2) If Tom Herman returns, what changes should be made?
Patrick Conn – Herb Hand’s removal
When Tom Herman decided to rework his staff prior to the 2020 season, he removed most of his entire staff. The holdovers from the previous staff were Stan Drayton, Oscar Giles and Herb Hand. Of the three, Hand is the one who needs to be removed. The offensive line isn’t developing and his recruiting leaves a lot to be desired.
Cami Griffin – Use of personnel
Who is truly calling the plays? Regardless, the best players need to be on the field as often as possible. It doesn’t matter how young they may be or how many stars they have next to their name. There were far too many instances this season where playmakers such as Bijan Robinson and Jared Wiley hardly saw the field in critical matchups. The coaching staff appeared too reliant on veterans and experience at times. Against Kansas State, we saw the secondary soar with young players such as Jerrin Thompson in Caden Stern’s absence. The choice of personnel was one of the most frustrating parts of the 2020 season.
Griffin McVeigh – Mindset
At the beginning of this season, Tom Herman said the only goal was to not only make the Big 12 championship but win it. Before doing that, Texas needs to check a couple of other boxes. First, they need to win all of their nonconference games, especially against Arkansas. Without counting the 2020 season, the Longhorns have never entered conference play undefeated. Next, beating teams like Iowa State and TCU must become the standard. After you complete those, you can begin to think about a Big 12 title. Lower expectations are not what this fan base will want but what is needed.