DEL CONTE STANDS BEHIND EMBATTLED COACH.
Athletic director Del Conte supports embattled coach, makes championship expectations clear
AUSTIN — In a statement best described as lukewarm, Texas athletic director Chris DelContewent public with his support of embattled football coach Tom Herman.
In a release issued Saturday morning, the day of Texas’ nowcanceled regular season finale against Kansas, Del Conte said Herman will be back in 2021.
“There’s been a lot of speculation about the future of our football coach,” Del Conte said in a statement. “My policy is to wait until the end of the season before evaluating and commenting on our program and coaches. With the close of the regular season, I want to reiterate that Tom Herman is our coach.”
Texas and Del Conte had courted Fox football analyst and threetime FBS champion Urban Meyer as a replacement for Herman. But Meyer declined to come out of retirement despite a lucrative offer, citing health reasons.
Hermanwould have been owed just north of $15 million if fired because of his guaranteed contract, which runs through 2023, and buying out the remainder of the staff would have shot those payments to $25 million. That price tag doesn’t even factor in contracts for new coaches and potential buyouts to be made to their schools if necessary, a big ask during this pandemic.
On Sept. 1, Texas announced a raft cost-cuttingmeasures in an effort to mitigate the loss of revenue because of COVID-19. A total of 35 staff memberswere laid off and 35 vacant positionswere permanently eliminated. From Oct. 16, 2020 through Aug. 31, 2021, 273 staff members are receiving be a reduced salary, and 11 have been furloughed.
According to Del Conte, these “heartbreaking” actions amounted to a $13.1 million savings for the department budget. So, amid a financially devastating pandemic and lacking a no-brainer backup option afterMeyer bowed out, Del Conte will grant Herman a fifth
year.
“When I look at our football program right now, I see tremendous young men and promising talent,” Del Conte said. “Our student-athletes are developing, and they play their hearts out. This has been an unprecedented year for all of us, and we’re all disappointed that we didn’t meet our expectations. Like the many fans that followand support our program, I can’t help but think what could have been in 2020. There’s still more work to be done, but I’m excited to watch our players and program move forward.”
No. 20 Texas (6-3, 5-3 Big 12) fell well short of expectations again in 2020, failing to win a Big 12 title for the 11th straight season and missing the conference title game for the third time in four years. With three straight top 10 recruiting classes and a talented senior quarterback in Sam Ehlinger, much more was expected.
In mid-November, with rumors swirling and fans using social media
to rally the base aroundMeyer, Herman pushed back against “unnamed sources” and gossip circulating around the web.
“As far as the reality is concerned, we understand that we have the support of thousands, hundreds of thousands, tons of our fan base, and we certainly appreciate that,” Herman said. “We understand the difference between vocal minorities and people who make decisions and their beliefs.
“I couldn’t be more aligned with our athletic director, my boss, who we meet with constantly, who has assured me of his support and the support of university leadership and has even commended me and staff and our programforhowwe have handled the craziest year in college football history.”
The Meyer-to-Texas that Del Conte stretched out during the past few months had an adverse effect on recruiting, with some of Herman’s targets opting for more
stable situations or backing out of a verbal pledge in order to reevaluate.
Earlier this year, Texas lost out on 2021 five-star offensive tackle and Longhorns legacy Tommy Brockermeyer and his brother, four-star center James Brockermeyer. Top-rated 2022 five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers retracted his commitment in October and announced his commitment to Ohio State onNov. 18. Two more four-star prospects decommitted in October. Texas also lost a commitment this week from 2021 three-star center Michael Myslinski.
“When you have the things that have been written about us in our program, myself and our future, very unfounded articles that state opinion is fact, that state unnamed sources as being factual,” Herman said in November, “it’s very hard to defend against because if I’m a competing recruiter, what do you do? You press print and you say, ‘Look, this is true, it
must be true, it’s on Orangefans.com.’ That is the hard part in recruiting.”
But Herman will lead the Longhorns through next week’s early signing period, a possible bowl game and the 2021 season. Though it’s become clear after these past few months of instability and open pursuit of a new coach that another underwhelming season would spell the end of Herman’s time in Austin.
“I think the standard should be what I always have expressed it to be, which is to be in the conversation and to be competing for conference championships in the month of November and December,” Herman said.
After four years, with at least one more coming, it’s time for Herman to start delivering some titles. Or Del Conte, as he’s made clear, won’t hesitate to look elsewhere.