247 tabs Urban Meyer as a candidate for Texas football if job opens
If the coaching carousel does start spinning soon, 247Sports writer Brandon Marcello feels that Urban Meyer could be a candidate for Texas football.
The conversation surrounding fourth-year Texas football head coach Tom Herman that seems like it won’t stop of late, even in the midst of his team’s three-game winning streak heading into this bye week, is his hot seat and even potential replacements. Herman has Texas sitting well within the AP Top 25 heading into this bye week, sporting a record of 5-2 (4-2 Big 12).
The way that Herman and the Longhorns got this point was not pretty, though. Texas could just as easily be sporting a record of 6-1 as it could be 2-5. Their wins over the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Oklahoma State Cowboys, and West Virginia Mountaineers, all literally either came down to the final minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.
Even the loss back on Oct. 10 to the Oklahoma Sooners in the annual Red River Rivalry game very easily could’ve swung either way. Texas fell short to the rival Sooners and head coach Lincoln Riley by the final score of 53-45 in four overtimes.
Coming out of the bye week, Herman and the Longhorns should be facing an easier test against head coach Les Miles and the Kansas Jayhawks. Texas is set to take on Kansas on the road in Lawrence on the afternoon of Nov. 21.
But both Herman and Miles are mentioned by a number of media outlets at this moments as head coaches that sit on the hot seat. A piece from 247Sports on Nov. 11 mentioned Texas and Kansas are two of the head coaching jobs that could start the carousel spinning in the midst of the 2020 season.
And this 247Sports also tabbed the former Ohio State Buckeyes and Florida Gators three-time National Champion head coach Urban Meyer as the candidate that a Longhorns coaching search would likely start and end with. Here’s more on what this piece had to say on this matter.
"Herman’s buyout is $15.4 million, a price tag boosters will help pay to get rid of the coach if he finishes with four or more losses this season. Failing to win the Big 12, particularly when rival Oklahoma is winning it every year, is bad enough. Falling short of winning the title (and losing head-to-head) in a “down” year for the Sooners when you have what many thought would be a Heisman candidate in Ehlinger? That’s enough to make a change at the top.The search likely begins and ends with former Ohio State and Florida coach Urban Meyer. The FOX Sports analyst will demand a huge salary for him and his staff. Is Texas ready to ante up?"
This piece also only has Meyer listed as a potential candidate at the moment to replace Herman if the Longhorns were to part ways with him. That is a sign that it might be too early to tell what Texas athletic director and the rest of the football administration/boosters feel about the looming Herman hot seat situation.
The idea of bringing Meyer into the mix is attractive on the surface, but it presents a number of flaws. First and foremost, we don’t know if Meyer has any interest in coming back to coach a blue blood like Texas. That matters more than anything else.
We also don’t know the impact that parting ways with Herman would have on the recruiting trail and with the current players on the roster this year.
The upset win over Oklahoma State on the road back on Oct. 31, by the final score of 41-34 in overtime, is most of what took a lot of pressure off Herman’s shoulders at least for the time being. But one more slip up and the Longhorns might run out of patience with Herman for good.