The Texas Board of Regents on Thursday approved a two-year, $13.25 million contract extension for football coach Tom Herman, extending his tenure through the 2023 season.
“The message we want to send to our head coach, to the players on the team, to the recruits and Longhorn Nation is that we’re committed to Tom Herman as the head coach of Longhorn football,” university president Gregory Fenves said (via the Austin American-Statesman).
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Herman, who turns 44 on June 2, has done a good job of turning around the Longhorns program in just two seasons. In 2017 he led the Longhorns to a 7-6 record (their first winning campaign since 2013) and a Texas Bowl win over Missouri (their first bowl win since 2012). He followed that up last season with a 10-4 campaign, Texas' first double-digit win season since 2009, the team's first-ever berth in the Big 12 championship game and a Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia.
Texas enters the 2019 season ranked among the top 10 in most preseason polls, including No. 6 by Sporting News. The Longhorns finished with a top-three class in the 2019 recruiting rankings and are a trendy pick to challenge for the 2019 College Football Playoff, but will likely need to get by Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game to do so (the Longhorns failed to sweep the Sooners in the title game last season).
That said, Herman's extension shows the university is pleased with his progress so far and willing to give him the time to complete his rebuilding process.
