Texas Football: Herman shares ‘same concerns’ as Urban about CFB coaching
Big news arrived for the former fourth-year Texas football head coach Tom Herman on March 1, as he’s found his next coaching destination this offseason. Herman will be taking his coaching talents to the next level in the NFL, albeit in a much smaller role than he held on the Forty Acres.
The next job for the former Longhorns bench boss Herman will be as an offensive analyst/special projects coach under head coach Matt Nagy with the Chicago Bears. This is really the first football coaching position that Herman has held in the NFL. He’s pretty much established his entire football coaching career up to this point in college.
Moreover, Herman is one of a number of recent former Texas coaches that will be making the move to the NFL this year. Others include his former first-year defensive coordinator/safeties coach Chris Ash and fellow former Texas head coach Charlie Strong. Both Ash and Strong will be joining the former Ohio State Buckeyes and Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer, who got hired this year to be the Jacksonville Jaguars bench boss.
There was some speculation last fall that Meyer could be considered to be the Longhorns next head coach. But returning to the college football coaching ranks ultimately didn’t interest him, as he resumed his duties as a head coach in the NFL.
Concerns of the former Texas football HC
But apparently there are some common considerations as to why both Herman and Meyer picked coaching in the NFL for their next jobs instead of returning to the college ranks. According to a report from Horns247 on the morning of March 2 (paid content), Herman and Meyer both share “some of the same concerns” about how player development and movement are trending in college football in the modern day.
That mainly includes their issues in the ever-increasing movement of college players within the NCAA Transfer Portal. Texas was often one of the mainstays in terms of notable football programs that made tons of headlines from losses and additions from the transfer portal.
Herman had mixed success in the transfer portal, and that was never really an integral part of college football’s offseason while Meyer was Florida and/or Ohio State’s head coach. But it was largely mixed results on the field and on the recruiting trail that caused Herman’s ultimate downfall on the Forty Acres.
The now former Texas head coach, now with the Bears in the NFL, was replaced back on Jan. 2 by the former Alabama Crimson Tide offensive coordinator and reigning Broyles Award winner Steve Sarkisian. Since the hiring of Sark two months ago, the Longhorns have experienced a major uptick on the recruiting trail for their 2022 and 2023 classes.
Next. 2023 class off to a hot start with Rueben Owens. dark
Under Herman’s direction, the Longhorns finished up the 2020 season with a record of 7-3 (5-3 Big 12), winning five of their last six games. Texas rounded out the campaign with a 55-23 dominant win over the Colorado Buffaloes in the Alamo Bowl.