Applewhite to Houston?

[AU alum 2]

Tide assistant contacted about job at Houston

Thursday, November 29, 2007

By PAUL GATTIS

Times Sports Staff paul.gattis@htimes.com

Applewhite is a favorite inLone Star State

The college football coaching carousel may be reaching out to Alabama.

Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Major Applewhite has been contacted by Houston to replace Art Briles, ESPN.com reported on Wednesday.

Briles on Monday resigned to become the coach at Baylor.

Applewhite, 29, is the youngest coordinator in college football.

Applewhite has coaching ties to Houston, having served as the offensive coordinator at Rice in 2006 as the Owls played in a bowl game for the first time in more than 20 years.

He's also a favorite in the Lone Star State from his days as a record-setting quarterback at Texas.

In his first season at Alabama, Applewhite was named national offensive coordinator of the week by two publications following the 41-17 win over Tennessee.

Alabama defeated Houston 30-24 earlier this season on homecoming.

With Briles off to Baylor, Cougars cornerbacks coach Chris Thurmond - who was an assistant at Alabama under Dennis Franchione - has been named the interim coach.

http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/huntsvil....xml&coll=1

[vatz22au 142]

Might actually be a good thing for Bama...

[AU alum 2]

Might actually be a good thing for Bama...

That's what I was thinking. Why would Houston want him? He's shown that he's not so good at what he does.

[rebdawg 5]

Yeah, I thought Bama's offense went backwards the farther from Shula's coaching they got.

[TexasTiger 12,949]

I think he'll be a good HC...someday.

[runswithscissors 33]

Yeah, I thought Bama's offense went backwards the farther from Shula's coaching they got.

if you really look at the stats, statistically it hasn't.

thru 12 games this season, compared to all 13 games last season:

pass offense is pretty much dead even

more TDs have been scored

rushing offense is better

total offense is better

its not as bad as it looks on the field, really. i think he has done well for never being in the SEC before and being so young.

[sogaaufan 27]

The only difference in Shula's offense and Applewhite's offense is that now on fourth and one from inside the one they don't kick field goals anymore.

[Tiger1992 999]

Why would you bother to kick a field goal when the refs give you 5 minutes to try and get in the end zone?

[TigerOne 1,147]

Will Star Jackson the next bammer heisman qb change his commitment if THE MAJOR leaves?

It's possible.

[Legionfield 0]

Might actually be a good thing for Bama...

That's what I was thinking. Why would Houston want him? He's shown that he's not so good at what he does.

I think Saban has pretty tight reigns on him. That was not the offense that he ran at Rice. It might also be that JPW is not the right quarterback for the spread option.

[runswithscissors 33]

Might actually be a good thing for Bama...

That's what I was thinking. Why would Houston want him? He's shown that he's not so good at what he does.

I think Saban has pretty tight reigns on him. That was not the offense that he ran at Rice. It might also be that JPW is not the right quarterback for the spread option.

alot of times, the offense looks like this pro style/spread hybrid.....thing. the UT game used a true spread. i think the offense has alot of Pendry influence in it. JPW being a headcase half of the season didn't help either. i would have been interested to see the numbers had he put his head on straight.

[rtftiger 40]

Might actually be a good thing for Bama...

That's what I was thinking. Why would Houston want him? He's shown that he's not so good at what he does.

I think Saban has pretty tight reigns on him. That was not the offense that he ran at Rice. It might also be that JPW is not the right quarterback for the spread option.

alot of times, the offense looks like this pro style/spread hybrid.....thing. the UT game used a true spread. i think the offense has alot of Pendry influence in it. JPW being a headcase half of the season didn't help either. i would have been interested to see the numbers had he put his head on straight.

Come on, RWS, we don't need another line using player ineptitude to cover coaching deficiencies. SJPW didn't get dumber over the offseason and he probably didn't lose any skills in between his sophomore and junior years. His situation is very similar to Jason Campbell who didn't get dumb between Mazzone and Nalsminger.

Personally, I think Major is the headcase. Roger? Roger. What's the vector, Victor?

[runswithscissors 33]

Might actually be a good thing for Bama...

That's what I was thinking. Why would Houston want him? He's shown that he's not so good at what he does.

I think Saban has pretty tight reigns on him. That was not the offense that he ran at Rice. It might also be that JPW is not the right quarterback for the spread option.

alot of times, the offense looks like this pro style/spread hybrid.....thing. the UT game used a true spread. i think the offense has alot of Pendry influence in it. JPW being a headcase half of the season didn't help either. i would have been interested to see the numbers had he put his head on straight.

