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Texas’ 23-20 home loss to Iowa State’s No.13 on Friday can also serve as a Rorschach test of how you view Texas coach Tom Herman’s tenure. Is it close, so painfully close, to the top of the Big 12? Or is Texas emerging as the definitive drama of this season, a symptom of a stuck in neutral schedule?
The loss dropped Texas to 5-3 and officially pushed Herman into the hot seat, when he was 30-18 in his fourth season in Austin. And the way you see this white knuckle Texas season – just like the last white knuckle loss – can double for the way you see Herman as well.
There is plenty of evidence that the Longhorns are set to fight in the Big 12, as the 57-yard draw scoop barely misses the amounts as the time expired on Saturday shows. If that had happened and Texas had found a way to win in overtime, Texas could still have qualified for the conference title game and won the league. And Herman would probably have been safe.
But optimists who see it this way have not made their voices heard.
The flip side of Rorschach’s test is that this season in Texas can also be seen through the lens of the lingering missed opportunity. The Longhorns were beset by chronic special team errors and entered the Iowa State game ranked No.120 in the nation in penalties per game. From a misguided false punt to a failure to shoot a basket to go up seven with eight minutes remaining to a baffling play trying to end the game on his penultimate possession, Herman left himself wide open to the game. management of doubts.
Ultimately, the case against Herman in Texas is that little on the schedule the past two seasons has felt like elite. Just because Texas got close – like in the LSU game last year – doesn’t mean it comes close to the national title contention its fans demand. And turning the momentum when things go wrong in Texas is like trying to bench press using only your little fingers, as every release becomes deafening and every negative moment transmitted through a megaphone.
Texas went 8-5 last year and is on the verge of another split season. And, ultimately, it will be up to sporting director Chris Del Conte, who did not hire Herman, to make a decision on the future of his coach. “Del Conte is feeling the pressure,” said a senior Texas source.
A decision on Herman’s future will not come without dismay. He owes her more than $ 15 million in the event of termination, and the total potential payout to staff is nearly $ 24 million. That’s a big number during a pandemic, especially for a team that had a legitimate shot at the league title over Thanksgiving weekend.
Herman won the Sugar Bowl against Georgia after the 2018 season (10-4) and did a lot to improve and modernize the program after Mack Brown’s tenure whistled to the finish and Charlie Strong failed. never really started. The recruiting department has been upgraded and the ancillary parts of the program – analysts, social media, graphics, video – feel like a premium Power Five program. Football, for whatever reason, has yet to catch up.
So how does Del Conte see Herman? He’s been relatively silent on the subject, and if at any point he asked for vocal support, it would have been in the preparation of this game. The smoke about Texas trying to hire Urban Meyer has been going through Austin for weeks. . There was a simple way to get rid of the smoke.
Del Conte, who did not return a phone call Friday night, also did not vocally support the Texas players during the “Eyes of Texas” controversy earlier this year. He chose the boosters’ preference that the song, which has racist origins, is always played after matches. In other words, he sided with the money on the team. Maybe he knew what more he would need in December.
It is clear that Meyer would be the target of Texas if he left Herman. It is not so clear whether Meyer would have an interest in returning to the sidelines, as he has thrived in his new role as analyst for Fox and still has to make a health decision. Remember, it was an enlarged congenital arachnoid cyst in Meyer’s head that helped lead to his retirement, and whether he wants to take the health risk that comes with coaching would weigh heavily on any decision.
If Meyer doesn’t want a job, there’s no easy answer as to who Texas would hire. And that’s Del Conte’s biggest problem. It is an institution that covets big names, as it has long coveted Nick Saban. But Saban never went, in part because of the lack of alignment in leadership that has undermined Texan football over the past decade. There are also no promises for the next decade.
People remember Mack Brown managed two BCS title games, winning in 2005, but forget he only won the Big 12 twice in 16 years. Bob Stoops has won it 10 times in 18 years.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from Strong and Herman’s tenures, it’s that Texas demands so much of their coach that it’s not a job that offers training wheels. And that means if Texas are to move on to Herman, the Longhorns need to attract a seated Power Five head coach. (The only trainer comparable to Meyer who is currently seated is Bob Stoops, and the man who built Oklahoma’s modern juggernaut is unlikely to attempt to spend the next decade dismantling it.)
Are you trying to save the Brinks Truck for an established Power Five trainer like Mario Cristobal of Oregon, Brian Kelly of Notre Dame, James Franklin of Penn State, PJ Fleck of Minnesota or Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern? It’s a particularly tough year to hire one of these coaches, as all but Franklin and Fleck will be playing meaningful games on the weekend of December 18, two days after signing day.
If Texas decides to leave Herman, would they do so before signing day on December 16? It would be next to impossible to have a coach in place by then, which means that with a change you are essentially forgoing having a competitive recruiting class. (Texas is currently # 17.) Or you need to ignore or trick the recruits into letting them know Herman will be there. The clock is ticking for clarity.
There are other options. Matt Campbell would jump out of Iowa state? It’s uncertain, as it has always been projected as a Midwestern fit. What about Luke Fickell, who took Cincinnati to historic heights? Could Texas hire three former Urban Meyer’s assistants? Could he inquire about Alabama OC Steve Sarkisian? If the Meyer model didn’t work, maybe the Saban model would? Could an NFL name like Bill O’Brien or Dan Quinn be an option? After Meyer, there is really no obvious answer.
To say that Texas will definitely fire Herman is hyperbole. But it’s a lot easier to envision that scenario than to craft one with Herman returning, tiptoeing on thin ice for the set of 2021, as the face of the sport’s hot seat. “It’s not for me to decide,” Herman said after the game when asked if he was the right person to lead Texas. “Where we have the program versus where it was when we took over – the future is very bright. I am very satisfied with the trajectory of our program. “
Whether Del Conte feels that way or not remains a mystery. And as long as there is no clarity on his part, Herman will remain squarely in the spotlight.
Texas is back where we remember it. He’s back where he’s been for most of the last decade – in flux and with everyone in the sport speculating on who the next coach will be.
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