Texas Football: Mario Cristobal, James Franklin could be HC candidates

Two other potential coaching candidates were mentioned who could be next in line for Texas football after the Urban Meyer pursuit falling through.

Another voice around the media landscape had their opinion thrown into the mix as it relates to the Texas football program and the hot seat of fourth-year head coach Tom Herman. Texas has one of the more volatile coaching situations of any program in all of college football right now. And it did help for at least a bit of time to take some pressure off Herman’s shoulders with Texas’ big 69-31 win over the Kansas State Wildcats on the road on Dec. 5.

The win over Kansas State did not do enough, though, to get all of the voices putting more heat on Herman’s hot seat to completely go away. And it would likely take a lot more than the Longhorns winning out through the remainder of the regular season to have all of the pressure taken off of Herman heading into next offseason.

One thing that does work out in favor of increased job security for Herman heading into the offseason is the lack of traction that Texas found with former Ohio State Buckeyes and Florida Gators three-time National Championship winning head coach Urban Meyer. Texas is apparently no longer pursuing Meyer, largely due to “health issues” that caused him to retire from the Ohio State head coaching job just two years ago.

According to a piece from Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports over the weekend, there are other candidates that the Longhorns could have in line if and when Meyer was no longer interested. Two other potential candidates that could be up next for Texas are the Oregon Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal and Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin.

Here’s more on what that piece from CBS Sports had to say on the matter.

"The end could come for coach Tom Herman as soon as Sunday following the Kansas State game. Whether Urban Meyer is interested remains to be seen. Right now, there are no credible Meyer rumblings, but that could change in a heartbeat.If Meyer isn’t interested, look for the pecking order to start with Penn State’s James Franklin with Oregon’s Mario Cristobal next in line.Not helping the situation: Last month, Herman lost Quinn Ewers, the top-ranked quarterback in the Class of 2022. Ewers dropped Texas and committed to Ohio State."

While it is very true that Herman definitely do himself any favors to losing the commitment of the elite five-star Southlake Carroll pro-style quarterback Quinn Ewers more than one month ago, that’s not all that plays into this decision. And this CBS Sports piece mentioned that “the end could come” for Herman as soon as right after the Kansas State game. That did not wind up being true.

In fact, a decision will probably have to wait until at least a few weeks into next offseason in regards to Herman’s tenure as Texas head coach. A lot also hinges on the quality of candidates that Texas athletic director Chris del Conte is able to put together.

It is worth noting that the hiring of Franklin likely would not go over too well with Longhorns fans. While Franklin is still a respected head coach for what he did before 2020, Penn State is not looking too good right now. The same could largely be said for Cristobal with the Ducks (riding a two-game losing streak to the Cal Golden Bears and Oregon State Beavers).

Up next for Herman and the Longhorns is another matchup on the road with the lowly and winless Kansas Jayhawks and head coach Les Miles in Lawrence on Dec. 12. Texas carries a record of 6-3 (5-3 Big 12) into the Kansas game next weekend.