I have previously written about my interest in failure and failure analysis, so I feel compelled to link to this fine example of failure analysis:
Kirk Bohls and Randy Riggs on why the Texas Longhorns went 5-7 last season.
Some key points of failure:
- the team was consumed with a sense of entitlement.
- they lacked talent (or “on-field competence” as the Statesman puts it), and over-estimated the talent of the players they’d brought in.
- divisions within the coaching ranks.
- a head coach who withdrew from daily coaching.
(Speaking of bad Longhorn seasons, the question came up over the weekend: “What’s John Mackovic doing these days?” The answer to that is…weird, and kind of contradictory. His Wikipedia entry says he’s the head coach of “United States national American football team”, which apparently competes in something called the “American Football World Cup”. However, the Wikipedia entry for the “United States national American football team” shows Mackovic as the head coach for the 2007 team, and Mel Tjeerdsma as the coach for the 2011 team.)