Come on, RWS, we don't need another line using player ineptitude to cover coaching deficiencies. SJPW didn't get dumber over the offseason and he probably didn't lose any skills in between his sophomore and junior years. His situation is very similar to Jason Campbell who didn't get dumb between Mazzone and Nalsminger.

Personally, I think Major is the headcase. Roger? Roger. What's the vector, Victor?

the bigger part of the problem is the Applewhite/Pendry deal. we need to settle on one person to call the plays, not going back and forth between two. this may not be obvious to you because i wouldn't think you watch every one of our games at length. one thing i will never forget about JPW is him throwing it away three times in a row against MSU. i didn't know coaching deficiencies made him not throw to wide open people in the endzone. you know and i know that a QB can be rattled. their mentality can literally make or break a game.

[rtftiger 40]

Might actually be a good thing for Bama...

That's what I was thinking. Why would Houston want him? He's shown that he's not so good at what he does.

I think Saban has pretty tight reigns on him. That was not the offense that he ran at Rice. It might also be that JPW is not the right quarterback for the spread option.

alot of times, the offense looks like this pro style/spread hybrid.....thing. the UT game used a true spread. i think the offense has alot of Pendry influence in it. JPW being a headcase half of the season didn't help either. i would have been interested to see the numbers had he put his head on straight.

Come on, RWS, we don't need another line using player ineptitude to cover coaching deficiencies. SJPW didn't get dumber over the offseason and he probably didn't lose any skills in between his sophomore and junior years. His situation is very similar to Jason Campbell who didn't get dumb between Mazzone and Nalsminger.

Personally, I think Major is the headcase. Roger? Roger. What's the vector, Victor?

the bigger part of the problem is the Applewhite/Pendry deal. we need to settle on one person to call the plays, not going back and forth between two. this may not be obvious to you because i wouldn't think you watch every one of our games at length. one thing i will never forget about JPW is him throwing it away three times in a row against MSU. i didn't know coaching deficiencies made him not throw to wide open people in the endzone. you know and i know that a QB can be rattled. their mentality can literally make or break a game.

No, I think that the whole Applewhite/Pendry deal is probably alot of the problem. But, I'm not sure that Applewhite alone is the solution.

[runswithscissors 33]

Might actually be a good thing for Bama...

That's what I was thinking. Why would Houston want him? He's shown that he's not so good at what he does.

I think Saban has pretty tight reigns on him. That was not the offense that he ran at Rice. It might also be that JPW is not the right quarterback for the spread option.

alot of times, the offense looks like this pro style/spread hybrid.....thing. the UT game used a true spread. i think the offense has alot of Pendry influence in it. JPW being a headcase half of the season didn't help either. i would have been interested to see the numbers had he put his head on straight.

Come on, RWS, we don't need another line using player ineptitude to cover coaching deficiencies. SJPW didn't get dumber over the offseason and he probably didn't lose any skills in between his sophomore and junior years. His situation is very similar to Jason Campbell who didn't get dumb between Mazzone and Nalsminger.

Personally, I think Major is the headcase. Roger? Roger. What's the vector, Victor?

the bigger part of the problem is the Applewhite/Pendry deal. we need to settle on one person to call the plays, not going back and forth between two. this may not be obvious to you because i wouldn't think you watch every one of our games at length. one thing i will never forget about JPW is him throwing it away three times in a row against MSU. i didn't know coaching deficiencies made him not throw to wide open people in the endzone. you know and i know that a QB can be rattled. their mentality can literally make or break a game.

No, I think that the whole Applewhite/Pendry deal is probably alot of the problem. But, I'm not sure that Applewhite alone is the solution.

and that is also a valid point. we won't really know until it is only him calling the plays, i suppose. all i can say is anytime we have ran the offense the way it resembled Rice's offense (i.e. TN game), i liked the results. most of the time we have ran a more pro-style Pendry offense, it seems to sputter. but still, they are putting up numbers better than last season.

[runswithscissors 33]

FWIW......Star Jackson was interviewed after an in-home visit with CMA.

"He told me the only way he was leaving Alabama was if he was fired. He said there was no truth to any of the rumors about him going to SMU or Houston or back to Rice."

[rebdawg 5]

Yeah, I thought Bama's offense went backwards the farther from Shula's coaching they got.

if you really look at the stats, statistically it hasn't.

thru 12 games this season, compared to all 13 games last season:

pass offense is pretty much dead even

more TDs have been scored

rushing offense is better

total offense is better

its not as bad as it looks on the field, really. i think he has done well for never being in the SEC before and being so young.

Sorry, RWS, I meant that it went backwards from the beginning of this season. Stats aside, the offense just did not seem to gel towards the end. Of course they played three of the toughest defenses in the country in their final four games.