Herman is back in the hot seat.
Unhappy Texas fans have started setting their sights on prospective new head coaches who could replace fourth-year head coach Tom Herman. Dissatisfaction with a head coach is common in collegiate sports, and it’s nothing new on the Forty Acres. It’s easy to give in to this sort of chatter, especially when Texas Football is 3–2 with a budget close to $156.9 million, according to an audit by CPA firm Maxwell Locke & Ritter. Championships are always the expectation on the Forty Acres, and with one Big 12 Championship appearance in three years, the agitation is normal.
Still, it wouldn’t be practical for Texas to part ways with Herman. The pandemic has presented the athletic department with a more pressing set of challenges that would make his departure this year extremely unlikely — not to mention some of the success seen on the field and the multimillion dollar contract extension in 2019.
The COVID-19 era has stripped the University of its ability to make this drastic change. On Sept. 1, Texas Athletics laid off 35 employees and eliminated 35 vacant positions. Coaches and employees took pay cuts left and right, and furloughs became the new norm. Herman, who would have earned $6 million this year, took a $900,000 salary reduction. Herman’s buyout is north of $15 million dollars, according to USA Today Sports.
Is it worth it to make this change when the University is expected to lose millions in revenue? The short answer: no.
Athletics Director Chris Del Conte has been adamant about creating a family-like atmosphere in his department. Del Conte kept this in mind when he extended Herman’s contract, which keeps him on the Forty Acres until 2023. It was a testament to the faith the athletic department has in the coach. The animosity and outrage that existed during the Charlie Strong era are not comparable to the criticism in the Herman era.
But fans have grown accustomed to short-term head coach stints since the departure of Mack Brown in 2013. The Strong era was a short-lived, but painful time for fans that ended in a 16–21 record and one bowl appearance.
Assessing the success of the Herman era is tricky. The 2017 season felt like a rebuilding year, while 2018 was capped with a Big 12 Championship appearance and a Sugar Bowl win against Georgia. Then came 2019, when high fan and institutional expectations were met with rude awakenings — like an atrocious 50-48 win over Kansas that tumbled into an 8–5 final record.
Firing former defensive coordinator Todd Orlando and offensive coordinator Tim Beck after last season brought much-needed life back into Texas. Fans reaped the benefits of Orlando’s replacement soon after when the Longhorns mangled Utah, an 11–2 college playoff contender banished to the Valero Alamo Bowl, in a 38–10 win. Herman improved to 3–0 in bowl appearances, a feat that has not been accomplished since 2004, when Brown went on a five-bowl-game win streak that included a national championship win.
Under Herman’s leadership, defensive coordinator Chris Ash has mostly brought success with a new-and-improved defensive scheme, and Mike Yurcich’s offense has put up 225 points against opponents this season and continues to highlight senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger’s grit. Against Baylor on Saturday, a more focused zone defense missed fewer tackles and left little space for routes in the middle.
It’s far from over for Herman in Texas. An Oklahoma State victory this weekend could solidify Herman’s status and stop these rumblings. Del Conte made it clear in June 2019 that continuity is most important for Texas to get back on track for a national championship.
“We know that we are on an upward trajectory,” Del Conte said to The Dallas Morning News. “I wanted to show him, our coaching staff and the Longhorn nation that we're putting the pieces back in place to get ourselves in a position to compete for championships. Part of it is continuity. That continuity is not only verbiage, but in statement. We wanted to make that statement.”
