Not much has changed from Saturday night after the game. Really, really proud of mood and resiliency of the team. A lot of teams would have splintered at this point, but feels the guys realize it's much better to be close than far away. The losses may hurt a little more, but that's okay ... losses should hurt. Allows them learning opportunities to grow. Guys have embraced that.
Have lots of learning to do, especially on the offensive side of the ball. They're committed to doing that and making sure they break through that barrier and wind up winning games like they had on Saturday.
Not proud of the way they played offensively on Saturday, but proud of the commitment level showed by players and staff.
Ehlinger and Shackelford both in concussion protocol, both day to day. Reggie Hemphill-Mapps sprained knee, won't be ready tomorrow, hoping by mid to late week he'll be available. Kyle Porter back, somewhat symptom free, should be back in action on Saturday.
Ehlinger's issue came up after the game, after media stuff. That's when medical guys noticed something was happening. Was evaluated, sent home, gave 24 hours and symptoms yesterday so in concussion protocol.
Tim Beck is committed to the run. When you go in with a plan, and that plan doesn't work, you have to adjust. RBs are averaging about 2.7 ypc. You're not going to survive many games running the ball for 2 1/2 yards per carry with your running backs. There's no doubt what they want to be, what they're trying to be, but in the course of the game when you realize you're not there, you have to try to find a way to win the ball game.
On Collin Johnson and Armanti Foreman ... Armanti had a rough couple weeks of practice, is practicing better. RHM and Jerrod Heard earned their playing time. That could change this week with RHM's injury status and Heard possibly having to take QB reps. On Johnson, Dorian Leonard practiced better and played better against OU. Each game and each week of practice is an independent event, doesn't know many teams where it's not.
Thinks a lot is made out of team not having a "winning attitude," but feels that with the way they train, if they trust their training, the wins take care of themselves regardless of who they're playing. Had a great week of preparation last week. Thinks what you're seeing is that if you play hard, play physical, you have a chance to be in every ball game. That's exciting for the guys to have that tangible proof. Play hard, play physical and you can be within one possession of some of the top teams in the country. Now play harder, play smarter, combine it all and that's when the next steps will be taken.
On changing the offense to what they did last year .. had a Doak Walker award winner, all-American LT and two really good tight ends. Texas is trying to work on utilizing their talent to maximize their abilities.
On OL ... not where they need them to be. They're growing, inexperienced, which is not an excuse. If Derek Kerstetter misses a block, they don't tell him it's okay because he's a freshman, it's a big deal. But when you have all these freshmen on the field at the same time, there aren't many places in college football where that's a sustainable recipe. You have to be creative in what your'e asking all that youth to do and have to be smart with it. Applauds the tenacity of the OL, but they're nowhere near where they need to be.
Breckyn Hager ... great story from a guy who was a bit of a tweener. The one thing he does is gives you effort. Have settled in with him at defensive end. Credit to the staff with their personnel package, went to their lightning defensive package against 10 and 11 personnel, which worked really well. Hager will see his role increase, especially as he gets better against the run, but had a heck of a game.
On personnel (Armanti and Foreman), that's a Herman call, always.
On Heard, it will depend on the next couple days with Ehlinger. If he's progressing, and he could be cleared in a few days, but if he has any setbacks, that restarts the clock. If they think Sam will be back, Heard will do both QB and WR. If they don't think Sam will be back, he'll probably be in the QB game full-time.
On motivation against Baylor this week ... He'd be shocked if they didn't come out and have a great day of practice tomorrow. Turn on the film on Baylor. It's a team that was ahead of OU in the fourth quarter, had a chance to tie WVU with 17 seconds in the left. If you're looking at their record, you're looking at the wrong thing. It's a good team, and it's a team that's hungry for a win. Told the team, they're not good enough to not play their A game and beat anybody, but also told them if they play their A game, they can beat anybody.
On Buechele ... as good probably as he'll be all season (health). Still wearing a brace on the ankle, showed a lot more zip on his throws last week. Hadn't been able to push off that ankle in previous weeks, but was able to do some of that last week. Did well yesterday.
On the last play of the OSU game, was the exact same play Clemson ran to get the win against Alabama in the national championship game. The end result was disastrous, especially considering the reminder of everybody to protect the football in that situation. Still breathing with a FG, die with a turnover and they turned the ball over. They've had that play for a while against teams that play tight man coverage in the red zone. Could have been run better, obviously.
Couldn't be more proud of the way Buechele has handled everything this year. Herman tells him thank you for being there for Ehlinger, for the entire team as a leader. He's handled it magnificently, will handle this next phase magnificently. If they need to go with him, nobody will bat an eye.
