Photo via the Houston Chronicle
It has been hard to ignore the tone of Texas football coach Tom Herman since preseason camp began.
Herman spoke to the media after practice six times this past week. His direct manner of speaking remained the same. He gave honest assessments of players and staff members. Herman was quizzed on nearly every technical aspect of his team and answered every question. In that regard, nothing about Herman was different during the first week of camp.
However, one aspect of Herman’s postgame press conferences was evident.
Herman really likes his football team.
Longhorn fans should be ecstatic.
Instead of pointing out how guys have not met his expectations, Herman consistently recognized players who have been killing it in practice. Herman praised players and his team's effort during each media availability. The man who always found a way to constructively criticize his team had nothing but positive things to say during a six-day stretch. Honestly, it appears Herman is drinking the burnt orange Kool-Aid he is pouring, and fans are enjoying the taste of potential success this season just as much as him.
During a post-practice interview session on Friday, I asked Herman about his recent shift to Mr. Nice Guy. I pointed out how he went from challenging his players and pointing out areas of improvement to being a guy who is constantly praising his team. I asked if the tone change meant players are now meeting his expectations.
“I felt that, too,” Herman said. “I went back and watched a few of these (practices). Yeah, that’s the only conclusion probably you can draw. Again, I’m glad we don’t play tomorrow. We’re not a finished product by any stretch, but for the most part, they’re doing what we’ve asked them to do.
Check out these before and after observations from Herman.
Before
Herman on the first day of spring practice: “We sprint at the end of stretch, 10 yards. We do plus-2 around here. Any 10-yards drill should not be pulled up until after 12 yards. They kept pulling up. They kept testing the fence. ‘(Buzzing sound), is it still on? Yeah, it’s still on.’ A lot of you guys were there. How many times did I call them back?”
After
Herman on Friday: “I was anticipating how we would respond to putting full pads on. Four really tough days, and long days leading up to it. They guys came out with a lot of juice. It was hot. The last couple of days we hadn’t seen the sun very much, but the sun was beating down pretty good on us today. Credit to coach [Yancy] McKnight and his staff.”
Before
Herman on Shane Buechele during the first day of spring practice: “Shane Buechele got disciplined as hard as anybody got disciplined today on the field. That’s the way we do things around here. He was loose with the football and every single offensive coach undressed him. (Buechele) did up-downs, the whole nine. I’m not sure that’s the way things have been done around here before, but it’s pretty good for the average Joe to (see) there are no favorites, no teacher’s pet, and there’s no doghouse.”
After
Herman after Saturday’s scrimmage: “I heard him scream, which is really cool. In enjoyment and in disapproval, hearing his voice is really cool. I think even the players told him your voice is really powerful. It can have a dramatic effect on the way that we respond, whether it’s to success or to failure. What you say and how you say it has an effect. I think he’s taking that to heart and done a really good job. It’s not forced, either. He’s just expressing what he was feeling inside, where before I think he kept it all to himself.”
Before
Herman during offseason workouts: “You've got to learn how to run full speed to the whistle. We've got to learn how to take the field. We've got to learn how to do the job off the field. We've got to learn everything that’s important in winning. I told the offensive and defensive staffs, I said, in front of their players, the plays don’t matter. They don’t. I’ve said it time and time again. There’s no secret offense or secret defense. Teach them how to go hard. That’s the only objective, to go hard. Guess what? It’s a lot harder to go hard when you’re tired, when you’re out of shape and when it’s period 24. It’s a lot harder. We’re getting there.”
Photo via TexasSports.com
After
Herman after his team’s second preseason practice: ““We are practicing without pads, just from a positivity standpoint … I don’t know. You guys always like me to quantify - 10 times better than we did in the spring. Much better than any places I’ve been. That’s attributed to the guys buying in and going hard, but also the functional leg strength and hip strength that we have to stay up, and using our techniques and our hands. That all ties together, so, we’re going really, really hard and really fast without pads on. Everybody is staying up and staying injury free.”
Before
Herman on linebacker Malik Jefferson in this new defense: “He likes it, I know that. He is adjusting daily to the expectations of him playing with lower pad level, playing more aggressive, playing more physical, and he wants to. It’s a learned habit that’s going to take a while. I’ve seen it done many times before. Playing with low pad level, and playing not tentative, but not thinking. A lot of that, pad level and playing low, is leg strength. That will come. Playing aggressively will come when the defense is second nature to you. The good thing is the want-to is there. I see him getting better every day.”
After
Herman on Jefferson during preseason practice: "He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do and more, which is fantastic. I think he has focused his energy into not just being a better linebacker, but a better teammate and a better leader. The dividends have been paying off. Obviously, we won’t know for sure until Saturdays in the fall … I made a comment. I sat in the linebacker meeting room the other night and just how different his body looked just on video running around out there, his lower body, specifically. I think he’s proud of that. He’s doing a really good job.”
