Earlier this week, I was able to catch up with a couple media sources who have covered Tom Herman and some of the current UT assistants closely throughout their careers. I wanted to get their thoughts on Herman and his staff as recruiters, and get a general idea of what fans can expect at Texas.
I was going to run these in the War Room on Thursday, but didn’t want them to get lost in the shuffle with all the recruiting updates, facilities talk, etc. I’m not going to dress these up with a bunch of useless words … instead I’ll just present them in Q&A form.
Source 1 on Herman as a recruiter:
“He's a rock star. He goes into tough areas and gets it done. At Ohio State, he was in Dallas/Fort Worth where they hadn't done much of anything, and he was able to go in there and get guys like J.T. Barrett, Demetrius Knox, who a lot of schools wanted. They had moved him into Houston and Atlanta a little bit before he got the Houston job. High school kids love him, coaches love hm. He attacks it. He gets the whole thing. He gets the relationship part of it, the energy. He just gets it.”
Source 1 on what Texas can expect from Herman as a recruiter:
“I would be shocked if he wasn't a consistent top five class type of guy at Texas. I would be really surprised. He knows the state so well, will do a great job mending the fences there. I think he'll be very strategic out of state, identifying areas where there's a relationship with someone on the staff or something like that, attacking those areas and cherry picking out of state - what Urban Meyer has done at Ohio State, and has kind of passed on to Herman. They're both very close still.”
Source 1 on handling all the different facets of the Texas head coaching job:
“He's good at managing people, managing personalities, knowing what comes with the job. I'm sure like anyone, he doesn’t want too many cooks in the kitchen, but I think he’s the right personality to handle that stuff. Actually, that’s one thing he may be better at than Urban - Urban can be abrasive.”
Source 2 on his experience covering Herman:
"At first, he was just an Xs and Os guy as far as game plan. He was always in his office working late, just a student of the game. He’s going to put in the extra work. He reminds me of a younger Saban when it comes to game planning. They always say nobody is going to out-prepare Saban. I feel the same way with Herman, at least from an offensive standpoint.”
Source 2 on how Herman handles his team:
“He's a guy you're going to have to earn his respect. You’re to have to fight, put 110 percent effort in to earn his respect. You see a lot of stuff with him hugging his players and stuff, that's just the way he is. That's true to him, but he can be abrasive at times. But it's football, there's nothing soft about football. He puts all his effort into it, a full day and then some, and that's what he expects of his players. It won't be a surprise to me if you see this tough love go on through spring ball and then some. He doesn't want weaknesses in the chain. He wants a certain type of player. He's going to find those people and they’re not going to survive that program. It's a different type of practice. Some people can't believe what they do to get them physically and mentally ready. There's a reason he has six wins against AP top 25. That's not a fluke thing.”
Source 2 on new UT assistant coach Jason Washington:
“He's a hustler. You can see a small sample in the few days he's been on staff. He's 100 percent hustle when it comes to recruiting. He knows the Central Texas area. He recruited that area at Texas State, Rice, Houston. He can walk into coaches' offices and people know him. Doors just seem to open for the guy. He's a great personality, commands respect when he speaks. He's a guy people want to play for when they talk to him. He’s a product of a Texas high school, played in the state of Texas, has coached only in the state of Texas. He knows talent and where to get it.”
I was going to run these in the War Room on Thursday, but didn’t want them to get lost in the shuffle with all the recruiting updates, facilities talk, etc. I’m not going to dress these up with a bunch of useless words … instead I’ll just present them in Q&A form.
Source 1 on Herman as a recruiter:
“He's a rock star. He goes into tough areas and gets it done. At Ohio State, he was in Dallas/Fort Worth where they hadn't done much of anything, and he was able to go in there and get guys like J.T. Barrett, Demetrius Knox, who a lot of schools wanted. They had moved him into Houston and Atlanta a little bit before he got the Houston job. High school kids love him, coaches love hm. He attacks it. He gets the whole thing. He gets the relationship part of it, the energy. He just gets it.”
Source 1 on what Texas can expect from Herman as a recruiter:
“I would be shocked if he wasn't a consistent top five class type of guy at Texas. I would be really surprised. He knows the state so well, will do a great job mending the fences there. I think he'll be very strategic out of state, identifying areas where there's a relationship with someone on the staff or something like that, attacking those areas and cherry picking out of state - what Urban Meyer has done at Ohio State, and has kind of passed on to Herman. They're both very close still.”
Source 1 on handling all the different facets of the Texas head coaching job:
“He's good at managing people, managing personalities, knowing what comes with the job. I'm sure like anyone, he doesn’t want too many cooks in the kitchen, but I think he’s the right personality to handle that stuff. Actually, that’s one thing he may be better at than Urban - Urban can be abrasive.”
Source 2 on his experience covering Herman:
"At first, he was just an Xs and Os guy as far as game plan. He was always in his office working late, just a student of the game. He’s going to put in the extra work. He reminds me of a younger Saban when it comes to game planning. They always say nobody is going to out-prepare Saban. I feel the same way with Herman, at least from an offensive standpoint.”
Source 2 on how Herman handles his team:
“He's a guy you're going to have to earn his respect. You’re to have to fight, put 110 percent effort in to earn his respect. You see a lot of stuff with him hugging his players and stuff, that's just the way he is. That's true to him, but he can be abrasive at times. But it's football, there's nothing soft about football. He puts all his effort into it, a full day and then some, and that's what he expects of his players. It won't be a surprise to me if you see this tough love go on through spring ball and then some. He doesn't want weaknesses in the chain. He wants a certain type of player. He's going to find those people and they’re not going to survive that program. It's a different type of practice. Some people can't believe what they do to get them physically and mentally ready. There's a reason he has six wins against AP top 25. That's not a fluke thing.”
Source 2 on new UT assistant coach Jason Washington:
“He's a hustler. You can see a small sample in the few days he's been on staff. He's 100 percent hustle when it comes to recruiting. He knows the Central Texas area. He recruited that area at Texas State, Rice, Houston. He can walk into coaches' offices and people know him. Doors just seem to open for the guy. He's a great personality, commands respect when he speaks. He's a guy people want to play for when they talk to him. He’s a product of a Texas high school, played in the state of Texas, has coached only in the state of Texas. He knows talent and where to get it.”
