’s reader questions. Let’s start with Eddie’s email where the subject line was “Help I’m in an abusive relationship...”
Damn it, Brian. Every year I believe. I go out and buy new Longhorn gear, make my 6-year-old wear nothing but Longhorns gear and every year here lately they just take my love and throw it away! This year with the hire of Tom Herman, I actually thought my love would be requited but alas I was wrong. So very wrong. — Eddie
And this was one of the cleaner ones!
What I want to know is, will Tom Terrific be forced to eat cold pancakes and Spam sandwiches much like the bad food he served to underperforming Longhorn players? With USC coming up, he should be eating bad food for the next two weeks until he plays a patsy. — Benito
The food situation was front and center throughout offseason workouts. For those who missed it, Herman and the coaching staff would have near-daily contests to determine winners and losers. The winners got to eat fantastic meals. The losers had soggy pancakes, runny grits, bologna sandwiches, etc. Believe it or not, some inside the UT athletic department disagreed with that approach. One person told me they were philosophically against messing with the players’ meals. To each their own, I suppose.
I hope the press gets on the UT coaching staff big time! There has been no improvement, and in some respects, the team even looks worse than 2016. Take the kid gloves off. Herman looks like a lot of hype (talk), and no production. In his postgame interview, he never faulted the coaching staff (and we were supposed to win on defense?). Give Herman some heat, and let’s see if he can stay in the kitchen. I wonder if he still wants to play A&M? — JD, Laredo
You could tell in the postgame press conference and during Monday’s get-together that Herman had been humbled. That doesn’t necessarily mean he should change his ways. Sure, he was knocked off stride. But Herman said the coaches have a phrase — “We ain’t changing.” That means this coaching staff knows its way works, so it will keep doing what it does. Herman said that means less yelling, more teaching. I think it’s fair to say that Thomas Joseph Herman III knows he doesn’t work at Houston anymore.
Herman also said only starters on specialty teams yet put a freshman in. On top of everything else now I have to take what he says with a grain of salt. — Gary
Well, hold on a minute. Herman never said every starter would be on special teams. The bulk of special teams is made up of starting players. But it was disheartening to see freshman Daniel Young basically let the ball hit the turf on a kickoff return. That’s basic stuff. You don’t need to be a senior to know you should catch the kickoff. Fans had to be demoralized watching Maryland return yet another blocked field goal for a touchdown. Herman was the special teams coach during his days at Iowa State. I really thought that’d be one area fans wouldn’t have to worry about one bit.
I was extremely disappointed in the columns of Golden and Bohls, even yours, concerning your analysis of Saturday’s game. The analysis was far too long and made no sense to anyone who watched the game. Simply, the offensive and defensive lines were no better than any Austin high school’s. Maryland had more players in UT’s backfield than we did whatever the formation. — Owen
On Monday, Herman was asked whether his offensive line was “manhandled.” It’s the only time in two press conferences where he clearly stiffened and did not like that phrase. “Manhandle wouldn’t be the adjective that I’d use,” he said. It’s actually hard to say you got manhandled when blitzing linebackers are literally running by Jake McMillon without being touched. Or when Denzel Okafor whiffs on his block. Herman compared this UT offensive line to the same group at Ohio State that won the 2014 national title. I’m guessing he’d like a mulligan on that statement. component is also a part of the job description: “There’s a lot of mental stuff that just goes with being a setter, whether it’s the pass or the blockers or the hitters,” she said.
“She’s not a true freshman in terms of the dialogue we can have from player to coach,” Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said. “The amazing thing is talking to the upperclassmen of how much trust they have in her and how much they enjoy playing with her, because she knows what she’s doing.”
Height difference
The addition of Shook provides the offense with a 6-foot-1 quarterback. (Her sophomore backup, La Grange’s Riley Fisbeck, also stands 6-1). That gives UT a different look than it had with the 5-7 Collins, who got the job done using her on-court athleticism and speed.
With Shook’s additional 6 inches, Texas expects quicker sets and a faster attack on offense. Elliott noted that having a taller setter allows the Longhorns to alter what they do defensively for half their rotations. Opposing defenses also must account for Shook at the net. Through 18 sets, Shook has 12 kills and 32 attempts. Over 116 sets in 2016, Collins was successful on 52 of 144 attacks.
“The most important battle to win the war is the setter vs. the opposing middle blocker,” Elliott said. “I think you’re going to see a lot of one-on-one situations with Ashley’s ability to jump-set and dump and do some of those things.”
Of the eight Longhorns who have led the team in assists since Elliott’s hire in 2001, Collins was the shortest by an inch. Of those on-court directors of Texas offenses, Jenny Andrews (2003) and Ashley Engle (2009) were taller than Shook, and Texas won a national championship in 2012 with 5-11 setter Hannah Allison.
Elliott says he doesn’t have a preference in how tall his setter is, adding that “coaches get really caught up on the height.” Across the board, there doesn’t seem to be any prevailing wisdom about a setter’s height.
On the NCAA teams with the 100 best RPIs last season, the height of the leading setters ranged from 5-5 (No. 26 Boise State’s Jaymee-Lee Bulda, No. 44 USC’s Reni Meyer-Whalley and No. 76 Wyoming’s Courtney Chacon) to 6-3 (No. 12 Creighton’s Lydia Dimke and No. 72 Villanova’s Emma Decker). Of those 100 teams, 34 were led in assists by players who were at least 6 feet tall. Fourteen of the other setters weren’t taller than Collins.
Of the other three teams in last year’s Final Four, only Stanford — with 6-1 Jenna Gray running the offense — had a setter as tall as Shook. Stanford beat Texas in the title match. Nebraska and Minnesota had 5-11 setters. Florida’s Allie Monserez, 5-9, led the country with 12.36 assists per set last season. (Florida Atlantic’s Ivone Martinez, also 5-9, was averaging an NCAA-best 13.55 assists per set as of Wednesday).
Leading the Longhorns
Of the four members of UT’s 2017 recruiting class, it took Shook longest to get to campus. Middle blocker Brionne Butler and libero Olivia Zelon enrolled early and participated in spring drills. Outside hitter Lexi Sun arrived for the first session of summer school. Shook stayed with her club team this summer, so she didn’t get to Austin until August.
But she’s quickly adjusting. Through five matches she’s distributing 8.89 assists per set and is third on the team in digs.
“She is very open to feedback, which is nice as a teammate,” senior middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu said. “She is very determined and very strong-headed. She works really hard, wants to get better, and wants all of her hitters to get better as well.”
Texas (4-1), fifth in this week’s AVCA national poll, will host No. 1 Minnesota on Friday. Minnesota is led by junior Samantha Seliger-Swenson, the Big Ten’s setter of the year in 2016. Shook will counter with a balanced lineup on her side.
Outside hitters Micaya White and Ebony Nwanebu are reigning AVCA All-Americans, and Ogbogu earned the same honors from 201315. Sun was the Gatorade national high school player of the year her senior year.
“Just make everyone around me better, that’s my goal every day,” Shook said. “I have great hitters, great options all around me. You really can’t go wrong most of the time with who I set.”