texbuzz

I was at the game but couldn’t update. HH fumbled the opening kickoff and NV scored pretty quick. Not a great feeling. HH responded well and it was a little back and forth but once Huffman took over, they kinda walked away. Navasota was frustrated. Huffman did look gassed a bit in the 4th but got tough when they needed to. Navasota just couldn’t be consistent. 37-20. On to LaMarque.

Just Texan Live as far as I know [Hidden Content]

This will be an interesting game. Huffman defense has not allowed a score. Navasota avenged last years loss to Mexia and I am sure they want to get square with Huffman. The starting QB for Navasota only played the 2nd half last year but didn’t make a difference in the game after all. Huffman secondary is stout, can Navasota move the chains in the air? 12 points probably won’t be enough to win this game, can the Huffman offense find the endzone?

Pump the brakes a little. "Huffman has not looked all that impressive..." - Huffman has won against 2 teams that they certainly should have beat. And they handled them easily. Bridge City was coming in on a strong win streak scoring some points. And they were dominated. Even against lesser opponents, a defense that pitches 3 shutouts is impressive. Consider that the backups were playing in the 4th quarter for all these games. They aren't Goliath pummeling children but they have dominated these teams. "Vidor has gone 3-0 with impressive wins against tough opponents." - Huh? Episcopal is 0-3 and is averaging 7 points a game while allowing 31. Vidor scored 24. Vidor gave a below average team a very average loss. Silsbee took Nederland to OT. That was a good win. Brazosport was dominated by a good Sealy team and scored 29 points with 200 yards on the ground against Vidor. A win is a win but hardly impressive. Vidor Vs. Huffman - I have always been a fan of Vidor football. I love the scheme and those kids are physical. But lets not act like the "ground and pound" is unstoppable. Lots of teams learn to play sound defense and slow them down. Huffman is tackling well and their secondary is punishing teams that try to throw. This makes their opponents 1 dimensional. That dimension is Vidor's strength so it certainly will be interesting. With 3 games in the books, The top 4 teams in the district are winning games they should and the losses (WOS, Chapel Hill) are against good teams. What stands out? What makes a fan think "Wow, that's pretty good."? The Huffman defense. So far...Navasota awaits.

He was booking it to that fence. Vaulted that fence but I think his shoe or foot snagged. If he makes it cleanly over that fence, he was going to get away. I think he was streaming it on Snapchat. Haven’t seen that video yet.

5 interceptions. This secondary is good. BC couldn’t find a rhythm and was getting strung out trying to run wide. Runs up the middle were starting to be productive but just not consistent enough. Huffman stopped a series that was 1st and goal inside the 5. 4 straight plays. Turnover on down on their own 1 yard line. BC was able to get a sack from the edge for the safety. HH offense seemed shaky but hit some big plays. This team is built on runs up the middle but BC game planned this well and closed the power and dart. The late TD for 60 yards was an exception, not the rule. many teams lay down once a team goes up by 3 scores early. BC never laid down.

An interesting matchup at this point in the season. BC has a bigger D-Line than CL and Liberty. But Huffman does not depend on size up front. Same as last year, Huffman offense can put up some points. They have quite a bit of team speed and are making plays when they need them. The defense hasn't seen a good rushing attack yet but tackle well and close very quickly. The secondary is good. I am certainly biased so I expect Huffman to win. Will the defense pitch another shutout? 3 in a row would be some rare air. Not likely but definitely possible. 42-7 Huffman.

The "one side of the ball" issue always makes me think of the glory days of the fullback. Some coaches are more scared of being wrong than the desire to be right. There are DE's and DT's out there that could at least be a threat for a "fall forward for 4 yards".

Caney Creek @ Huffman August 12th - JV/Freshman - 5pm Varsity - 6:30pm Hamshire Fannett @ Huffman August 19th - JV/Freshman - 5pm Varsity - 6:30pm

@TradenupBH called me bitter and a smart*** so I went back and pulled up some threads re. The TW hire. There are plenty of “Watch out, here comes BH!” posts out there. But not by @TradenupBH . He has been consistent and realistic throughout. I stand by my opinion. Quite a few people missed or were unrealistic. But he didn’t.

