Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
ANOTHER member of Tom Herman’s 2019 class…
The Longhorns are beginning to see some players filter out after the conclusion of spring football, as junior defensive tackle Myron Warren took to Twitter to announce his intentions to transfer on Tuesday. Continue reading “Texas defensive tackle Myron Warren to enter the transfer portal”
Longhorns Wire revisits the annual salaries of Texas’ head football coaches over the past decade.
College football coaching salaries have skyrocketed in recent years as the arms race among top programs has become more and more competitive.
Interestingly, however, the Texas Longhorns haven’t followed that trend. From Mack Brown to Charlie Strong to Tom Herman to Steve Sarkisian, Texas has maintained a relatively steady level of compensation for its head football coaches over the past 10 years.
With that in mind, Longhorns Wire lists the annual compensation paid out to University of Texas head football coaches over the past decade below.
[Source: USA TODAY college football coaching salary database; figures do not include income from non-university sources, incentive bonuses or the value of perks and benefits.]
What could have been…
Since Texas’ football program has been down since Colt McCoy left the BCS Championship game with a shoulder injury, there have been plenty of moments that have left Longhorns fans questioning “what if”?
Arguably the two biggest words in the dictionary that sports fans for eons have found themselves muttering at one point or another due to their team coming up just short in a big moment. Texas is no exception, as even with the program’s long time struggles, there have been moments of triumph that maybe could have been more had something not happened.
It is always a fun time to rehash some of a program or fan base’s worst memories, and that’s exactly what I’ll do today. There are multiple moments that stick out to me in particular for Texas, and what could have been had they gone another way.
Here are some of Texas’ biggest “what if” moments in recent memory.
If Sarkisian has less than four losses next season, he’ll surpass the last five head coaches in their second year.
After a disappointing 5-7 record last season, Texas is hoping Steve Sarkisian can right the ship in his second year with the program. Continue reading “How former Texas football head coaches performed in their second year”
This is…NOT GREAT, BOB!
While Texas has been struggling for over a decade, the most recent issues could very well be attributed to the 2019 recruiting class.
Success is not determined by one recruiting cycle. However, former head coach Tom Herman and his staff seemed like they couldn’t keep a cactus alive, let alone develop and maximize a class full of heralded recruits at the time, but having a class of 26 players turn into practically nothing is definitely a contributor to the program’s lack of success recently.
Quarterback Sam Ehlinger was only able to do so much during his time as a Longhorn, and it probably wasn’t until after he left that Texas fans realized how much his heroics were masking a team that was running thin at every position.
The 2019 class, which at the time was expected to be Herman’s best class as it was ranked No. 3 in the nation, quickly evaporated. It has now left Steve Sarkisian in a situation where he needs to really hit on his first class in order to make up for the mistakes of the prior regime.
Of the 26 enrollees, 12 of them have left or plan on transferring, three had medical issues that prevented them from ever seeing the field, and four of them do not contribute. This means that of the 26, 18 players from the class are not contributing in what should be their junior season.
Here is the status of all of the players from Texas’ 2019 recruiting class.
Give him time to build.
The first season under Steve Sarkisian has gotten out of hand, and very well could be one of the most disappointing teams in memory.
After moving on from Tom Herman for going 7-3 last season, and returning a ton of his players, there was a thought that Sarkisian and his staff would hit the ground running and make some noise right away. They have made noise alright, but rather than a sweet symphony, it is an elementary school band playing Hot Cross Buns for the first time.
Sarkisian may consider looking at his staff, specifically at defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, but if we have learned anything from this season along with the ones prior, making a change immediately after something goes wrong doesn’t always work.
Texas has had no consistency within their staff, as even prior to Sarkisian coming in, this group had already experienced three defensive coordinators and two offensive coordinators under Herman.
The program and fans need to give Sarkisian time to build. This method of having to chase someone out of town every year is why this program is a meme. Those top recruits that people think Texas should be in the mix for do not want to play for a different coach every couple years, they want to see a fan base and program that will give their coach time to build something great.
It’s something that Sarkisian is already talking about, as he addressed how many new players he wants on the roster for next year.
Sark on roster turnover: "I could easily see us with 33 new scholarship players on our roster next fall."
— Brian Davis (@BDavisAAS) November 15, 2021
Now 33 is certainly a large number, but that includes the 2022 recruiting class and a plethora of transfers coming in. It’s a method that we have seen schools like Michigan State and Oklahoma thrive off of.
The Longhorns need to address three main needs first and foremost. Offensive line, defensive line, and quarterback are all where Sarkisian needs immediate action to be taken.
With him planning on bringing in this many new faces, it is safe to assume Texas will be experiencing a ton of attrition whether it be players leaving for the NFL or hitting the transfer portal. That is typically to be expected under a new coaching staff.
