Tom Herman is safe, but his job is to restore the busted brand of Texas football
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte celebrates the impending bowl invite, acknowledges that a 7-5 season is not the standard, even if it has become the norm, and insists he can see a “light at the end of the tunnel.”
For those of you unaware, on the eighth day God created the second greatest salesman this world has ever known, other than Jerry Jones.
No one can sell Texas athletics better than Del Conte, despite a football team that lost to LSU, Oklahoma, Baylor, Iowa State and TCU.
While both our entitled, and weird, friends in Austin bemoan yet another thud season, head coach Tom Herman has the full support of Del Conte and the administration.
“We have had 10 tumultuous years here at Texas. You had multiple ADs, multiple presidents, multiple football coaches, basketball coaches,” Del Conte said. “We haven’t had that stability that we do now. We have everything set up now and we’re re-investing in the infrastructure.”
As CDC preaches the importance of stability, the Herminator can’t find enough people to fire, or re-assign. Both coordinators are out, position coaches are being moved around.
Do not be surprised when Herman moves Bevo from the sidelines to the booth.
No AD in America is more aware of branding, and while the University of Texas brand gains more power than an asteroid falling to earth, the University of Texas football brand has become a national joke.
As the decade closes, University of Texas football is now known as a team that’s overrated. If it makes you feel any better, the other UT, the University of Tennessee, says the same thing.
Between the deconstruction of his own staff, and the construction of the new buildings outside of his offices at DKR, Herman now has a timeline.
He’s here to start 2020 the way Mack Brown started 2000, and build the brand of Texas football as something the entire state can take pride in, rather than to simply to say it’s just your embarrassing relative rich kid who blows daddy’s money and refuses to get a job.
REBUILDING THE TEXAS BRAND
On Tuesday, Texas broke ground on the new $400 million basketball arena. That is in conjunction with the new $250 million football facility that will replace the one that was originally built for Darrell K Royal.
CDC is doing at UT what he did at TCU, which is to build as many new toys as possible. When you build in college athletics, it takes away reasons why a program, or a coach, can’t win.
When you hire a new offensive and defensive coordinator, as Herman will do shortly, any lack of success then points solely to the head coach.
Tom Herman is not old, but he’s been around long enough to know both parts of this game.
“I know Texas has high expectations and 7-5 is not the standard,” Del Conte said. “But we went through a long period where we did not invest in ourselves. We’re doing that now. Listen, our expectation at Texas is to compete for conference championships and a national championship every year. That’s the standard.
“There have only been 20 schools to win a national championship in the modern era and we’re one of them.”
Indeed.
It just hasn’t been recently.
From 2010 through 2019, Texas posted one double-digit win season. The Longhorns were 70-57 in the decade.
If that isn’t average enough for you, only twice in that time did the University of Texas finish ranked in the final Top 25 poll.
Also know that Kansas beat Texas in football this decade, too. And Texas lost in consecutive years to Maryland, too.
Kansas + Maryland = Pitiful.
The Texas Timeline
Del Conte, and Herman, know the following is the standard: From 2000 to 2009, UT won at least 10 games every year but 2000, won a national title, competed for another, and finished the season ranked in the top 10 six times.
It is doable, and realistic.
The Longhorn Network did not create the advantage for Texas that so many of us sanctimonious trolls in the media loathed, and so many opposing coaches and athletic departments feared.
“Streaming changed all of that,” Del Conte said.
Texas still has more resources, i.e. money, and brand power, than any other school in the state (sorry, Texas A&M).
“Of all the schools, Jimmy Fallon picked us to do his show,” Del Conte said. “In terms of social media, apparel, TV viewership, it’s all through the roof. The brand of the University of Texas is global, and it’s never been stronger.”
The brand of the University of Texas football program hasn’t been much weaker.
Tom Herman’s job is to make the brand of the football team as strong as the university.
Texas football doesn’t have to be 12-0 every year, but it’s brand can no longer be a joke, because that’s what it is.
