Texas made the least-best-kept secret a reality on Saturday when it fired Charlie Strong and ended any speculation by immediately hiring Tom Herman.
This is a great hire for the Longhorns, one that will pull the program out of the doldrums that have amounted to a 46-42 record since 2010. Strong had to go, and Herman was the best play. It wasn’t the only play, but it was the best play. And you’re going to see it pay off sooner rather than later.
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That best-case scenario is easy to see. Herman steps into a conference where he can win – and win big. He beat Oklahoma this season at Houston. What do you think he’ll do with Texas’ resources? He’ll have the Longhorns in the hunt for a Big 12 Conference championship by 2018. That’s what the Longhorns did by ponying up and paying Herman.
Forget about the money. It’s going to look outrageous when the details come out for a coach that has spent two years in the American Athletic Conference.
Forget about the three-loss season in the American Athletic Conference. You can’t dismiss the first two losses against Navy and SMU, but you can throw out the season-ending loss to Memphis. Those things happen when coaching rumors overwhelm a locker room. It was the least-best-kept secret that Herman was leaving. The only question was where.
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What will you remember more about Herman’s tenure at Houston? The Chick-fil-A Bowl win, never losing a home game and 11 sacks against Louisville? Or the four AAC losses, all on the road?
Texas is the perfect fit, and this is going to work out.
The Longhorns needed a young, energetic, offensive-minded coach who can develop a quarterback – the basic minimum requirement to be competitive in the Big 12. Herman did that as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State with J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones en route to a national championship. Now he gets to work with Shan Buechele.
Herman learned from the best in Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, and that career trek couldn’t be more obvious. Granted, Strong comes from the same coaching tree, so that’s not everything.
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But Herman – like Meyer – started off at a non-power conference school and enjoyed success. Meyer had a 17-6 record at Bowling Green his first two seasons before making the jump up to Utah – where he went 22-2. Herman essentially skipped the MAC step and turned Houston into a big winner in a hurry with the same Meyer formula. He finished 22-4 record and scored wins against Power 5 schools Louisville (twice), Vanderbilt, Florida State and Oklahoma. Herman thrived in the underdog role. The Longhorns give him more depth, resources and band-with to spread that message.
That’s exactly what Texas needs right now. The Longhorns need to be in that underdog role for a while and pull themselves back up as a Big 12 contender. Herman is as candid a coach as you’ll find, and he won’t sugar-coat anything with this program. An honest assessment is needed, and that’s what they will get.
The money? Coaches make a lot of money. That will be a footnote if Herman flops. It’s better to get the next-big thing then watch the next-big thing coach at Utah, Florida and Ohio State. Right, Notre Dame? If Texas is wrong, then they can move on from Herman and pay top-dollar for the next, next-big thing. Herman was the best coaching candidate on the market, and Texas went out and got him. They might have even pushed LSU out of the way to get Herman.
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That shows that Texas still carries some weight, even when the program is struggling on the field. Herman is the right guy for a quick turnaround, and that leads to the next step.
When Texas has the right coach, then it can win big.
That’s not another least-best-kept secret. Everybody will see that on the field soon enough.
