Longhorns fans, we need to have the big talk.
Not about the birds and bees, but rather about the reality of the program in the 2010’s. Yes, Texas is not what it once was and it likely won’t be for some time. But here’s the biggest problem: A head coaching change might not work.
This is a common theme among ALL teams in college football. Your team is winning? Everything is awesome. But you’re losing? FIRE EVERYONE!!
Let’s be realistic and look at the 2016 coaching carousel. LSU will be hiring, that is clear. USC is talking about firing their head coach. Brian Kelly at Notre Dame might be fired as well. Oklahoma and
Auburn might be looking for a new head coach. Right there, you have potentially 5 programs that have all won a national championship in the last 16 years looking to hire a new head coach.
Now, if the Longhorns go 5-7 or worse, you have to make a move to get a new head coach. Can’t regress each year at your job and keep it. But what if they go 6-6 or 7-5? With a true freshman center and quarterback? Who knows right now.
*So let’s say you fire Charlie Strong, who do you go for?*
The gem is Tom Herman. Of course, some Texas fans are 100% certain that Tom Herman will take the Texas job. He was a graduate assistant for 2 years in Austin, why wouldn’t he, right? Well, that’s not a guarantee and with so many options Herman will have at the end of the season, including staying at Houston, he will not jump at the first best offer.
So let’s say it’s Herman or bust, who do they go after?
Art Briles? Boy, that would be awkward given all the Longhorns fans “holier than thou” attitude towards Baylor to then hire the guy that gave Baylor the issues they are dealing with. Les Miles? Les Miles doesn’t like the spread. So there goes the offense. Larry Fedora? Could be but he has a good thing going in Chapel Hill. Urban Meyer or Jim Harbaugh? Hahahahaha Okay. Mark Dantonio? Nope. He’s a Rust Belt guy now.
So if you strike out on Herman, you’re left with B-list options. Not exactly the home run hire fans would hope for.
One major thing to consider in all of this coaching speculation: AD Mike Perrin is not on any contract with the University. That means he is at-will with the University regarding his employment.
That’s not a reassuring message to the potential new head coach that your AD can be fired for any reason, including no reason at all. That creates uncertainty in the Athletic Department that head football coaches love to avoid if they can.
*Now let’s assume Tom Herman is the guy, there is no guarantee of success. *
Charlie Strong came in with 2 straight 11+ win seasons in the Big East (now the AAC). Now everyone is saying he is the worst coach ever and trying to hire a guy who is likely to have 2-11 win seasons from the same conference and he will be the savior that won’t fail? Okay.
Florida fired Will Muschamp because he wasn’t getting it done on offense. They brought in a coach from Colorado State with offensive success. The result? 51st in total offense and barely beat Vanderbilt yesterday 13-6. USC has been struggling for years to get back to the Pete Carroll era glory with 4 different head coaches since Carroll left. Michigan had troubles letting their program back on track after they decided to fire Lloyd Carr essentially for losing to Appalachian State. Frankly, they got lucky that the 49ers are a bunch of idiots that lost themselves a great coach.
*Now this doesn’t mean there are legitimate gripes with Charlie Strong. *The fact that he can’t seem to get things right until it’s completely obvious that a change needs to be made is the most frustrating thing. But he can adapt. The offense is much better now than it was last year.
So what do I think should happen? *Give Strong 1 more year and fire Vance Bedford. *
Now, that means it’s going to be difficult to get a big name defensive coordinator to come to Texas. There is no job security in Austin right now. But there is one thing that Longhorns fans may need to consider: *Texas may not be the destination job it once was in the new age of college football. *
Things have changed drastically in the last decade. Social media is everywhere, highlight videos are as ubiquitous as cat memes, and because of the massive amount of media; Power 5 conference teams all have extremely high budgets where they can retain a good head coach. If a coach is comfortable, has a solid program built up and has very good job security, it’s hard to see why a coach would leave. Sure, someone will be the head coach at Texas. However, just because Texas is hiring doesn’t mean every coach will abandon their situation in a New York minute just because Texas
called.
Texas is still Texas. But with the extremely high expectations in the age of parity in college football, it might become the name program that is constantly replacing coaches that don’t live up to their unrealistic expectations.
*Other Week 5 College Football notes: *'”
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[*]Washington is a very good football team that solved the Christian McCaffrey problem. That was an impressive showing for the Huskies and it looks like Chris Peterson is an elite football coach.
[*]Baylor just barely beat Iowa State. The Big 12 isn’t likely to get a team into the College Football Playoffs.
[*]So Wisconsin and Michigan was quite a boring game. That’s about it on that point.
[*]Michigan State is falling apart, now losing to Indiana. Michigan State recruits fairly well for their program, but it’s never at an elite level. This is likely a rebuilding year for the Spartans and they are going to be back.
[*]Keeping with the Big 10 theme. Just when I think Iowa is somehow not going to be stupid with Kirk Ferentz, they find a way to become even dumber. A few weeks back, the Hawkeyes decided to extend Ferentz’s contract to 2025 and give him a $4.5 million/year salary but with no buyout clause. So what does Kirk Ferentz do with that new contract that guarantees him a job for life? Lose to North Dakota State, struggle to beat Rutgers, and lose to Northwestern. I love the Hawkeyes but there athletic department is really not that smart.
[*]Cal beat Utah on a goal line stop. They held Utah to only 23 points. A good loss perhaps?
[*]So I was busy doing other things during most of the Tennessee-Georgia game, but it was dinner time so I turned on the game. As I was turning on the game, Georgia was throwing the pass to go up by 3 points with 10 seconds to go in the game. Amazing play. I see a 15 yard penalty and I think “whatever.” Then they have a decent midfield return and an offsides by Georgia. Okay so Tennessee has a chance. Josh Dobbs throws a perfect ball, then Tennessee grabs it and wins the game. I was wrong about Tennessee, they are good. Now, they aren’t championship good but they got the 2 SEC East wins they needed to get. Now, they play @ Texas A&M and Alabama. Good luck.
[*]Louisville-Clemson lived up to the hype. It was a good game and Lamar Jackson is just something else. Just a ridiculous player.
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