Texas’ Herman, Baylor’s Rhule in similar post-AAC situations

WACO, Texas—The last two coaches to win American Athletic Conference championship are now in their first season trying to rebuild a pair of Big 12 programs.

Tom Herman and Matt Rhule are still in the early stages of their new jobs, and go head-tohead again when Texas (3-4, 2-2 Big 12) plays Saturday at Baylor (0-7, 0-4).

After winning their first two Big 12 Conference games under Herman, the Longhorns have lost their last two by a combined eight points. They lost in overtime at home last Saturday to No. 10 Oklahoma State when freshman quarterback Sam Ehlinger’s pass was intercepted in the end zone.

“I don’t think confidence is going to waver anytime soon, because I think we realize just how close we really are,” Herman said.

Rhule and Baylor feel much the same way.

While the Bears are the only winless Power Five Conference team, they have been within a score of tying or taking the lead in the fourth quarter of six of their games. They trailed by 25 points in fourth quarter last week before freshman quarterback Charlie Brewer led a big comeback against No. 22 West Virginia, falling short 38-36 after a failed 2-point conversion try with 17 seconds left.

“It certainly hurts and it certainly aches, but there’s truth in everything, and I think they recognize just what they can do at times,” Rhule said of his Bears.

Herman and Rhule only met once in the AAC, with Herman’s Cougars beating Temple in the league’s 2015 championship game. The Owls then won the 2016 AAC title with a victory over Navy, only days before Rhule left after four seasons as their head coach for the Baylor job.

That was only a week after Herman, the former Ohio State offensive coordinator who won 22 games in two seasons at Houston, took over a Texas program coming off three consecutive losing seasons.

Now Herman and Rhule are in similar situations and in the same conference again

“You know it’s definitely a marathon not a sprint, and I think Matt knows that,” Herman said. “He’s doing a good job. If you can say that your team is getting better every week, I think that’s a testament to good coach. And I think right now Matt can say that.”