It is easy to have the knee jerk reaction to question a head football coach after a demoralizing loss. The Texas Longhorns losing 33-31 loss to Texas Christian on Saturday is just another loss in a long line of losses. Going into the season, Tom Herman changed out most of his staff.
Chris Ash was known for his defensive coaching prowess given what he did at Wisconsin and Ohio State. Former National Championship winning coach Urban Meyer vouched for him on many occasions. Is it fair to judge him solely off three games? Well no but when you are seeing the same things from previous staffs, it becomes a pattern of self-destructive behavior.
The offensive side of the ball saw Mike Yurcich come in and change things up. The offense scored 61 points per game after their first two. Against TCU they managed just 29 points, despite the fact that Sam Ehlinger looked awful against the Horned Frogs defense, again. Ehlinger is off to one of the best starts in school history but wins are really all that matters.
This is year four of the Tom Herman era and while it has been an improvement over Charlie Strong’s run, it isn’t anywhere near the expectation level at Texas. Is it fair to have such a high expectation level for the Longhorns? Given the amount of money that the program generates and the talent level brought in, absolutely is fair.
Before looking at the recruiting, Longhorns Wire takes a look at how Herman’s teams have faired on the field.
Nonconference Schedule:
| 2017 | 1-2 |
| 2018 | 2-1 |
| 2019 | 2-1 |
| 2020 | 1-0 |
| Total Record | 6-4 |
At first glance a 6-4 record doesn’t look awful until you really look at it from a different vantage point. Once you remove the non Power Five games, that leaves you with a 1-4 record. The only win came against Southern California in 2018. The Longhorns aren’t winning their nonconference games which can be a detriment to a College Football Playoff resume.
Maryland handed the Longhorns losses in 2017 and 2018 to start their season off both years. Last season Texas lost to LSU, no shame in losing to a team that won the National Championship. Joe Burrow ran through everyone that season. However, the other losses came against teams with a combined 20-18 record. Texas was also outscored 112-94 in those games.
A few plays here or there and maybe those outcomes are different. Lately with Texas it seems like it is always that way. Needing a few more plays to get the outcome to be in their favor.
Conference Record
| Team | Record |
| Baylor | 1-2 |
| Iowa State | 2-1 |
| Kansas | 3-0 |
| Kansas State | 3-0 |
| Oklahoma | 1-3 |
| Oklahoma State | 1-2 |
| Texas Christian | 1-3 |
| Texas Tech | 3-1 |
| West Virginia | 2-1 |
| Total | 17-13 |
Herman’s predecessor went 12-15 in conference play over three seasons. If you look at the current head coaches record over that time, he won three more games in conference than Charlie Strong did. His 17-13 record does include the Big 12 Championship game loss to Oklahoma.
Herman hasn’t been able to consistently beat the top teams in the conference. In fact he has a 4-10 record against Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Christian. All the while he can be the Kansas’ and Texas Tech’s of the world. Against the rest of the conference Herman has as 12-3 record.
Does the team rebound after a loss? After the 15 losses prior to TCU on Saturday, the Longhorns are 10-5 following a loss. More often than not they can stop the bleeding. Most of the losses came in his first year coaching the team.
Recruitment
This is probably one of the harder aspects of coaching in college football. Recruiting and while it is a bit more difficult this season due to COVID-19, the Longhorns have faired well.
| Year | Ranking | 5 Stars | 4 Stars |
| 2017 | 25th | 0 | 7 |
| 2018 | 3rd | 2 | 17 |
| 2019 | 3rd | 2 | 15 |
| 2020 | 8th | 1 | 15 |
| 2021 | 15th | 1 | 8 |
Looking at the rankings of each class according to 247Sports Composite rankings, Herman has done pretty well recruiting. He has brought in or has commitments from six top level recruits (five-star). During the Strong era he didn’t land a single one. Over the four recruiting classes of record, which I don’t include 2017, he has done well compared to the rest of the nation.
However, when you have three-straight top ten finishes in recruiting, you expect a little return on investment. The Longhorns haven’t been the same on recruiting since Mack Brown left. They don’t keep the best talent in-state and they don’t develop. That is the biggest knock on this team. A big reason why they can’t hold onto the best players.
Is Tom Herman the man for the job? A tough question. Based on how he is performing compared to other coaches across the nation, he needs to pick it up. A majority of the complaints against Herman can be solved by winning. After all winning solves everything. Beating Oklahoma is a good place to start. As for the rest, it will likely have to wait until after the season.