Quote:Weddell at home with Cougars
By MICHAEL MURPHY
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Changes were expected after last year's disappointing 3-8 finish by the Cougars' football team, and those changes have begun.

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Former LaMarque coach Alan Weddell joined Art Briles' staff last month to work as a linebackers coach alongside recently promoted Erik Slaughter, who spent the last two years as the Cougars' strength and conditioning coach.

Weddell figures to be a busy man, not only on the recruiting trail, which he hit today, but also in helping the Cougars in their transition to the 3-4 defense Briles plans to use next season.

"I was looking forward to getting back into college football," said Weddell, who spent five years as the middle linebackers' coach at Texas A&M. "I was hoping this would open up. This is the one place where I wanted to get back into it.

"Art and I had talked about the possibility when he first got the job here, but the timing wasn't quite right for me. But I had hoped that maybe if something did open up, that I could move back."

It did, and he did.

"He brings both experience and integrity to our football program, and he is a great guy to have on our staff," Briles said. "Plus, he knows the state of Texas, both at the high school and collegiate level. That is huge for this football team."

Weddell is two years removed from his job at Texas A&M, taking the time to decompress after his run at LaMarque and the jump to College Station.

"I took one year completely off, during which I became a football fan, watching practices and games," Weddell said. "I did what I wanted to do and just relaxed. I got married and got the (defensive coordinator) job in Brazoswood, and I enjoyed coaching again in the relaxed atmosphere there."

It's a reunion of sorts, because Briles and Weddell spent so many years on opposite sidelines during their days as high school coaches.

Briles and his Stephenville teams twice stonewalled Weddell's LaMarque powerhouses in state championship games (1993 and '94) before LaMarque broke through by winning three straight state titles (1995-97).

"If you can't whip them, join them," Weddell said amid laughs. "I've got no problems with that.

"It's awesome being here. Coach Briles is the legend in high school football as far as I'm concerned, the guy who kept us from winning a state championship so many years. To be able to team up with him and that staff is great. Houston has some great kids, and I think there's a lot of upside and potential here."

I don't know if I am going to like this. I just switched my Coog team on NCAA 2005 to a 3-4 defense and it seems as though it is easier for teams to run on it. Hopefully real life does not follow the video game.

This should be an improvement over the 0-0 defense UH played last year...

Even though we lost we still held you guys to under 200 yards of offense.

uhmump95 Wrote:I just switched my Coog team on NCAA 2005 to a 3-4 defense and it seems as though it is easier for teams to run on it.

Excellent. :devil:

If that happens in real life, the Bucket will be fun (for me & OwlJacket, anyway) and then I'm sure Briles will patch up the holes neatly.

Oh wait, the Bucket got moved (in time) next year, didn't it? It's no longer the first game of the year. Rats.

Well I will have to change my assessment of the 3-4. Now the team has been running it a while I am getting more interceptions and much more pressure on the QB. When I started running it I was passive, but as i got aggressive (more blitzing), I saw the defense improve.

I kow you can't base a real teams performance on what happens on a video gae, but you have to think that some of the basic concepts has been added to the game. I hope we have the personnel to run a more aggressive defense next year. I thought we were way to passive this year.