Amid changes, players put faith in Herman
The Longhorns trust in Tom Herman, not that they have much choice. It’s either stick it out and play for a new and unfamiliar coordinator or transfer.
Some might opt for the latter once the offseason begins, but for now, the players have professed faith in their embattled third-year head coach.
“The team has tried to stay focused,” senior linebacker Jeffrey McCulloch said Friday. “Day by day we’re just doing our job. We’re just letting Coach Herman do what he’s going to do, and we believe that he’s going to do what’s best for the team. We just keep playing and staying in our roles as players.
McCulloch will soon be free from this program. He’ll have played for three defensive coordinators in four seasons: Vance Bedford (2016), Todd Orlando (2017-19) and Alamo Bowl interim defensive coordinator Craig Naivar.
He won’t get a chance to play for newly hired Chris Ash, a friend of Herman and the latest to fail at transforming Rutgers into a competitive program.
“We realize it’s a business; it’s not personal,” McCulloch said. “You always hate to see a coach go; we love (Orlando) very dearly. But that’s what coach felt needed to be done. so we’re just going to do our part to keep working; there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Unlike McCulloch, junior offensive lineman Derek Kerstetter will be around to witness firsthand how Herman’s new hirings affect Texas. The former Reagan All-American doesn’t know for sure who will takeover play-calling duties from Herman in 2020, though he can probably make a pretty accurate guess at this point in the process.
“We believe in what coach Herman’s doing,” Kerstetter said. “He’s the leader of the program, so we believe whatever he says is the best thing for us.
“He’s just going to do the best thing for the program. We just have to take everything one step at a time, control what we can control. All that other stuff is up to coach.”
Herman on Friday declined to delve into specifics regarding his search for demoted offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s replacement, though all signs indicate Texas is prepared to officially fill the vacancy with Ohio State pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Yurcich.
That announcement could come sometime next week.
“I can’t tell you much other than pleased the way that it went,” Herman said of the search. “Pleased that I had the opportunity to talk to as many quality candidates as we did. We knew that we gotta get this right, but it’s gotta be not just right for the masses but right for Texas and right for what we believe in and who we want to be on that side of the ball.
“I’m very pleased with where we’re at on that timetable.”
Texas’ (7-5) New Year’s Eve matchup with 11th-ranked Utah (11-2) could be the last time Herman calls plays at Texas. That’s the hope, at least.
Though Beck was offensive coordinator
in name, it was Herman who had ultimate authority and final say. It’s a tricky balancing act that some maneuver better than others, and though UT’s offense ranked among the nation’s top 20 in scoring (35 points per game) and yardage (468.2 per game) it’s clear the former Broyles Award winner as the nation’s best assistant when Ohio State won the 2014 national championship is eager to delegate more and shift back into a “CEO” role.
“You never want to say never, but I hope so,” Herman said of his offensive play-calling duties. “I was a better head coach when I didn’t have that responsibility, and I owe it to this program to be the best version of me. So I think just the way I’m wired, some people it works well for and some it doesn’t some have tried it both ways and have fallen in love with one way and not so much the other way.
“I know for me, you feel like you become a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. You don’t want to rob Peter to pay Paul. So you never want to say never but hopefully this will be the last time for a while.”
Change is coming for Texas. Herman’s hires will either make or break his tenure — you only get to simultaneously oust both lead coordinators once.
All the players can do now is trust the man in charge makes the right moves.