Texas Football: Rivals thinks Tom Herman will return in 2021

Two Rivals writers thinks Texas football will see head coach Tom Herman actually come back for a fifth year at the helm come the 2021 season.

The commonly discussed hot seat of fourth-year Texas football head coach Tom Herman of late came to a head with the news over the weekend that the pursuit of Urban Meyer as a potential candidate was over. Herman got to have a breather, at least for now, in terms of his job security for the immediate future.

We don’t know what will happen at this moment with the coaching search, or even if there will be one, heading into next offseason. Texas athletic director Chris del Conte looks like he will re-evaluate Herman and the overall coaching situation with the football program once the Early Signing Period is in the books and the offseason has officially arrived.

Moreover, there’s a lot of opinions going around in the media landscape right now as to what will happen with Herman in the near future. Rivals writers/analysts Mike Farrell and Adam Gorney gave their take on the matter in the segment “Fact or Fiction” on the morning of Dec. 8.

Both Farrell and Gorney actually have the opinion that it is a “fact” that Herman will return as the Longhorns head coach next year. Here’s more on what they had to say on the matter.

"Farrell’s take: FACT. Urban Meyer may or may not have had any interest in the job but, now that he’s removed from the equation, it’s time to be realistic. Tom Herman is coming back for another season at Texas. This is a pandemic year and spending millions on buyouts and a new coach not named Meyer might not be the best idea for the Longhorns. They can regroup next season if things tank.Gorney’s take: FACT. It’s wild that the reported Texas strategy was either Meyer or back to Herman for another year. Meyer would be taking his guys from Ohio State for a rebuild project in Austin while the Buckeyes were making another run to the College Football Playoff and, oh, Meyer retired from two jobs because of health reasons. Talk about swinging for the fences."

They both mentioned the Meyer pursuit not working out due to “health reasons”, which was commonly cited as why he won’t return to college football coaching at least in the near future. But they also mentioned the point that since this is a pandemic year, the school won’t ultimately want to spend millions to buyout Herman and his staff, unless there is a real proven home run candidate in line.

Those are valid points made, but it’s hard to see any Longhorns fans being too happy with Herman sticking around heading into next season. Texas would really have to end this season on a high note for that to seemingly happen. At this point, what Herman would have to do to keep both the administration and fans satisfied is really turn things around on the recruiting trail while winning out this season.

Next up for Herman and the Longhorns is a meeting with the winless Kansas Jayhawks and head coach Les Miles on the road on Dec. 12. Kick off between Texas and Kansas is set for 2:30 p.m. CT at David Booth-Kansas Memorial Stadium.