Texas Football: Tom Herman is clearly feeling the pressure

Fourth-year Texas football head coach Tom Herman has actions and building pressure that would seem to indicate he is hearing all of the noise.

There are things happening around the Texas football program and fourth-year head coach Tom Herman of late that aren’t usual for any blue blood college football program. While Herman at least has his Texas team in both major polls heading into the final three games of the 2020 regular season, the way it went so far was a far cry from preseason expectations.

The last three games did help to build up a nice winning streak heading into this de facto double bye week. Texas built up a three-game winning streak that they’re still on in this second bye week after the postponement of the Kansas Jayhawks game (originally scheduled for Nov. 21 on the road in Lawrence).

That aforementioned three-game winning streak started with a convincing win over first-year head coach Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears at home back on Oct. 24, by the final score of 27-16. Then Texas got a huge upset win on the road in overtime over the previously undefeated and No. 6 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys, by the final score of 41-34 on Oct. 31.

And to round out this winning streak, the Longhorns took down second-year head coach Neal Brown and the West Virginia Mountaineers at home back on Nov. 10, by the final score of 17-13. While this winning streak is nice, the last two games easily could’ve gone to either team. Texas had a controversial pass interference missed call that resulted in the sealing of the win over West Virginia.

And Texas needed everything it could get to nab the overtime win back on Halloweekend over the Pokes in Stillwater.

Coming out of this double bye week, the Longhorns will still have two tough tests back-to-back. They’ll get the Kansas State Wildcats on the road (which is never easy for the Longhorns) and the Iowa State Cyclones at home.

Any more slip ups on this regular season and the pressure will start coming back to mount on Herman’s shoulders. He did get more success in the win column, and on the recruiting trail specifically in the last five days. But winning three games by this narrow of a margin and getting two borderline blue chip commits in the 2021 class won’t do enough to seal up Herman’s job security once again.

The fact that there is so much media scrutiny coming Herman’s way, and he is responding to it, is not a good sign for where his head is at during a long lapse in game action. Herman recently addressed both the scrutiny and hot takes coming his way, along with the Urban Meyer coaching rumors, in his weekly press conference back on Nov. 16. That’s really not a good sign for Herman.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the flipping of the commitment of the former Texas elite five-star Southlake Carroll pro-style quarterback recruit Quinn Ewers to the Ohio State Buckeyes is picking at Herman. That’s not going to make anything easier for him and his coaching staff on the recruiting trail a little under a month ahead of the Early Signing Period for his 2021 class.

Texas carries a record of 5-2 (4-2 Big 12) after their narrow four-point win over West Virginia at home back on Nov. 10. Next up for Herman and the Longhorns is a difficult battle with No. 17 ranked Iowa State at home on Black Friday, Nov. 27.