Quick Slant: Texas Longhorns and A Change of Direction

I couldn't believe my eyes last season. I was stunned, flabbergasted and completely baffled.

Texas went 5-7?

The University of Texas football program went 5-7 and missed a bowl game?

Blowout losses to UCLA, Kansas State and Oklahoma State?

A Texas team that didn't score more than 24 points against BCS competition last season?

Inconceivable!

But sometimes, you have to hit bottom before you can start to come back up.

Out went Greg Davis and the horizontal passing game. (And yes, as much as some folks bitch about our bubble screen package, I think the complaints from UT fans were totally valid last season. That was one of the most unimaginatively designed offensive schemes I've witnessed in 15 years of watching college football.)

In came Bryan Harsin from Boise State to serve as co-offensive coordinator.

Of course that's not the only change that happened.

Will Muschamp, the anointed coach in waiting, took the head job at Florida when Urban Meyer stepped down at the end of last season.

In comes Manny Diaz, a rising coaching star on the defensive side of the ball. Diaz spent last season at Mississippi State, where the Bulldogs finished ranked in the top 25 of several traditional defensive statistics, including scoring defense (22nd), rushing yards allowed (17th) and turnovers forced (22nd), which was a vast improvement over the Bulldog's rankings in 2009.

Obviously there were other changes that happened as well, but the addition of a new co-coordinator on offense and a new defensive coordinator are two key changes that will chart the future course of the Longhorns for the next several years.

As Bill C. pointed out in the preview, this is a young Texas team, especially on offense. They can (and will) get better.