A new dawn in Austin

The University of Texas has had it’s share of legendary players and coaches come through Austin: Ricky Williams, Darrell Royal, Vince Young, Mack Brown, Earl Campbell, Tommy Nobis, and Bobby Layne. Those names are some of the greats to coach or play for the Longhorns. It’s no secret Texas that has not been Texas since Mack Brown retired. Honestly, the last couple of years that Mack was in Austin, it was not up to Texas standards and you could tell he was just not enjoying the game anymore. Next up was Charlie Strong who is a great defensive-minded coach and heck of a recruiter. Yet, when you only win 5-6 games at a school like Texas, you’re not going to be coaching there for very long. Strong is a great man and will be a successful head coach one day, I just don’t think he was ready for all that is Texas football.

For the record, Texas has 5 National Titles to their story program. They are in the Big XII and play in the “Red River Shootout” against Oklahoma every season. Getting players to come to Austin is not a problem. What has been the issue is finding the right coach -until now. Texas has gone after a hot commodity; someone that has been moving up in the coaching ranks and has a great offensive mind, which is something that has been missing in Austin. Texas has picked up the #1 coaching prospect in America-Tom Herman. Herman is known an offensive guru-his Air Raid tactics won a National Championship at Ohio State in 2014 for Urban Meyer. In his previous stint at Houston, he compiled a record of 22-4, and never lost a home game. He also beat FSU and Oklahoma. On top of that, he led the Cougars to their first ever American Athletic Conference title.

It’s easy to get lost in the rumor mill with a top coach like Tom Herman. So many schools came courting Herman that each media outlet had a different story about a different school every day. To be fair to Herman, he knew where he wanted to coach. Texas brings in the most revenue for any school in the FBS. It has the largest alumni base in the state of Texas, and it is home of the most fertile recruiting in the nation. He would had been an idiot to pass this opportunity up. But with a big coaching gig like Texas will come big expectations, and Herman knows it. He has plenty of talent to work with, which includes sophomore quarterback, Shane Buechele. Shane threw for 2598 yards last season with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Not bad for a freshman quarterback, but Coach Herman will demand more out Buechele. How well the young quarterback adapts to Herman’s offense will tell a lot about 2017.

Tom Herman has rejuvenated the Longhorn fan base, there is no question there. Like a rechargeable battery, the Longhorn faithful are ready to start a new journey with a young, bright head coach who knows how to score a lot of points. But this is Texas. This is the Big XII. Herman will have to win out of the gate to keep the faithful happy, because with those kind of expectations, losing is not an option.