The topic of the week has been ‘familiar failures’ surrounding Texas head coach Tom Herman’s football team.
Texas has one of the most talented rosters in the country, yet fall to unranked teams each year due to self-inflicted wounds. There’s no doubt that undisciplined play has plagued the Longhorns in 2020.
They’re one of the worst teams in the league in terms of missed tackles per game. On top of that, Texas is committing bonehead penalties at crucial moments in each contest. Whether it’s due to preparation or player development, the blame eventually falls on the shoulders of the head coach.
The Longhorns have found themselves in precarious positions this year due to the number penalties per game. When they occur and which penalties are occurring are certainly alarming.
Due to the outrage and uncertainty of whether or not Herman is the man to right the ship at Texas, Longhorns Wire decided to take a deep dive into the past three coaching tenures.
Oddly enough, the penalties per game have progressively gotten worse since Mack Brown resigned from the program in 2013.
| Year | Penalties/Game | Yards/Game | Head Coach |
| 2010 | 6.3 | 55.3 | Mack Brown |
| 2011 | 6.5 | 55.5 | Mack Brown |
| 2012 | 5.2 | 45.3 | Mack Brown |
| 2013 | 5.2 | 45.9 | Mack Brown |
| 2014 | 5.9 | 51.1 | Charlie Strong |
| 2015 | 6.4 | 59.1 | Charlie Strong |
| 2016 | 7.1 | 64.1 | Charlie Strong |
| 2017 | 7.1 | 66.8 | Tom Herman |
| 2018 | 7.4 | 66.7 | Tom Herman |
| 2019 | 7.3 | 68.5 | Tom Herman |
| 2020 | 9.5 | 83.3 | Tom Herman |
No team is perfect. There’s bound to be penalties scattered throughout each game, but the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and false starts are two that are unacceptable.
Herman must start holding his players accountable for their mental errors. There’s a valid argument to be made that penalties in crucial moments of the game have been the primary cause of each of Texas’ two losses this season.
You’re setting yourself up for failure if you’re giving up an average of 83 yards per game to your opponent off of penalties. Unfortunately for Texas, Herman is trending downhill in that department.