Texas Football: Writer says Urban Meyer ‘needs to be the coach’

A writer/podcast host gave his take on how Texas football could go about the process in the near future of replacing head coach Tom Herman.

On The Late Kick with Josh Pate on 247Sports on the night of Nov. 30, the conversation surrounding the hot seat of fourth-year Texas football head coach Tom Herman kept on rolling. Pate talked on the matter of how Texas could go about replacing Herman if and when that time is to come in the near future.

Just like almost everyone is around the Longhorns football fan base and the media landscape in general, the conversation of the potential coaching search starts and mostly ends with Urban Meyer. The former Ohio State Buckeyes and Florida Gators three-time National Championship winning head coach, and current Fox College Football analyst, Meyer doesn’t really have any reported traction with Texas.

But if there were any occasion where the Longhorns fan base and the media landscape could pressure Texas athletic director Chris del Conte into a decision stemmed from their outcries, it would come with Meyer replacing Herman. There are some legitimate reasons why the Longhorns should think about replacing Herman, though.

It’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel with Herman and the Longhorns. His once promising 2022 recruiting class fell apart in front of his eyes, mainly when the decommitment of the elite five-star Southlake Carroll pro-style quarterback Quinn Ewers arrived around a month ago, and the results on the field aren’t consistently there of late.

In fact, the results on the field haven’t been there consistently at all really over the course of Herman’s four years on the Forty Acres to date. His record in the last three and a half seasons or so is roughly on par with how former Texas head coach Mack Brown rounded out his tenure with the program record-wise from 2010-2013.

With all of this in mind, it is easy to see why so many around the media landscape and in the Longhorns camp want the Meyer hire to happen. Meyer hasn’t really ever failed on the recruiting trail or on the field at any of his Power Five stops.

And if the Longhorns act soon, they might be able to essentially use the Herman tenure as a learning experience and a bridge in success from the end of Mack’s time, to Charlie Strong, through the end of the 2020 season. Bringing in a safe and more promising head coach could restore that long-term hope for Longhorns fans.

Pate mentioned that it almost feels like Meyer “needs to be the coach” for the Longhorns if they are to part ways with Herman anytime soon. There’s not really another slam dunk of a coaching candidate out there right now.

Up next for Herman and the Longhorns is a meeting with the slipping Kansas State Wildcats and head coach Chris Klieman on the road on Dec. 5 (with kick off set for 11 a.m. CT). They carry a record of 5-3 (4-3 Big 12) into that game, coming off their tough Black Friday/Senior Day loss on Nov. 27 to the No. 13 ranked Iowa State Cyclones by the final score of 23-20 at DKR.