On the field results
When top recruits are looking at schools, they want to feel like the program they are entering has an established tradition of winning. Under Tom Herman, the 2020 season was supposed to set the tone of ‘Texas is back to its winning ways.’ One 6-4 record later and it feels like we were foolish to buy into that theory.
It began with a shaky start in the Big 12 opener against Texas Tech, followed by back-to-back losses to TCU and Oklahoma. It was capped off with a Thanksgiving Day weekend loss to Iowa State, ending the Longhorns’ chances of making the Big 12 championship. It was quite clear the lack of a winning culture Texas currently still has. Pile it with three straight five loss seasons and the Herman era was full of too many losses to ever build excitement with top prospects.
When blue blood programs such as Alabama, Ohio State, and Oklahoma are poaching top talent in the state, Texas never had a chance with the 2021 class. Attempting to get into the College Football Playoff routinely, as those programs do, is too far of an expectation. The Longhorns must begin with competing for Big 12 championships to get back to top-five recruiting classes.