Herman should be out of chances

Not too long ago, Tom Herman answered questions about his job security by saying he had the support of “hundreds of thousands,” and when it comes to his status as head football coach at Texas, “the truth will prevail.”

Herman should be concerned that the truth will set him free.

He hasn't been nearly as good as most thought he would be, and there is little indication that going forward he will be any better.

Because history says Texas is never supposed to be a bit player in the yearly drama of college football, at one point the “Texas is back” line was humorous.

The premature declaration was wrought for ridicule. Now, thousands of times over, it's just not funny. It's pathetic.

(Note: We used the word premature because, eventually, Texas will be back, right?)

“Texas is back” punchlines rank down there with stale cracks about Arizona's dry heat and incessant references to “Houston, we have a problem.”

Considering Arizona is hot as hades, but does indeed feature a dry heat, the latter is a better match because of the inaccurate words so often attributed to Jack Swigert.

When players are put on the spot to defend their head coach, the program has, and has had, a problem.

“I don't think it's ever fully on the coaching,” UT quarterback Sam Ehlinger said Friday, after the Longhorns' 23-20 loss to

Iowa State on Senior Day. “That's the million-dollar question everybody's been trying to figure out for the last 10 years.”

Why UT hasn't lived up to its potential in the past decade isn't a million-dollar question. The number is much bigger than that.

Money has rarely been a fac