State of the state
JUICY PLOTS ABOUND WITH HERMAN, APPLEWHITE AND RHULE IN NEW ENVIRONS AND SUMLIN ON THE HOT SEAT
Game of thrones: from new coaches at Texas, UH and Baylor to coaches on the hot seat at A&M and Tech.
A t this time last year, the college football talk in Houston swirled around one of the city’s teams. The year before, Tom Herman and the UH Cougars turned heads, going 13-1 and beating Florida State in the Peach Bowl. Could they — would they — do it again with Herman? Would Greg Ward Jr. — Heisman hopeful and quarterback extraordinaire — lead the Cougars to an even higher level? And with all that hype, would UH land a spot in the Big 12? Now the conversations have shifted. Herman has moved up the road to Austin to lead the Texas Longhorns. Major Applewhite has moved into the captain’s seat on Cullen Boulevard. UH remains in the American Athletic Conference. There is a whole new set of questions.
The Cougars earned impressive wins over teams like Oklahoma and Louisville but lost a few headscratchers. A lot of us are still trying to figure out what happened against SMU.
And the last few games of the season were overshadowed by Herman’s name popping up every time a coaching vacancy did.
After the whirlwind, Texas ended up with Herman, and Applewhite would lead a program for the first time. With those two changes, this state’s college football landscape looks a lot different.
Add the hiring of Matt Rhule at Baylor and the hot seats under A&M’s Kevin Sumlin and Texas Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury, and this season brings a lot of intrigue.
Herman’s latest challenge
Herman went into last season at UH with all eyes on him. His charisma mixed with that winning record and the ability to recruit players in the area
— greater Houston continues to be a hotbed for top-level football recruits — made him one of the hottest coaches in the country. The H-Town Takeover had spread through the region, and the city rallied around the Cougars.
This season, Herman has a bigger challenge. He is taking over one of the nation’s premier programs.
It could be a match made in heaven. Herman is young, energetic and boisterous. We’ve seen how a fan base can quickly fall in love and follow him.
He also has a bright offensive mind, which could help propel the Longhorns in an offensive-minded league.
There’s work to do, but watching Herman try to turn things around in Austin will be entertaining if nothing else.
Major task
UH is getting used to its winning ways. Applewhite, who burst on the scene nearly two decades ago as the UT quarterback, never has been a head coach but has worked under some great ones, including Nick Saban and Mack Brown.
Applewhite is more subdued than Herman, but the man knows football and has the respect of his team. He needs to piece together a winning season and continue to get area players to stay in town to keep moving the Cougars in the right direction.
Heat on Sumlin
The Aggies have been a little bit of a tease the last few seasons. They get off to big starts, then fizzle.
Last season, they were No. 4 in the first College Football Playoff rankings. They went on to lose to Mississippi and Mississippi State back-to-back.
Gone are No. 1 NFL draft pick Myles Garrett and quarterback Trevor Knight, so there are holes to fill.
This is Year 6 for A&M in the best conference in college football, the SEC. Sumlin can afford a loss or two but not much more. And he has to beat LSU. The Aggies have lost that game every year since joining the league. Call it a must win for Sumlin and his crew.
Sumlin hasn’t been bad at A&M. The Aggies are winning at least eight games a year in the SEC. That’s not easy.
But the pressure to win is higher than ever. Sumlin has his hands full.
Changes at Baylor, OU
The Big 12 as a whole needs a better season. Oklahoma — the league’s top team last year — will have a new coach for the first time in 18 years after the sudden retirement of Bob Stoops in June. Lincoln Riley will take over for the Sooners.
Baylor, which was in the midst of recovering from scandal, played under an interim coach — Jim Grobe — last season and will now be under the rule of Rhule, who was impressive at Temple before taking the reins in Waco.
Those two programs will be under the microscope as the new coaches take over.
No lack of intrigue
The conversations this year might be different as the season gets underway, but the excitement level is still high.
Texas will meet Southern California before Big 12 play. A&M opens with UCLA, and UH has a couple Power Five schools (Arizona and Texas Tech) on its non-conference schedule.
While Sumlin tries to get the Aggies in a consistent winning rhythm, Herman and Applewhite will work to get their programs on track.
College football in Texas is as intriguing as ever. Let the games begin.