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An unforeseen move to running back as a freshman launched Roschon Johnson to the NFL.
Former Texas running back Roschon Johnson is the textbook definition of a team player. He’s always been that since he arrived in Austin. Continue reading “Former Texas RB Roschon Johnson discusses his path to Chicago”
A pair of coaches with Texas ties are among the best in the G5.
Recently the Athletic’s Stewart Mandel and Bruce Feldman (subscription required) released their top 25 coaches in college football.
It should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban took home the top spot. Despite Kirby Smart winning back-to-back national championships, it wasn’t enough to unseat one of the greatest head coaches of all time. Saban has won seven national championships since 2000.
On Tuesday, they released their top Group of 5 head coach rankings. Gilmer high school coaching legend Jeff Traylor made the list as the top head coach heading into 2023.
Few coaching hires anywhere have been as successful as Traylor, who in three years has produced the three best seasons in UTSA’s short history. The Roadrunners have won two consecutive Conference USA championships, with a 23-5 overall record and a 17-1 record against C-USA teams over the last two years. He also just signed the No. 1 G5 high school recruiting class in the 2023 cycle. Traylor passed on interest from Texas Tech a year ago, but the former legendary Texas high school coach is making his mark at the college level.
Traylor joined the Texas Longhorns following the 2014 season with Gilmer, he served as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach in 2015 and 2016. He was named associate head coach at SMU and also coached running backs for one season prior to joining the Arkansas staff. UT-San Antonio would make Traylor their next head coach for the 2022 campaign. He was named Conference USA Coach of the Year in each of the last two seasons. This year he will look for his first bowl victory.
Another former Longhorn coach made the list as he returns to the collegiate landscape with Tom Herman checking in at No. 7.
The former Houston and Texas coach is back in college football after two seasons spent in the NFL and in the media. Herman’s resume is still quite impressive: Four Top 25 finishes in six years as a head coach (including two top 10s), two New Year’s Six bowl wins, zero seasons with a losing overall or conference record. He takes over an FAU team moving from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference. Herman is only this low because it’s been a few years since he was last in college football.
Herman finished his run at Texas with four-straight winning seasons and becoming the only Longhorns head coach to win a bowl game in each of his first four seasons. He never suffered a losing season but athletic director Chris Del Conte opted to go in a different direction, ultimately hiring Steve Sarkisian away from Alabama.
After being away from the college game for two years, we shall see what Herman has in store with FAU as he returns to the AAC where he coached Houston from 2015 to 2016.
These two head coaches will go head to head on Oct. 21 in Boca Raton. This conference matchup’s game time is still to be determined.
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Week 2 could settle the debate between Quinn Ewers and Jalen Milroe.
Revenge is one of the greatest motivating factors in sports. Though it may not matter all that much given his 2022 struggles, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe is set to get his opportunity against Texas.
Former Texas head coach Tom Herman once sold Milroe on a future with him leading the charge. Not long afterward, the Longhorns brought in Mike Yurcich and went all in on Quinn Ewers. We all know the rest of the story.
Despite that, the storyline shouldn’t matter. Texas has the better player at the position and should not lose the game even if it is on the road.
Steve Sarkisian has his quarterback, Quinn Ewers, who should break out this season after showing flashes last year. After last season’s performance against the Tide, Ewers is more than equipped to move the ball against Alabama. He’ll have two elite receiver additions this year barring injury.
While much has been made of Ewers’ struggles, Milroe allowed Texas A&M to nearly pull off a road upset last year in Tuscaloosa.
Shutting down the Alabama quarterback could be Texas’ ticket to a road win in 2023.
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Just hear me out, these five coaches could capture lighting in a bottle for the 2023 season.
Everyone wants to know who the next best thing is in college football. To everyone’s surprise, it was the TCU Horned Frogs last season. Time and time again they defied the odds with their epic comebacks until the final game, there was no comeback this time.
Still, TCU achieved something that the Big 12 and Oklahoma failed to do in three opportunities, make the CFP championship game. It was even more remarkable that first-year head coach Sonny Dykes did this with Gary Patterson’s players that finished 5-7 the previous year.
