https://theathletic.com/1245631/201...hands-twin-expertise-of-coaching-and-cooking/
AUSTIN, Texas — A few minutes ago, Herb Hand was teaching Georgia Tech transfer Parker Braun the finer points of a pass set out of a two-point stance. Now? Hand is waxing rhapsodic about sous-videcooking.
“Let’s say you’re doing a steak,” the Texas offensive line coach says. “I’d set the water temperature to 130 or 129. You put it in there and you leave it in there for two hours, three hours. And it cooks it to that temperature because it keeps the water at a constant temperature. You take it out, pull it out of the bag and it’s already cooked. You could eat it like that, but you want to get a little crust on it — a little caramelization. So you throw it in a pan, sear it up.”
These two moments encapsulate Hand’s two favorite things. He loves offensive line play. Reach blocks. Double-teaming and then scraping off to the linebacker. Slide protection. But he might love cooking even more. If he can bake it, broil it, sear it, smoke it or sous-vide it and then serve it to his players or fellow coaches, he’s game. So explaining how to use an immersion circulator comes as naturally to him as explaining how to plant to stop a bull rush.
“Food for me has always been an expression of love,” says Hand, who played in college for the NCAA Division III Hamilton Continentals and who also has worked at West Virginia, Tulsa, Vanderbilt, Penn State and Auburn. “You say ‘Look what I made for you. I put in a lot of effort and time. I put a lot of love in this thing to nourish your body but also to see you enjoy it.’ ”
That love sprang from working in the kitchen with his mother, Marilyn Needham. Hand had a blended family that included two siblings and three stepsiblings, and each kid had assigned chores each night. One night, Hand would be assigned to help his mother cook. Another, he might be required to take out the garbage or do the dishes. “I loved to cook,” Hand says. “I hated doing dishes. So I’d always trade off.”
That love followed Hand into his first coaching job as a graduate assistant at West Virginia Wesleyan. “Back then I would make what I’d call gourmet pizzas for my guys,” Hand says. “I was on a GA’s budget.” So Hand would experiment with toppings most college students would eschew. Crab on a pizza? His guys ate it and loved it.
Later, Hand began using his culinary skills to land recruits. When tight end Sean Dowling visited Vanderbilt in 2012, Hand could have taken Dowling and his mother for a swanky dinner at one of Nashville’s many fine restaurants. But Hand preferred the personal touch. He designed a menu that included a bacon-bleu cheese-honey flatbread as an appetizer and crab-stuffed filet mignon with Bearnaise sauce as the main course. Naturally, Dowling signed with the Commodores.
Before Hand left Vandy, he taped an episode of “Chopped” for The Food Network. On the show, which featured four fathers and originally aired around Father’s Day in 2014, Hand at first wowed the judges with his potato-chip crusted sole with bacon and garlic kale. He got chopped after a judge proclaimed that the Thai peanut sauce — tamarind paste was in his Mystery Basket — he made to go along with pan-seared lamb didn’t feel “finished” because it didn’t contain enough basil or cilantro.
Herb Hand on “Chopped” in 2014. (Courtesy Food Network)
After Hand started earning a Power 5 salary, the occasional family dinners for his offensive linemen grew more elaborate. The constant is that dozens of pounds of meat get vacuumed up by massive humans. Because Hand came to the Longhorns prior to the 2018 season, the preferred main course is exactly what you’d expect a bunch of 300-pound Texans to want. “They like barbecue,” Hand says. On the morning of May 30, Hand fired off a text that read, “It’s going to be a great day to be an O-lineman in Austin, Texas.” Attached to the text was a short video showing Hand clicking open his smoker to reveal three beautiful briskets.
But if the Longhorns block well, they might be in for something a little more high end. “Next time I have them over,” Hand says, “I want to do steaks.” Hand already practiced on the Texas coaching staff. The last time that group came over, Hand made sous-vide ribeyes finished in a cast iron pan. (Except for running backs coach Stan Drayton, who requested salmon. Hand also happily made that.)
Hand’s favorite thing that wife Debbie ever bought is a giant table made of weathered wood. It looks like the sort of thing Vikings would have used for feasting. And because Debbie Hand knows her audience, she also accessorized properly. “It’s got some big-ass chairs,” Herb Hand says. Hand loves that table so much because while it can accommodate his offensive line, it also gives he and Debbie a place to bond with their children Trey, Cade and Bailey over meals.
“You’re breaking bread, you’re sitting down, you’re talking,” Hand says. “You put the phones away. You look each other in the eye. There are so many issues that can be solved at the dinner table. One of the problems is that people don’t break bread together enough anymore. Everybody’s on the run. … It’s always great to slow down and have a good meal.”
