You want to talk about what makes a great coach in this league? I have been watching this conference since the Southwest Conference days and I can tell you the difference betwen a program builder and a guy who just collects talent. That CBS Sports piece about how Yormark had to step in and clean up the mess at Texas Tech, that whole Brendan Sorsby situation, it just shows you what happens when you do not have the right leadership in place. I remember when we had Coach Fran in the 90s and he took a bunch of kids nobody wanted and turned them into something. Not because he had the biggest NIL war chest, not because he was buying croots, but because he understood what it meant to develop a kid over four years.
These new coaches come in and they think they can just plug in portal guys and win overnight. The Sorsby thing at Texas Tech is exactly what happens when you build a program on quick fixes. The commissioner had to get involved because the whole thing fell apart, and that is what happens when you do not have a foundation. I think about Coach Patterson and what he did in the early 2000s, taking us from Conference USA to the Rose Bowl. That took time. That took patience. That took a coaching staff that understood the kids they were recruiting, not just chasing five-star transfers.
Now they got Houston being called the best value in the conference and I look at what Willie Fritz is doing over there and I see a little bit of that old school approach. But it makes me wonder if this league has any real program builders left or if it is all just portal math and NIL deals. Give me a coach who can walk into a living room and sell a vision, not a checkbook. That is how you win in this league long term.