On if this has been tougher than he anticipated ... He anticipated difficulty, there's no secret to that. Goes back to when you tell the woman you love you want to be a college FB coach, here's what it's going to entail. You're so in love, you think it'll be great but when you're moving every two or three years and living in places you've never imagined, the reality of how difficult it is sets in, but the commitment you made to your partner overrides everything. That's kind of where he is now. It's hard to lose, but the commitment to place he loves supersedes any difficulties they may face and makes it a little easier to come to work every day.
The throw game can probably open up a little with Shane in. Have to be cautious though. There hasn't been a successful run or pass play, ever, without it being blocked well. Every game plan starts up front, what they can do up front against the defense. Shane, with his experience and level of understanding the throw game is good, still not great. He still doesn't have a lot of experience, but thinks you can do a few more things with Shane. Shane can make every throw in the book, which opens some different routes, but you also have to protect too.
Malik Jefferson has been one of the really cool stories to watch. His growth and development, he's really proud of Malik and Todd Orlando. Malik playing with aggressiveness and lack of hesitation. When you combine those things with physical abilities, look out. He's not perfect, came off one time mad because he went to the wrong gap and OSU had an 8-yard run. That was good to see.
Message to the staff ... don't panic. The process, the way they do things is not going to change. They have to get better on offense. They have changed quite a bit and morphed quite a bit on offense, but have not found the right combination. Have talked about reducing the package to something very limited that guys can rep over and over, but they have evolved. Need to continue to evolve because what they did on Saturday isn't good enough. Biggest message is don't panic, because kids know when there's hesitation or disbelief, and there's been zero of that.
On lack of student attendance ... was disappointed. If there's one thing you've learned from Herman, he's honest. He was disappointed. They have to win, so some of that is on them. Was disappointed that they had performed to the point where the students had that kind of apathy. They have to do a better job, he has to do a better job of endearing himself to the students. Thought he had done that with some of the things like student appreciation practice. Have to do better. Marketing and fan engagement have to do better, he has to do better, students have to do better. But it was disappointing.
On Baylor QB Charlie Brewer ... will probably get scouting report on him from Cade Brewer. What you see from Charlie, he extends plays with his feet, isn't afraid of the moment. When you play at Lake Travis, that's to be expected. Very similar to Sam, has played in some really, really big games. Brewer is a handful at QB because of the ability to move around with his feet and buy time. They expect to see him.
That's it for today.
Have lots of learning to do, especially on the offensive side of the ball. They're committed to doing that and making sure they break through that barrier and wind up winning games like they had on Saturday.
Not proud of the way they played offensively on Saturday, but proud of the commitment level showed by players and staff.
Ehlinger and Shackelford both in concussion protocol, both day to day. Reggie Hemphill-Mapps sprained knee, won't be ready tomorrow, hoping by mid to late week he'll be available. Kyle Porter back, somewhat symptom free, should be back in action on Saturday.
Ehlinger's issue came up after the game, after media stuff. That's when medical guys noticed something was happening. Was evaluated, sent home, gave 24 hours and symptoms yesterday so in concussion protocol.
Tim Beck is committed to the run. When you go in with a plan, and that plan doesn't work, you have to adjust. RBs are averaging about 2.7 ypc. You're not going to survive many games running the ball for 2 1/2 yards per carry with your running backs. There's no doubt what they want to be, what they're trying to be, but in the course of the game when you realize you're not there, you have to try to find a way to win the ball game.
On Collin Johnson and Armanti Foreman ... Armanti had a rough couple weeks of practice, is practicing better. RHM and Jerrod Heard earned their playing time. That could change this week with RHM's injury status and Heard possibly having to take QB reps. On Johnson, Dorian Leonard practiced better and played better against OU. Each game and each week of practice is an independent event, doesn't know many teams where it's not.
Thinks a lot is made out of team not having a "winning attitude," but feels that with the way they train, if they trust their training, the wins take care of themselves regardless of who they're playing. Had a great week of preparation last week. Thinks what you're seeing is that if you play hard, play physical, you have a chance to be in every ball game. That's exciting for the guys to have that tangible proof. Play hard, play physical and you can be within one possession of some of the top teams in the country. Now play harder, play smarter, combine it all and that's when the next steps will be taken.
On changing the offense to what they did last year .. had a Doak Walker award winner, all-American LT and two really good tight ends. Texas is trying to work on utilizing their talent to maximize their abilities.
