Tom Herman wasn’t able to live up to the standards and expectations at Texas.
What went wrong? Perhaps he got in over his head, hired the wrong assistant coaches, or just simply lost the locker room. Regardless of which way you want to spin it, it just wasn’t good enough.
That doesn’t mean he was a horrible coach. What he was able to accomplish throughout his four-year tenure with the Longhorns would be considered successful for numerous college football programs.
Not at Texas.
That’s not to say that a coach has to come in and compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff right away, but there’s no doubt that Texas’ program should be competing for a Big 12 title year in and year out. Herman failed to deliver a single conference championship.
The Athletic recently regraded the head coaching hires from the 2016-17 cycle, and Herman received a B grade. Baylor’s Matt Rhule, LSU’s Ed Orgeron and Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell were among the several coaches with a higher regrade.
Here’s what they had to say about Herman’s tenure:
Original grades
- ESPN: A
- CBS: A
- SI: A-
- Fox Sports: A
- SB Nation: A
Regrade: B
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. – Chris Vannini
Contact/Follow us @LonghornsWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas news, notes and opinions.