Texas Football: What is the National Perception of the Longhorns under Tom Herman?
Texas Football is getting a lot of national attention this offseason, but what is the perception of the new Longhorns team under Tom Herman?
Tom Herman has brought a new energy to Austin, which is why Texas Football is getting a lot of focus from national media outlets and national college football fans.
The reaction is mild curiosity to see how Herman’s approach translates to real game competition to skepticism over whether Herman can turn around the Longhorns.
If Charlie Strong were still head coach after three mediocre seasons, Texas would probably be an afterthought. The Horns would be entering the eighth season since competing for the National Title against Alabama and relevancy would be slipping further away.
That’s one of the main reasons why the administration decided to make a change. Tom Herman has at least restored national relevancy to Texas. Even if it’s non-football things like pee charts, The Undertaker, smashing the locker room, and introducing the best lockers ever conceived anywhere on the planet.
But, no one on the outside knows for sure how any of this will translate to on-field performance.
Charlie Strong was a kick here, a call there, a fumble here away from being 8-4 with multiple bowl game appearances. Instead, the Horns racked up seven losses in three straight seasons.
Opponents no longer feared Texas, not even in Austin, where they’ve lost 19 times since playing Alabama for the National Title, averaging nearly three home game losses per season at the end of Mack Brown’s tenure and during Charlie Strong’s run. That’s unacceptable.
Tom Herman is seeking to change all of that. But, do folks nationally believe he can?
ESPNU Runs Feature on Texas Football
This week, ESPNU aired a 30-minute episode dedicated to Texas Football after the Spring Game.
Hosts Brendan Fitzgerald and Jason Sehorn went through the changes to Texas Football, broke down film of QBs Shane Beuchele and Sam Ehlinger from the Spring Game, and questioned whether the defense is ready to make a turnaround.
The conclusion from this national TV discussion is Texas seems to be heading the right direction under Tom Herman, mainly because of his recent track record at Ohio State and Houston. So, if he was so successful at this previous two stops, then he should be able to turn around a Texas team with all the resources available, right?
The question is whether Herman can fix what’s broken in one offseason. Or, will it take a few years?
Herman took a good-to-very good Houston Cougars team and made them great. They already had the pieces in place and he added very important elements like confidence, toughness, and accountability to get to the next level.
Will Texas players be that receptive during the summer and fall leading into the first set of games? Herman has said this Longhorns team is very coachable because they know something has to change after three straight losing seasons.
Can Tom Herman Reverse Damaged Longhorns?
But, is there too much damage to the collective psyche of Texas Football? When the Horns face their first moment of adversity Week 1 against Maryland or Week 3 against USC, will they fold up like they did so many times during the Charlie Strong era?
That’s where the skepticism comes in wondering if the Horns are just too damaged to move past that. But, Herman is committed to coaching it out of them.
Regardless, there is plenty of skepticism from national outlets not sure whether Texas Football will rebound in Year 1 under Tom Herman.
Next: The #1 Reason Why Texas Fired Strong & Hired Herman
We’ll just have to wait until the first Saturday in September when the Horns line up against Maryland to see what kind of team Coach Herman has developed.