Before
Herman on his "fat" defensive lineman: “The effort as a group has not been to our requirements here in this program. I think we’d know a lot more if some of these really fat guys lost some weight.”
After
Herman on his defensive line being able to pressure the quarterback during Big 12 Media Days: “You guys will find that in our scheme, a lot of the pressure on the quarterback [Herman paused] … The answer is yes. But, it’s going to come from what coach [Todd] Orlando [defensive coordinator] and the defensive staff call in terms in of pressure. If you line up in a 3-4, and you line up your ends against the offensive tackles, and your nose guard head-up the center, you’re going to get a good pass rush? No, you’re not going to because the angles and all of that stuff is not there. What do you have to do? You have to move them, you got to bring linebackers, bring four guys, bring five guys, and still be sound on the back end. Now, kick us over to a 4-3 where you’re on the outside edge of the guard, and the outside edge of the tackles, and yeah, you have a chance with guys like Malcolm [Roach], who can do that at defensive edge. I think the pressure on quarterback is going to come from slanting and moving and bringing people. Not necessarily the blitzers always being the one getting home, but the fact that you are blitzing one or two guys allows the defensive lineman to get on the edge of an offensive lineman to get free.”
Herman has praised his team so much, it was worth asking him a follow-up question this past week.
Are you nervous about being happy with your team so early into preseason camp?
“Yeah,” Herman said. “I don’t know if I’m ever happy. That’s pretty exaggerated. You’re proud of the guys for doing that. We’re a very honest, transparent program. When they’re doing well, they’re going to be told keep it and get better. When they’re not meeting expectations, they’re going to be told that, too, and be taught how to do that.”
Herman’s lesson to everybody is he really likes this football team.
It is really hard to ignore.
Longhorn fans should be ecstatic.
Photo via MyStatesman.com
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
Damn, Jacksonville
Remind me to never step a foot into this nightclub (most of us have never seen anything like this)
Chose your favorite
Wait for it, wait for it …
Sports On A Dime
1. After seeing the physical transformation of this team and hearing Herman’s optimism, I am beginning to believe eight wins this season is the floor, with 10 victories as a realistically possibility. Obviously, we are a long way before the season opener against Maryland, but if you look at last year's losses against Cal, Oklahoma, Kansas State, West Virginia and Kansas, the average margin of defeat in those games was four points. There could have been 10 wins if little things did not fall through the cracks. Herman’s attention to detail is why this team has the potential to surprise college football fans this year.
2. Props to center Zach Shackelford for working his way back into the starting rotation. I was not sure if Shackelford would get his spot back from Jake McMillon, but he recovered from an ankle injury that kept him out of the spring game and has won over the staff.
3. It has been pretty amazing to see P.J. Locke’s emergence into a team leader. Locke verbally committed to Oregon in 2014, but always wanted to play for Texas. Even though Locke was committed to Oregon, he still had University of Texas posters and gear in his room. It took a last minute decommitment from safety Jamile Johnson, who decided to attend Texas Tech, for the Longhorns to offer Locke the weekend before signing day. A few years later, Locke represented the Longhorns at Big 12 Media Days, and is one of Herman’s favorite players. Sometimes you never know how life will work out.
4. Texas strength and conditioning coach Yancy McKnight is a boss. In January, the title of my weekly column read “Tom Herman loves strength coach Yancy McKnight, so will you’. Here was McKnight's prophetic response when asked how he will build relationships and bodies of players this offseason.
“Relationships. Just because I’m a coach, there are some respect factors that you are going to have automatically because you’re a coach, but at the same time, respect and trust is not given. That goes for both sides. I told them that. I don’t expect them right this minute to respect me completely, or trust me completely, yet. I’m going to work day and night, every minute, to earn it from them, and likewise.
“But it’s also really easy to lose it. It’s not really breaking them down. That’s not really it. They’re going to work. We’re going to work hard. We’re going to work smart and do those things. They’re going to train. I think they’re hungry. They (know the) standards that this place has at the University of Texas. They understand that. I think they’re on a mission to change.”
5. When Herman does his weekly radio show at Pluckers this year, there is a good chance you will hear the voices of other coaches. When Herman was at Houston, he routinely rotated assistant coaches as guests on his weekly radio show. Herman does that because he believes if his assistants want to become head coaches, they must become comfortable communicating their thoughts in a public forum. From what I was told, Herman intends to continue molding his assistants at Texas.
6. Herman allowed media members to watch two practices this past week. In addition, he spoke after his six practices. Here is how Herman’s media access policy stacks up against schools in the SEC:
7. I get the feeling nobody at Texas is bothered by this:
8. The NFL story cannot be written without Jerry Jones. Whether you love him or hate it, Jones deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
9. So much hate in the world:
10. I find it funny that Paulie Malignaggi actually wants us to believe he actually got the best of Conor McGregor during sparring. Paulie, we have seen your recent fights, and everybody knows you have nothing left. Sure, Malignaggi feels like he was exploited. However, he was training McGregor for the notoriety and money. Sparring partners need to know their role.
