Texas Football: Pressure continuing to mount on Tom Herman

Fourth-year Texas football head coach Tom Herman desperately needs a win over the Baylor Bears this coming weekend to keep his seat from heating up more.

By far the biggest storyline heading out of the bye week for the Texas football program is the increasingly hotter seat of fourth-year head coach Tom Herman. After their disappointing loss back on Oct. 10 in the annual Red River Rivalry game to the Oklahoma Sooners, Texas started to see some real pressure put on the shoulders of Herman and the rest of his coaching staff.

According to a Horns247 report (paid content), the “noise” around the program is “getting louder” heading into their Oct. 24 home contest against head coach Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears. Apparently no matter how much Herman tries to help his Longhorns team just focus on the game ahead, it’s hard to ignore all of the outside noise that is penetrating into the program.

Texas carries a two-game losing streak into this matchup with Baylor. They have yet to win a single game this month. The other loss that’s a part of this two-game skid for the Longhorns came at the hands of the TCU Horned Frogs in their Big 12 home opener back on Oct. 3. That gives Texas a record of 2-2 (1-2 Big 12) heading into the showdown against Baylor this coming weekend.

It goes without saying that Herman and the Longhorns really need a convincing win at home to stave off any additional pressure or whispers about what can ensue for any changes to the staff. Herman already seems like he’s one more slip-up away from seeing the door off of the Forty Acres, but he has thrived in a position with his back up against the wall before.

The growing problem for Herman is that he can’t just win this one game to keep the pressure off his shoulders, along with the rest of his staff and this team. He’ll need to build a convincing winning streak throughout the rest of the Big 12 slate to start really moving this program in the right direction.

It won’t be easy either. After taking on Baylor, Texas has to travel to Stillwater to take on the No. 6 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys on the road at Boone Pickens Stadium on Halloween. Despite the limited crowds, that definitely won’t be an easy win to get.

Texas also still has the likes of the Iowa State Cyclones, Kansas State Wildcats, a stingy West Virginia Mountaineers squad on tap for the rest of the 2020 regular season. They’re definitely facing an uphill battle if they want any shot at getting a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 19.

Texas and Baylor are set to kick off at 2:30 at home at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Oct. 24. Baylor enters with a record of 1-1 (1-1 Big 12), coming off a loss to West Virginia in overtime back on Oct. 3. The Bears had their Oct. 17 matchup with Oklahoma State delayed to Dec. 12 due to a number of active COVID-19 cases last week.