We know how this feels, don’t we? From a UT homer friend of mine....
Here’s some fun stats:
- Texas ranks 130 out of 130 FBS teams in 4th quarter points allowed
- Texas ranks 130 out of 130 FBS teams in missed tackles
- Texas ranks 126 out of 130 FBS teams in pass defense
- Texas ranks 62 out of 64 Power Five teams in total defense
There's still a lot of football left, and we're not giving up on the season, but we'd be remiss if we didn't share what we're hearing behind the scenes.
To this point, we think it's too early for anything to be decided on coaching changes, but based on what we've heard, we think things are trending in that direction. These early rumblings usually precede an earthquake.
Part of what makes Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte great is his accessibility. This helps him excel as a fundraiser, which at Texas, is as important as athletic oversight. The problem, for him, is about 100 of the top donors have his phone number and they constantly bombard him when things are going poorly. They don't even have to go through an assistant. Given how the last two weeks have gone, the donors are quite unhappy especially after shelling out so much money since Del Conte's arrival.
Donations and football are used for the overall mission of the school, not just facilities and the like. This is something I've mentioned in the past that Greg Fenves understands quite well. He's not Bill Powers in that regard.
Also mentioned in the past, Del Conte and Herman have a solid working relationship but calling them friends would be a stretch. Further, Herman doesn't have the goodwill capital that Mack Brown had with DeLoss Dodds and Bill Powers. Herman doesn't have the same capital in place with donors that Mack did either.
I think there's plenty of room between Mack Brown's coziness to donors and Charlie Strong's distance, but Herman, perhaps surprisingly, is closer to Strong in his relationship building. Herman sees himself as a football coach, not a glad-handing politician (I don't blame him). That doesn't matter when you're winning, but it does matter when you have back to back embarrassing performances, one to your biggest rival, one to a basketball school that lost to Coastal freaking Carolina.
Keep in mind Herman was already feeling pressure from above for the defense's play versus LSU and things have only gotten worse.
Herman clearly has a lot of self-belief in his ability to navigate difficult situations through his own intellect. I'm reminded of a comparison between Ludwig Von Mises and his pupil Friedrich Hayek. The apolitical story goes, if tasked with placing a walking path on a college campus for students to walk to class, Von Mises would rely on his own intelligence to place the path on the optimal route. He was not known to be humble; he had all the answers, after all. Hayek on the other hand, who was known for humility, would place the path where the students were already walking.
Whether it's stubbornly playing a poor option at tight end in 2017 rather than going to 10 personnel (Garrett Gray over Lil'Jordan Humphrey), having an indefensible imbalance with offensive/defensive coaches, or his refusal to kick field goals (sometimes warranted, sometimes not), Herman is telling the world he knows exactly where the path should go.
There's a chance Herman puts that path right down the middle of the Big 12, but some changes are almost certainly needed to do so. Based on what I'm hearing, those changes may take place whether he wants to make them or not.
Here’s some fun stats:
- Texas ranks 130 out of 130 FBS teams in 4th quarter points allowed
- Texas ranks 130 out of 130 FBS teams in missed tackles
- Texas ranks 126 out of 130 FBS teams in pass defense
- Texas ranks 62 out of 64 Power Five teams in total defense
There's still a lot of football left, and we're not giving up on the season, but we'd be remiss if we didn't share what we're hearing behind the scenes.
To this point, we think it's too early for anything to be decided on coaching changes, but based on what we've heard, we think things are trending in that direction. These early rumblings usually precede an earthquake.
Part of what makes Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte great is his accessibility. This helps him excel as a fundraiser, which at Texas, is as important as athletic oversight. The problem, for him, is about 100 of the top donors have his phone number and they constantly bombard him when things are going poorly. They don't even have to go through an assistant. Given how the last two weeks have gone, the donors are quite unhappy especially after shelling out so much money since Del Conte's arrival.
Donations and football are used for the overall mission of the school, not just facilities and the like. This is something I've mentioned in the past that Greg Fenves understands quite well. He's not Bill Powers in that regard.
Also mentioned in the past, Del Conte and Herman have a solid working relationship but calling them friends would be a stretch. Further, Herman doesn't have the goodwill capital that Mack Brown had with DeLoss Dodds and Bill Powers. Herman doesn't have the same capital in place with donors that Mack did either.
I think there's plenty of room between Mack Brown's coziness to donors and Charlie Strong's distance, but Herman, perhaps surprisingly, is closer to Strong in his relationship building. Herman sees himself as a football coach, not a glad-handing politician (I don't blame him). That doesn't matter when you're winning, but it does matter when you have back to back embarrassing performances, one to your biggest rival, one to a basketball school that lost to Coastal freaking Carolina.
Keep in mind Herman was already feeling pressure from above for the defense's play versus LSU and things have only gotten worse.
Herman clearly has a lot of self-belief in his ability to navigate difficult situations through his own intellect. I'm reminded of a comparison between Ludwig Von Mises and his pupil Friedrich Hayek. The apolitical story goes, if tasked with placing a walking path on a college campus for students to walk to class, Von Mises would rely on his own intelligence to place the path on the optimal route. He was not known to be humble; he had all the answers, after all. Hayek on the other hand, who was known for humility, would place the path where the students were already walking.
Whether it's stubbornly playing a poor option at tight end in 2017 rather than going to 10 personnel (Garrett Gray over Lil'Jordan Humphrey), having an indefensible imbalance with offensive/defensive coaches, or his refusal to kick field goals (sometimes warranted, sometimes not), Herman is telling the world he knows exactly where the path should go.
There's a chance Herman puts that path right down the middle of the Big 12, but some changes are almost certainly needed to do so. Based on what I'm hearing, those changes may take place whether he wants to make them or not.
