Texas Football: 4 players/coaches to blame for Longhorns struggles

2. Tom Herman

While the assistant coaches for the Texas football program have to at least share some of the blame with Herman, this is where the “buck stops” as he likes to say it. Herman is taking a lot of the blame on himself, which is a good sign to a certain degree. But this has to stop for the Longhorns to find stability heading into the offseason.

Yet, all the play calling mishaps and the lack of rhythm in the offense has to be a blame shared between Herman and offensive coordinator Tim Beck. Even defensive coordinator Todd Orlando had a lot of pressure on him for a while with how poor his side of the ball fared.

With the Longhorns facing an appearance in a postseason game like the Liberty Bowl or the Texas Bowl, nothing will really please the fan base at this point. The time the Longhorns had to earn their spot in at least the Alamo Bowl or Camping World Bowl even ran out.

Maybe the rival Texas A&M Aggies can fall in their final game of the regular season and either play the Longhorns in the Liberty Bowl or the Texas Bowl. The Big 12 sends their own representative against a middling team out of the SEC in both of those bowl games.

Two years ago, the Longhorns faced the former Big 12 foe Mizzou Tigers and head coach Barry Odom in the Texas Bowl. They wound up winning that game behind the efforts of then true freshman quarterback Ehlinger. But landing there this season would be a true failure given how the Longhorns were coming off an appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game and a win over the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl last season.