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Urban Meyer and 5 likely candidates to replace Tom Herman at Texas
Urban Meyer. (Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
Urban Meyer and 5 likely candidates to replace Tom Herman at Texas
With speculation about his future ramping up, here are five candidates to replace Tom Herman as the next Texas football head coach.
With Friday's 23-20 loss to Iowa State, the Texas Longhorns fell to 5-3 this season (4-3 in the Big 12). They will fall short of the Big 12 title game barring something unforeseen, and speculation about the future of Tom Herman as the head coach in Austin has ramped back up.
Near the end of his fourth season at Texas, Herman is 30-18 overall and 21-13 in Big 12 play. Since the start of the 2019 season, after a tease that was a 10-4 2018 campaign capped by a Sugar Bowl win over Georgia, the Longhorns are 13-8 with a 9-7 mark in conference play.
Herman has generally recruited well, but the on-field results haven't come other than that flash in 2018. The cache of the Texas football program is not what it was, from the bitter end of Mack Brown's tenure to three dismal seasons under Charlie Strong to the current underachievement under Herman. Apart from the resources available, the University of Texas is not a destination job at this point.
Athletic director Chris Del Conte did not hire Herman, so a move to jolt the program might very well be on the radar, Of course, there is a financial element, which takes on more importance with the impact of COVID-19. Herman has three years left on his contract, and as of Dec. 1 (according to USA TODAY), his buyout would be $15.4 million.
Naturally, Herman was asked about this future after Friday's loss and admitted it's not his decision to make but thinks the program is in a better spot than what he inherited. Although, Sam Ehlinger didn't give him a ringing endorsement.
A big buyout is a serious deterrent for a university to fire a coach in this environment. However, Texas presumably has the resources to move on from Herman. The question is who would leave their current job to replace him, and in parallel who might see the job as a clear step up.
With two remaining games to try to save his job, here are five candidates to replace Herman as the Longhorns' head coach.
5 candidates to replace Tom Herman at Texas
5. Urban Meyer
Even with health concerns taking him away from coaching twice, it still seems like a matter of when not if Meyer will be back on the sideline. The easily rumored spot for him is USC, as Clay Helton is perpetually on the hot seat.
For Meyer to leave his current job as an analyst for FOX Sports, it would surely have to be a unique opportunity. Herman was his offensive coordinator at Ohio State for three seasons (2012-14), so the idea of replacing Herman now as the head coach at Texas may be awkward for Meyer.
Meyer is becoming the dream candidate to replace Herman for Longhorns' fans. Del Conte, if he wants one of the biggest coaching fish (and one that's free to talk right now), may make Meyer turn him down to start off the search to replace Herman.
Next: No. 4
© Provided by Fansided Steve Sarkisian, Alabama Crimson Tide
Credit: Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
4. Steve Sarkisian, Alabama Offensive Coordinator
Sarkisian is in his second season back at Alabama as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Prior to a two-year stint as offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, Sarkisian was an offensive analyst under Nick Saban in 2016 before becoming interim offensive coordinator when Lane Kiffin left for the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic.
Sarkisian is best known for his time at USC, as quarterbacks coach (2001-2003; 2005-2006), offensive coordinator (2007-2008) and eventually back as head coach (2014-2015). A health issue led to his departure before the end of the 2015 season, but he has rebuilt his coaching stock since then.
Counting his five seasons at Washington (2009-2013), Sarkisian is 46-35 as a head coach (.568 winning percentage). His two teams as head coach at USC peaked in the top-10, and given his history with that program he's no stranger to high expectations (rooted in current circumstance or not, which is a striking similarity between Texas and USC right now).
Sarkisian's resume as an offensive mind stands solidly, with a sprinkling of NFL experience. He's a little outside the box, as least when candidates for a job like Texas are considered, but the way Herman's tenure has gone means no stone should go unturned.
Next: No. 3
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Credit: David Purdy/Getty Images
3. Matt Campbell, Iowa State Head Coach
If Texas looks to replace Herman, maybe they'll look no further than the opposite sideline at Darrell Royal Stadium on Friday. Campbell has the Cyclones at 7-2 this year, with wins over Oklahoma and Texas to make a Big 12 Championship Game berth a mere formality.