And I know, incoming “You can’t measure heart!” Comment. I couldn’t agree more. It’s what makes this game so amazing. (Crosby over Manvel at the Jungle is the best HS football game I’ve ever seen. All heart.)

I have a kid that plays. I am his biggest fan and very emotional in the stands. I try to distance myself from the emotional here. I attempt to be more analytical. And also remove biases from my thought process. Compile the following Crosby data points from spring 2019: - Superintendent ousted. (Leadership) - Financial scandal. (Uncertainty) - Significant reduction of force. (Resources and Uncertainty). - HC leaves (Leadership). - New HC has no HC experience (Uncertainty). Now, knowing all this and not what you know now, take yourself back to that summer. And tell people that Crosby will be playing for a state title in 2 seasons. That statement, while not impossible (obviously), would be considered highly unlikely by a majority of people. Compile the following BH data points- - BH has ample $$ (Resources). - BH has a tradition of success (culture). - New Coach has multiple state titles. (Leadership / Culture). - New Coach has coached amazing talent (Leadership / Culture). Now, knowing all this and not what you know now, take yourself back to that summer. And tell people that BH will win 3 playoff games in the next 5 years and TW will leave. Again, that statement, while not impossible (obviously), would be considered highly unlikely by a majority of people. Call it “beating the odds” or “bad/good luck” or whatever you want. BH underperformed based on the expectations that were reasonable as set forth in the points above. Crosby overperformed based on the expectations that were reasonable as set forth in the points above.

That’s true about Kyler Murray. Maybe that’s not the best example.

And the next Kyler Murray is one “new job for Dad at the plant” away from moving to BH, Deer Park, or even LaPorte. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 just kidding. Not LaPorte. 😀

That stuff is so complicated and personal I wouldn’t want to guess why he took the other position. Closer to family, time with grandkids, health reasons. I think all the great coaches want to compete with the best. I don’t think TW would shy away from that kind of thing.

I’ve been in this area for way longer than 10 years. Multiple kids, lots of sports, theatre, band, all the great stuff. Known kids and coaches all over. I’ve never questioned TWs pedigree or talent. There were plenty of people on this board and other forums/social media that talked about this hire being part of the plan to make BH a contender for titles. Nobody guaranteed it. But it was discussed. When Riordan left Crosby, the chatter was about how many years until Crosby was competitive again. Buncha wise guys will tell you “I knew they would come back fast and stronger than ever!” Yeah. Ok. (Well…except that one guy.) Crosby overperformed. TW was a splash hire for good money (that’s the market, he earned it). Nobody was talking about indoor facilities, S/C programs 5 years ago. It was about wins. Coaches don’t get hired for “moral victories”. I’m finding it difficult to generate any bitterness around the fact TW underperformed and left.

The locals (not you guys, uh...other locals) have changed their stories as the results came in. The hire was high profile when it happened. As it should be. Highly paid. TW had a resume of titles. TW had players of the highest caliber that played at Allen. If 5 years ago, somebody had said "3 playoff wins in 5 years", the locals would have disagreed and said you're crazy. He underperformed. I have a few other, too long, posts about this being all about the context of the hire. This wasn't just another hire. Wasn't supposed to be. The idea (from the locals) was that here was a guy getting paid state title money, coming from a state title school, going to a district that had the money and culture to bring home...state titles. That didn't happen. 39-17 in 5 years. 3 playoff wins. 2 District titles. (A district that has been dominated by 2-3 teams the last 10 years). About 3 years in, I asked when BH will say "Yeah, didn't work out and we need to move on." Looks like TW made the decision before that point. Someone posted a list of coaches that have put away some titles with other schools. What makes anybody think the results will be any different than the last 5 years? Just not so sure paying the most money for the most successful coach on the market makes a program more successful.

Would love that hire.