On OL ... not where they need them to be. They're growing, inexperienced, which is not an excuse. If Derek Kerstetter misses a block, they don't tell him it's okay because he's a freshman, it's a big deal. But when you have all these freshmen on the field at the same time, there aren't many places in college football where that's a sustainable recipe. You have to be creative in what your'e asking all that youth to do and have to be smart with it. Applauds the tenacity of the OL, but they're nowhere near where they need to be.
Breckyn Hager ... great story from a guy who was a bit of a tweener. The one thing he does is gives you effort. Have settled in with him at defensive end. Credit to the staff with their personnel package, went to their lightning defensive package against 10 and 11 personnel, which worked really well. Hager will see his role increase, especially as he gets better against the run, but had a heck of a game.
On personnel (Armanti and Foreman), that's a Herman call, always.
On Heard, it will depend on the next couple days with Ehlinger. If he's progressing, and he could be cleared in a few days, but if he has any setbacks, that restarts the clock. If they think Sam will be back, Heard will do both QB and WR. If they don't think Sam will be back, he'll probably be in the QB game full-time.
On motivation against Baylor this week ... He'd be shocked if they didn't come out and have a great day of practice tomorrow. Turn on the film on Baylor. It's a team that was ahead of OU in the fourth quarter, had a chance to tie WVU with 17 seconds in the left. If you're looking at their record, you're looking at the wrong thing. It's a good team, and it's a team that's hungry for a win. Told the team, they're not good enough to not play their A game and beat anybody, but also told them if they play their A game, they can beat anybody.
On Buechele ... as good probably as he'll be all season (health). Still wearing a brace on the ankle, showed a lot more zip on his throws last week. Hadn't been able to push off that ankle in previous weeks, but was able to do some of that last week. Did well yesterday.
On the last play of the OSU game, was the exact same play Clemson ran to get the win against Alabama in the national championship game. The end result was disastrous, especially considering the reminder of everybody to protect the football in that situation. Still breathing with a FG, die with a turnover and they turned the ball over. They've had that play for a while against teams that play tight man coverage in the red zone. Could have been run better, obviously.
Couldn't be more proud of the way Buechele has handled everything this year. Herman tells him thank you for being there for Ehlinger, for the entire team as a leader. He's handled it magnificently, will handle this next phase magnificently. If they need to go with him, nobody will bat an eye.
On if this has been tougher than he anticipated ... He anticipated difficulty, there's no secret to that. Goes back to when you tell the woman you love you want to be a college FB coach, here's what it's going to entail. You're so in love, you think it'll be great but when you're moving every two or three years and living in places you've never imagined, the reality of how difficult it is sets in, but the commitment you made to your partner overrides everything. That's kind of where he is now. It's hard to lose, but the commitment to place he loves supersedes any difficulties they may face and makes it a little easier to come to work every day.
The throw game can probably open up a little with Shane in. Have to be cautious though. There hasn't been a successful run or pass play, ever, without it being blocked well. Every game plan starts up front, what they can do up front against the defense. Shane, with his experience and level of understanding the throw game is good, still not great. He still doesn't have a lot of experience, but thinks you can do a few more things with Shane. Shane can make every throw in the book, which opens some different routes, but you also have to protect too.
Malik Jefferson has been one of the really cool stories to watch. His growth and development, he's really proud of Malik and Todd Orlando. Malik playing with aggressiveness and lack of hesitation. When you combine those things with physical abilities, look out. He's not perfect, came off one time mad because he went to the wrong gap and OSU had an 8-yard run. That was good to see.
Message to the staff ... don't panic. The process, the way they do things is not going to change. They have to get better on offense. They have changed quite a bit and morphed quite a bit on offense, but have not found the right combination. Have talked about reducing the package to something very limited that guys can rep over and over, but they have evolved. Need to continue to evolve because what they did on Saturday isn't good enough. Biggest message is don't panic, because kids know when there's hesitation or disbelief, and there's been zero of that.
On lack of student attendance ... was disappointed. If there's one thing you've learned from Herman, he's honest. He was disappointed. They have to win, so some of that is on them. Was disappointed that they had performed to the point where the students had that kind of apathy. They have to do a better job, he has to do a better job of endearing himself to the students. Thought he had done that with some of the things like student appreciation practice. Have to do better. Marketing and fan engagement have to do better, he has to do better, students have to do better. But it was disappointing.
On Baylor QB Charlie Brewer ... will probably get scouting report on him from Cade Brewer. What you see from Charlie, he extends plays with his feet, isn't afraid of the moment. When you play at Lake Travis, that's to be expected. Very similar to Sam, has played in some really, really big games. Brewer is a handful at QB because of the ability to move around with his feet and buy time. They expect to see him.
That's it for today.