Could there be another “Sonny Dykes” moment in 2023? If so, which first-year head coach could be the one to get it done? There was no shortage of candidates across the college football landscape. From Luke Fickell to Trent Dilfer, the coaching carousel was getting almost as much action as the transfer portal.
After thinking it over, I broke down my five candidates who could do it. While achieving what TCU did in 2022 isn’t probable, it certainly is possible.
Junior Angilau should see plenty of interest in the portal.
Junior Angilau is in the transfer portal. After suffering a season ending injury in fall camp, the productive starter is looking for a change of scenery.
Angilau started 34 games for Texas. When the veteran player went down with injury many viewed it as a huge loss for what would be a young starting offensive line.
Texas certainly missed Angilau early as interior offensive linemen experienced growing pains. However, as the season progressed, each lineman grew into his role and produced.
While it’s conceivable Angilau could work his way back into the lineup, the Longhorns are well equipped at the position. For the proven starter, there should be plenty of suitors looking to add talent in the interior offensive line.
Here’s a look at what it means for Angilau and for Texas.
Tom Herman is officially FAU’s next head coach.
Florida Atlantic announced the hiring of Tom Herman as their next head coach on Thursday. Continue reading “Florida Atlantic hires former Texas head coach Tom Herman”
Tom Herman is a candidate for the Cincinnati head coaching job.
Cincinnati has an unexpected coaching search on its hands after Luke Fickell announced he is heading to take the job at Wisconsin. Continue reading “Report: Former Texas HC Tom Herman ‘in the mix’ for Cincinnati job”
Who are some of the leading candidates for the Nebraska vacancy?!
Now that Week 6 has come and gone, the list of prospective candidates for the head football coach job at Nebraska continues to evolve. It’s important to remember that Athletic Director Trev Alberts has clarified that this will be a national search and that he intends to “reach out to a lot of people.”
When asked for the qualities Alberts will look for in someone to run the program, he stated,
“I don’t know if there is anything specific to how magnified the role is. I certainly think it has to be someone who has a servant leadership mentality that is here to serve young people. Perhaps sees a picture that is bigger than themselves. But I don’t think anything specific. Every single job in college football has challenges. This job has advantages to other jobs and it has some disadvantages. It is the same thing with every job in college football. We have 1.8 million people in this state. That is not going to change. But we have some built in advantages here so if we play to our strengths and build on those. The right type of coach sees this as an opportunity to rebuild and build something special here.”
When asked for a timeline when a hire would be made, Alberts said,
“I do think there’s some benefits in terms of making the decision when we made it. I think this gives us an opportunity to really do the necessary work. We need to dive into a real process, and a detail-oriented process that talks to a lot of people. That’s why I mentioned earlier, you’re gonna hear about a lot of names. That’s good. That means we’re going to talk to a lot of people, because we’re going to clearly define what our values are. And we’re not going to hire coaches who don’t believe in what we believe in. We need to take as long as it takes to find the right leader. So is there an ideal timeline? Sure. You could naturally look at some of these timelines – early signing date – and say it would be really nice to be able to get the person in place by then, because it would allow us to do that. We won’t make decisions or rush things just to get a coach hired. We’re also not going to try to win the press conference. At the end of the day, we need to hire the right leader and the right fit, and that’s a really important thing here, as well.”
Below is a list of the active college football coaches who have been rumored around the head coaching search and then one wildcard who I think should be given a serious look.
Herman is set to call North Texas vs. SMU in week one.
Former Texas head coach Tom Herman is moving out of coaching and has accepted a position with CBS as a TV analyst.
Herman’s broadcasting debut is scheduled for the North Texas vs. SMU game during week one of the college football season.
Herman spent four years as the Longhorns’ head coach before getting fired at the conclusion of the 2020 season. Texas went 32-16 during Herman’s tenure, highlighted by a 10-win season in 2018. He previously had a very successful stint at Houston from 2015-2016.
Last season Herman served as an offensive analyst for the Chicago Bears under Matt Nagy.
More coaching opportunities may be in store for Herman in the future but he is using his knowledge as a member of the media for the time being.
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Where did Texas go wrong when it comes to putting players in the NFL?
The 2022 NFL draft came and went over the past few days, and 262 players witnessed their dreams came true when they heard their names called. Continue reading “Four of the main reasons Texas had no one selected in the 2022 NFL draft”