AUSTIN, Texas — A few minutes ago, Herb Hand was teaching Georgia Tech transfer Parker Braun the finer points of a pass set out of a two-point stance. Now? Hand is waxing rhapsodic about sous-videcooking.
“Let’s say you’re doing a steak,” the Texas offensive line coach says. “I’d set the water temperature to 130 or 129. You put it in there and you leave it in there for two hours, three hours. And it cooks it to that temperature because it keeps the water at a constant temperature. You take it out, pull it out of the bag and it’s already cooked. You could eat it like that, but you want to get a little crust on it — a little caramelization. So you throw it in a pan, sear it up.”
These two moments encapsulate Hand’s two favorite things. He loves offensive line play. Reach blocks. Double-teaming and then scraping off to the linebacker. Slide protection. But he might love cooking even more. If he can bake it, broil it, sear it, smoke it or sous-vide it and then serve it to his players or fellow coaches, he’s game. So explaining how to use an immersion circulator comes as naturally to him as explaining how to plant to stop a bull rush.
“Food for me has always been an expression of love,” says Hand, who played in college for the NCAA Division III Hamilton Continentals and who also has worked at West Virginia, Tulsa, Vanderbilt, Penn State and Auburn. “You say ‘Look what I made for you. I put in a lot of effort and time. I put a lot of love in this thing to nourish your body but also to see you enjoy it.’ ”
That love sprang from working in the kitchen with his mother, Marilyn Needham. Hand had a blended family that included two siblings and three stepsiblings, and each kid had assigned chores each night. One night, Hand would be assigned to help his mother cook. Another, he might be required to take out the garbage or do the dishes. “I loved to cook,” Hand says. “I hated doing dishes. So I’d always trade off.”
That love followed Hand into his first coaching job as a graduate assistant at West Virginia Wesleyan. “Back then I would make what I’d call gourmet pizzas for my guys,” Hand says. “I was on a GA’s budget.” So Hand would experiment with toppings most college students would eschew. Crab on a pizza? His guys ate it and loved it.
Later, Hand began using his culinary skills to land recruits. When tight end Sean Dowling visited Vanderbilt in 2012, Hand could have taken Dowling and his mother for a swanky dinner at one of Nashville’s many fine restaurants. But Hand preferred the personal touch. He designed a menu that included a bacon-bleu cheese-honey flatbread as an appetizer and crab-stuffed filet mignon with Bearnaise sauce as the main course. Naturally, Dowling signed with the Commodores.
Before Hand left Vandy, he taped an episode of “Chopped” for The Food Network. On the show, which featured four fathers and originally aired around Father’s Day in 2014, Hand at first wowed the judges with his potato-chip crusted sole with bacon and garlic kale. He got chopped after a judge proclaimed that the Thai peanut sauce — tamarind paste was in his Mystery Basket — he made to go along with pan-seared lamb didn’t feel “finished” because it didn’t contain enough basil or cilantro.
Herb Hand on “Chopped” in 2014. (Courtesy Food Network)
After Hand started earning a Power 5 salary, the occasional family dinners for his offensive linemen grew more elaborate. The constant is that dozens of pounds of meat get vacuumed up by massive humans. Because Hand came to the Longhorns prior to the 2018 season, the preferred main course is exactly what you’d expect a bunch of 300-pound Texans to want. “They like barbecue,” Hand says. On the morning of May 30, Hand fired off a text that read, “It’s going to be a great day to be an O-lineman in Austin, Texas.” Attached to the text was a short video showing Hand clicking open his smoker to reveal three beautiful briskets.
But if the Longhorns block well, they might be in for something a little more high end. “Next time I have them over,” Hand says, “I want to do steaks.” Hand already practiced on the Texas coaching staff. The last time that group came over, Hand made sous-vide ribeyes finished in a cast iron pan. (Except for running backs coach Stan Drayton, who requested salmon. Hand also happily made that.)
Hand’s favorite thing that wife Debbie ever bought is a giant table made of weathered wood. It looks like the sort of thing Vikings would have used for feasting. And because Debbie Hand knows her audience, she also accessorized properly. “It’s got some big-ass chairs,” Herb Hand says. Hand loves that table so much because while it can accommodate his offensive line, it also gives he and Debbie a place to bond with their children Trey, Cade and Bailey over meals.
“You’re breaking bread, you’re sitting down, you’re talking,” Hand says. “You put the phones away. You look each other in the eye. There are so many issues that can be solved at the dinner table. One of the problems is that people don’t break bread together enough anymore. Everybody’s on the run. … It’s always great to slow down and have a good meal.”