Money talks but it gets complicated. I know one HC that took a pay cut (not much, more of a lateral thing) because the situation he was in wasn’t good and wouldn’t be for a while. It’s a gamble. Luck into a few losing seasons and the market value takes a hit. Now moving on is not possible or they get forced out. The fact that Westerberg underperformed (not a good thing) while filling the staff with family (not a bad thing) is going to make hard rowing for the next guy. Curious if BH is gonna swing for the fences again. I don’t see results that suggest it’s worth the $$$ to bring in somebody with the resume TW had.

Eh. It worked out.

Huffman has missed some open shots and too many free throws. Boerne has some good shooting but their ball handling hasn’t been as good as HH. Looks like a case of nerves for both teams.

Brevity is far from my greatest character traits.

That's a deep level of insight into the decision making process of another family. Mrs. Collier took a job in the district. I bet she got paid according to the teacher pay rates BH publishes on their website. Charli just happens to play basketball.

yeah, I noted that in my post. My oldest had her as a teacher. Shes awesome.

This is a long post and a lot about Barbers Hill but I think it is applicable here. What Prieto has done at Crosby has been great. And it is interesting to compare the trajectory of these two programs while acknowledging their past decisions. How much time does Westerberg need? I have been pretty transparent on this issue for years. Since he was hired at BH. If we are going to be intellectually honest here, we have to ask some direct questions. 1. What is a "Championship Winning Program"? 2. Did BH hire Westerberg to build a "Championship Winning Program"? 3. Can Westerberg build a "Championship Winning Program"? 4. How much time does Westerberg get? This is my take on these questions. I do want to preface this with something that shouldn't need to be said. Barbers Hill is a well run district. Westerberg is a great coach. Those are true in my opinion. 1. What is a "Championship Winning Program (CWP)"? - I wouldn't say its winning state every year. That's just not realistic. And, building good character kids through athletics is a given. I think that comes with the territory here and that is being done. But there is a difference between a Tier 1 program that is in the semifinals half the time (Allen, Carthage, Aledo, Katy, NS... there are more) and a Cinderella team wrecking the ball at Jerry's World. Crosby is the Cinderella this year. A "CWP" is that team that is consistently putting teams in state semi-finals. 2. Did BH hire Westerberg to build a "CWP"? - I wasn't in the board meetings or interviews and you weren't either. So we have to use some context clues and make some assumptions. The pay is on par with "CWP" level coaches. The fans most certainly thought this was a "CWP" coach. Westerberg was at Allen, a "CWP" for sure. BH has some of the best facilities (community support) on this side of Houston. The answer to me is "yes". The information above would support that opinion. 3. Can Westerberg build a "CWP"? - Westerberg was on the staff at Garland when the won the 5AD2 title over Katy. He was promoted from OC to HC at Allen under the blessings of his mentor and outgoing HC in 2004. 4 years later, Allen wins their first state title over FB Hightower. Allen will win 3 state titles in a row from 12-14. With a QB that is widely considered the top 2-3 Texas HS football players...ever. But coaching matters too. Allen won another championship in 2017, after Westerberg had left in 2016. If I had that information and was hiring a new HC/AD for BH, I would answer "yes"...at that time. 4. How much time does Westerberg get? - 5 seasons in and nobody has answered this question. Its not the most fair question really. You got a better option? Who else you gonna hire? Here are the results from those seasons 2016 - 8-3 / First round loss to PNG. (not bad for year one of a new coach) 2017 - 6-3 / No playoffs. 2018 - 7-4 / First round loss to Manvel. 2019 - 12-2 / 3rd loss to Manvel. Good season. 2020 - 6-5 / 2nd round loss to Huntsville. You don't get to throw out 2020 because of COVID. Every team had to deal with it so that is the way it is. That is five seasons of, at best, better than average football. 5 seasons is plenty of time to build a program. I don't have an answer. Time will tell. If you can agree on what a "Championship Winning Program" is, agree that BH wants a CWP, and agree the Westerberg was intended to build a CWP at BH.... Coaching is about results. The results will tell you that he has not built a CWP in Barbers Hill. That is the thing "...in his past that would make me doubt him." If you got to the end of this post, God bless you....I have had too much coffee.