Campbell will have some options if he wants to leave Ames, from Michigan if Jim Harbaugh is gone to the NFL if teams want to make another run at him. Where Texas might fit on his radar if it were open is unclear. Though he did offer a window into what he thought about the Longhorns (or probably more specifically Herman) after Iowa State's second straight win in the series, with a "we're not a five-star factory" comment.
Campbell is building something of his own at Iowa State, from 3-9 in his first season to a conference title game looming in his fifth (30-18 over the last four seasons now). Including his time at Toledo, he has a .618 winning percentage as head coach (68-42).
Texas once would have been a huge step up in job for a rising coach like Campbell. Now, it might be more of a lateral move for him based on what he's doing at Iowa State (which shows no signs of slowing down). And if it comes down to it, his Ohio roots may lead him to prefer Michigan over Texas if both jobs were open and all things were equal.
That said, Del Conte should be making a list of candidates to replace Herman and Campbell's name should be toward the top. Simple due diligence says to at least make Campbell turn down an interview.
Next: No. 2
© Provided by Fansided Gary Patterson, TCU Horned Frogs
Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports
2. Gary Patterson, TCU Head Coach
Patterson seems entrenched at TCU for as long as he wants the job, now into his 20th full season as the Horned Frogs' coach with a .703 winning percentage (175-74). But a 7-6 record in 2018 and a 5-7 record in 2019 has been followed by a 3-4 mark so far this season (heading into Saturday night against 0-7 Kansas). Since an 11-2 run in 2015, TCU has won more than seven games once (11-3 in 2017). Counting this season before Saturday night's game, they are 21-24 in the other four of the last five seasons. After 12, 11 and 11 wins in 2014, 2015 and 2017, the results aren't what they were for Patterson.
There are no indications Patterson is in danger of being fired, or that he's at all compelled to leave TCU. He is under contract through 2024, and USA TODAY's salary database has him as the ninth-highest-paid coach in the country this year ($6.13 million). So he wouldn't be leaving for a raise in pay anywhere, and Herman is actually making less than he is this year ($5.827 million).
Patterson was easily mentioned as a candidate for other, bigger jobs (at least based on perception). He always resisted too, as TCU has tacked years onto his contract. But it's worth wondering if this year's incident with repeating a player's use of a racial slur will start to impact recruiting, especially with the wealth of talent in the Dallas-Forth Worth area that needs to tap into. Early returns on the 2021 class are not good (108th in the country, last in the Big 12, according to 247 Sports).
Texas is plenty familiar with Patterson over years in the Big 12, and the Longhorns lost to the Horned Frogs earlier this season for the sixth time in the last seven years. Could they fire Herman and look at the established guy at an upstate rival?
Next: No. 1
© Provided by Fansided Texas football Tom Herman replacements
Credit: Chris Gardner/Getty Images
1. Graham Harrell, USC Offensive Coordinator
Harrell is in his second season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at USC, as he was the pivot when Kliff Kingsbury moved to the NFL's Arizona Cardinals without even coaching a spring practice session.
A record-setting quarterback at Texas Tech, Harrell has made a successful move into coaching. He started with a reunion with Mike Leach (his head coach at Texas Tech) as outside wide receivers coach at Washington State in 2014 and 2015, then he moved on to be offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at North Texas from 2016-2018. In 2017 and 2018, the Mean Green were top-26 in the country in scoring, total and passing offense.
Last year, in Harrell's first season running the show, USC was top-25 in the country in total offense, passing offense, completion percentage, third-down percentage and first downs. True freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis set multiple records.
Harrell is sure to get some head coaching interest after the season. It's just a matter of who might entertain interviewing him, and what head coaching gig he'd leave USC for among those that may be out there. He was born in Brownwood, Texas, went to high school in Ennis, played collegiately in Lubbock and started to build his own resume as an offensive mind in Denton before heading for USC.
Herman's buyout will be a thing, even if Texas has the ability to absorb it. So going toward a lesser name that will come a little cheaper to replace him feels possible. Harrell has deep Texas roots, and he will bring the Air Raid offense with him to Austin. Based purely on a fresh perspective and the excitement of an offense that look innovative and highly productive, Harrell may be just the spark Longhorns' football needs.
Next: 25 highest-paid college football coaches in 2020
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