Texas Longhorns Fans Should Give Shawn Watson a Chance
Anytime a college football team has a poor season, there’s always going to be a fall guy. This year, for Texas Longhorn fans, that guy is Shawn Watson.
There is no denying the fact that the Texas offense was horrible this season. There were times when they played well, but most of the time they struggled to move the ball and put points on the board.
Fans, most of whom were not happy that Charlie Strong brought Watson with him in the first place, immediately made Watson the scapegoat, and to be fair, much of it seems well-deserved.
Texas Longhorns
Though Joe Wickline is officially the offensive coordinator for Texas, Watson holds the title of Assistant Head Coach for the Offense, and most understand that he is the one that actually calls the plays; therefore, it makes sense that the blame would fall onto his shoulders.
Since the Longhorns’ humiliating loss in the Texas bowl in which the offense posted a grand total of 59 measly yards, fans have been clamoring for a new offensive coordinator.
Though the frustration is more than understandable, fans need to step back and look at things a bit more rationally.
To be fair, Watson wasn’t dealt a very good hand. Early in the season, the Longhorns lost their starting quarterback when David Ash suffered another concussion and inexperienced sophomore Tyrone Swoopes was thrown into the fire before he was ready.
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Additionally, offensive lineman Desmond Harrison was suspended for the season and fellow OL, Kennedy Estelle, was eventually dismissed, leaving the OL very thin. Making matters worse, the line lost their most experienced player early on when Dom Espinosa suffered a season-ending injury, and not long after that, Darius James was lost for the remainder of the year as well.
Fans are quick to discount these losses but that simply isn’t fair. Again, Watson was dealt a pretty unfair hand, and it would only be right to give him time to see what he can do with a more experienced line and a more experienced quarterback.
Most will agree that Watson is a solid QB coach–despite the fact that Swoopes seemed to regress this season–but many doubt he is the right guy to run this Texas offense.
But Texas fans need to be patient.
Let’s see what he can do with another off-season with Swoopes and redshirt freshmen Jerrod Heard. Let’s see what he can do with another off-season of tailoring the offense to better match up with the strengths of his players, particularly the ones he recruited himself. Let’s see what he can do with an offensive line that now has a season under its belt and a whole off-season with Wickline.
In all honesty, there are most likely better options out there, and Shawn Watson may or may not be the right guy to turn this offense around, but it’s only fair that fans see what he can do under better circumstances.
Give him a little time before you make a final judgement.