The transfer portal is a great resource if used correctly, it is just a matter of bringing in as many experienced and talented players as possible and going from there.
Either way, Texas’ roster will look very different next year, and with players who are actually bought in to Sarkisian and his teachings, it could lead to something special.
This is a part of the process now-a-days, coaches need time to operate and determine what works and what doesn’t. Sarkisian inheriting a veteran-heavy roster was thought to be a positive in terms of success on the field, but now it is viewed as a positive because he has a great opportunity to revamp this roster and have it look completely different come spring.
The losing streak extended to five consecutive games, and Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is still remaining positive somehow.
Just when we thought that the losing streak would finally end, the Longhorns lost at home to a 1-8 Kansas team.
The first season under Steve Sarkisian has seen plenty of record-breaking moments, but mostly in a bad way. A team that many thought were a better coaching staff away from making some noise at the national level has shown us that maybe Tom Herman was doing the lord’s work, or he could not have gotten fired at a better time.
Going down the line, there are issues at literally every position for Texas. It seems more and more apparent that the quarterback of the future is not on this roster, as they both had two turnovers in the loss, and neither have been a model of consistency.
The wide receiver group is depleted, and outside of Xavier Worthy, they struggle with every aspect of the position. The offensive line may be one of the worst in all of college football, and the defensive line cannot generate any pressure.
This team went from not being able to close out a game after building a lead, to just not being able to play any sort of decent football. They should not have had to take Kansas to overtime to win, but to make matters worse they lost.
While it is way too premature, many people are putting Steve Sarkisian on the hot seat after Texas’ fifth consecutive loss. The first-year head coach had a lot to say after the shocking loss.
Is Tom Herman the right guy for TCU?
Even though his time in Austin was cut short due to mediocrity, some still believe that Tom Herman should get another crack in college football.
Carl Reed of 247Sports broke down why he thinks that Herman would be the perfect fit for the TCU head coaching job. It’s a fairly sought-after position that opened just days ago when 20-year head coach Gary Patterson and the school decided to part ways.
Herman is currently an offensive analyst with the Chicago Bears, but Reed thinks TCU should move fast to get Herman there as soon as possible to salvage this recruiting class.
Reed explains that just because Herman did not hit the mark at Texas, which as we all know carries high expectations and at times unrealistic ones, he believes in his recruiting ability and previous success at the college level.
“Herman won a national championship with a third-string QB at Ohio State, had massive success at Houston on the field and on the recruiting trail (landing 5-star and future top 10 pick Ed Oliver), and although Texas never competed for a national title, he still had an overall winning record (32-18).”
TCU would be the type of place where Herman could find success, as it is a program that is not likely expecting to be in the College Football Playoff talk every year, but just like when they had Treyvon Boykin, the program often overachieves and makes some noise.
Herman was never able to live up to the expectations that came along with the Texas job, but the same position at TCU would allow him the time to build.
“It wasn’t a bad tenure, it just wasn’t good enough.”
Tom Herman wasn’t able to live up to the standards and expectations at Texas. Continue reading “The Athletic regrades coaching hires from 2016-17, what does Texas’ Tom Herman receive?”
How would grade the Ed Orgeron hire back in 2017?
You can’t turn on the tv, listen to the radio, or log into your favorite team website to find anyone talking about much else outside of Ed Orgeron. It feels imminent that there will be a change after the latest loss. Orgeron currently has a career record of 42-15 at LSU since being named the head coach in 2017, he finished 6-2 as the interim in 2016.
The Athletic regraded the coaching carousel from the 2017 season (subscription required) where the LSU Tigers had two candidates lined up for the job. We will start with the coach who actually took over LSU, Ed Orgeron.
This is the toughest one to regrade. Orgeron won a national championship. Only five active head coaches have done that. Most programs would give almost anything to do that. Part of me believes a national title is an automatic A. But Orgeron could get fired any week now, as he’s 8-8 since that national title. He was also named in the Title IX situation at LSU, and several players have been involved in ugly off-field incidents. He’s 48-17 overall, including his interim stint, and also reached the Fiesta Bowl in the 2018 season.
The other coach that was lining up for the LSU job was former Houston Cougars head coach Tom Herman. He chose to take the job at Texas and many thought it was a massive hire. He lasted four seasons before being replaced by Steve Sarkisian.
This was the biggest hire of the cycle. Herman passed on LSU to take the Texas job, and it was lauded as a home-run hire. But Herman was fired after four years. He had a 32-18 record, reached the Big 12 championship game in 2018 and won the Sugar Bowl that season. He also produced three Top 25 finishes after taking over a program that had lost to Kansas in 2016. It wasn’t a bad tenure. It just wasn’t good enough.
