Watson demoted but still QB coach
Receivers assistant Norvell will call plays and run UT offffffffffffense.
Texas coach Charlie Strong announced Tuesday that quarterbacks coach Shawn Watson will no longer be the team’s play-caller beginning this week against Rice.
Wide receivers coach Jay Norvell, who joined the staff this off-season after spending seven years at Oklahoma, will call the plays and run the offense going forward.
Strong stressed that Watson will remain on staff to coach the quarterbacks. Offensive coordinator Joe Wickline will remain the team’s offensive line coach. But Norvell will call plays by himself, Strong said.
Despite this announcement, Strong said he has not determined whether Tyrone
Swoopes or redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard will start Saturday against the Owls (1-0). That decision will come later this week, Strong said.
“What was key is we have to get this program on track,” Strong said after Tuesday’s practice. “We have to do a better job coaching. We’ve got to get our players better prepared, and there’s no reason for us to go out and perform at the level we’ve been performing. There’s no reason at all.
“We expect more, want more, fans deserve more, alums deserve more, and former letter winners deserve more,” he added.
Watson was scheduled to meet with reporters after Tuesday’s practice, as is custom. But UT officials scrambled to set up the interview room for the head coach. Strong emerged from a side door and broke the news.
“You have to set aside your friendship,” Strong said, “and you always have to do what’s best for the university.”
Strong and Watson have been together since their Louisville days. Strong fired his offensive coordinator four games into the 2011 season and promoted Watson, then the Cardinals’ QB coach, to top play-caller.
But the offense and quarterback play haven’t clicked since the duo came to Texas. The Longhorns averaged 337.3 yards per game last season, the second-worst total in the Big 12. Swoopes struggled behind a thin offensive line and eventually led the Horns to a 6-7 finish.
What was billed as a new up-tempo spread offense looked like the same old one in last Saturday’s 38-3 loss at Notre Dame. Texas managed just 163 yards and ranks last nationally (124 teams) in total offense.
“It’s about productivity,” Strong said. “I just sat down and came to that conclusion that we need better and have to do better. It’s a tough decision since Shawn and I and Joe, we’ve been friends for a long time. But we have to do what’s best for the program right now.”
What possibly infuriated Strong was that senior running back Johnathan Gray had only eight carries for 40 yards against the Irish. Strong believes Gray is a premier ball carrier, and the coach wants to establish a downhill running game.
“We just got the news about that,” Gray said after practice. “We’ve got to go with the coaches’ call. That’s coach Strong’s decision. As a team, we just have to get the ball rolling, and with coach Norvell’s duties, we have to get the ball rolling.”