Texas Football: Jordan Whittington gives ultimatum after Herman firing

Now former Texas football head coach Tom Herman is on the way out of the Forty Acres. And a lot of players and recruits gave instant reactions on Jan. 2.

On the morning of Jan. 2, the crazy news dropped concerning the Texas football program that fourth-year head coach Tom Herman would be fired following the end of the 2020 season. This type of news was not expected to come down from the Texas administration at least until later into the 2021 offseason on the Forty Acres.

Herman and the Longhorns administration, regents, boosters, fan base, etc. didn’t seem to be on the same page for much of the 2020 season. But at least the Longhorns did round out the season on a high-note, dominating the Colorado Buffaloes in the Alamo Bowl back on the night of Dec. 29, by the final score of 55-23.

Texas wound up finishing up the 2020 season with a record of 7-3 (5-3 Big 12), winning five of their last six games. Their lone loss in the last six games came at the hands of a top 10 ranked team now, and the Big 12 runner up, Iowa State Cyclones.

Yet, it was not just the way that the Longhorns finished up this season in terms of success in the win column. The lack of confidence in the way that Herman could lead this program consistently both on the field and on the recruiting trail is what resulted in him being put on the hot seat in the first place.

This is not an easy program to succeed at, and Herman and fellow former Texas head coach Charlie Strong know that quite well by now.

The coaching replacement for Herman appears to be the Alabama Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. It was also a tad unexpected that the Longhorns would announce the hiring of a candidate like Sarkisian so soon after the sudden parting ways with Herman.

And not everyone reacted well, as anticipated with news of this nature, to the firing of Herman. A lot of recruits took to social media to give their various reactions immediately. And even a few current Texas players spoke their mind on the matter.

One in particular was notable. The former elite five-star recruit and redshirt freshman wide receiver Jordan Whittington took to Twitter to give his opinion on the matter on Jan. 2. He had multiple posts on his Twitter timeline on the late morning of Jan. 2, including that “y’all better keep [Andre] Coleman and [Stan] Drayton”.

A lot of Texas signees/recruits apparently agreed with this message from Whittington on this crazy day just after the turn of the calendar year. One of the key Longhorns signees that apparently agreed with Whittington is the underrated three-star Hallettsville running back product Jonathon Brooks. The lone running back signee in the Longhorns 2021 class retweeted this post from Whittington.

There were a bevy of other notable reactions to the firing of Herman, and hiring of Sark. But Whittington definitely was one of the most impactful given how much weight his voice likely carries within this program.

Whittington registered just over 250 total yards from scrimmage on 24 touches, good for one touchdown, during the 2020 season in five games played. He could hold a key role in the post-Herman era as long as he’s able to stay healthy moving forward.