In his usual Monday press conference, Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman met with the media. A variety of topics including his job status
For the first time since his post game press conference following the West Virginia game, Texas head coach Tom Herman met with the media on Monday. It was his weekly press conference prior to facing Kansas on Saturday afternoon. There was no shortage of topics for Herman to discuss in regards to the future of Texas’ football program.
Herman dished on a topic that was brought up on the Big 12 Conference call, where Texas Christian head coach Gary Patterson was asked if this season counts. With everything they have dealt with this year, should this year be held against them?
“Yeah, it does. It would be unfair to every single player that put their body on the line that it doesn’t count.” Herman continued “or in some way that the result is lessened because of any circumstance outside of their control. I don’t think that is fair to the players, the coaches or the team. Now should any of us be judged by the craziness that is this season, that is for you to decide but I have my opinions.”
Texas’ head coach went on to say that he would keep those opinions to himself. The idea that this team shouldn’t be judged based on what is going on around them is a cop out. Based on the tone of Herman throughout the press conference gives you the perception that he doesn’t believe that he should be judged during a pandemic season. However, every team in FBS is dealing with the same issues and some others are thriving. Why isn’t he?
He immediately brought up the installation of new offenses and defenses as obstacles for this year. While the defense has started to catch up, the offense has seemed to regress over recent weeks. The way that Tom Herman spoke about everything they have dealt with seemed like excuses for a head coach on the proverbial hot seat. He referred to even playing this year as a ‘minor miracle.’
Herman was asked whether he was concerned at all about his job security given the countless rumors about Urban Meyer. “No not at all. I am concerned about our players. I am concerned about this program. I am concerned about beating Kansas. I am concerned about all of our goals still being in front of us.”
On the topic of the players hearing the rumors, Herman stated that it is really easy to deal with. In terms of them seeing the rumors, they are in the locker rooms, the meetings, they talk to the head coach so he can deal with those issues internally. He continued, “they know the truth. That is the mitigating factor in this is there is a section of people in this. Which is our program, our coaches and people intimately involved in our day to day operations of our enterprise. They know the truth. And then there’s rumors.”
Herman went on quite a bit of a tangent about these ‘rumors.’ He discussed at great length about people using agendas and claiming opinions on fact. These people hiding behind what Herman claimed “unnamed sources and things of that nature.” He did say that while they can handle the comical nature of these rumors with the team, recruiting is a different story.
“Very unfounded articles that again state opinion as fact,” Herman said. “That is very hard to defend against. If you are a competing recruiter what do you do? You press print. Then you say look this is true, it must be true.”
The negative recruiting is definitely a way for some schools to sway prospects from going to this school or that school. He would mention how impressionable these recruits are. Especially when so much negativity is written about the program, Herman reiterated that it is based on rumors and opinions that have no facts to be based off of.
To say that the negative recruiting based on reports in the media is as Herman would say “unfounded.” There were no rumors of Urban Meyer coming to Texas when this team lost out on both Tommy and James Brockermeyer, who opted for Alabama. Legacy players who had their grandfather, father and brother all come to Austin. Yet, Tom Herman and Herb Hand couldn’t seal the deal.
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One could believe Quinn Ewers committing to Texas cost Jalen Milroe, that is quite believable. However, losing Ewers a matter of weeks later isn’t just due to rumors. The performance on the field against Texas Christian and Oklahoma might do that to you. Against these two teams, Herman is a combined 2-8. Losing those games consistently will do more harm than some report in an article can.
When one of your top recruits in the 2021 cycle decommits and commits to your biggest rival, that says something. When he does an interview with the local newspaper and states that he wants to be around “coaches who know what they are doing,” that says something. Point blank there is a lot more going on at Texas than a report.
Herman stated that he and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte are aligned. He mentioned that Del Conte has assured him of his support and the support of university leadership. Which is an odd statement for Herman to make. Chris Del Conte is one of the more active athletic directors in terms of social media.
He congratulates coaches at every turn and their teams after big wins. He hasn’t spoken in weeks about Tom Herman or the football team. The perception here is Herman stood in front of the media and gave his own vote of confidence. Herman even went as far to say that the leadership believes he and his staff would be in Austin for many, many years.
There is one thing that wasn’t said today by Tom Herman that can be worse than the words that he actually said. Not once did he ever take ownership and accountability. The mark of true leader is standing before everyone and owning up to the mistakes and issues plaguing this team in all areas. That is a leader that people will follow. Chalking it up to extenuating circumstances, you can call that is a loser’s mentality.
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