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So, about that vacation …
Once I posted my column last week, I expected to be on a beach in Cancun enjoying a few days off. Unfortunately, the vacation had to be postponed at the last minute due to a personal issue that occurred to the person I was traveling with. However, I intended to at least take a few days off and relax after a crazy 2020.
That was before Saturday occurred.
It was hard to nail down one thought for The Sunday Pulpit, and that is why I decided to give you guys a potpourri of topics.
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Let me start by admitting I was wrong.
Dead wrong.
I did not believe Texas would fire Tom Herman for anyone other than a homerun hire. Texas made a run at Urban Meyer, but he turned down UT. After Meyer's rejection, the only other candidates were Notre Dame's Brian Kelly and Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. I was very skeptical about Texas acquiring Kelly because he shared the same agent with Herman. It seemed very unlikely Trace Armstrong, their agent, would spend much time trying to convince Kelly to take the Texas job after Herman's rough year.
However, there was not a media outlet standing on the table proclaiming Sarkisian would replace Herman.
I previously believed if not Urban, then Herman.
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte did not share that opinion.
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It is very clear Del Conte's main focus was replacing Herman at all cost, which is exactly the move many Texas fans wanted.
It would have been easy to keep Herman for one more season and part ways. However, the 2021 recruiting class failed to meet expectations, and Del Conte was well aware of Quinn Ewers' decommitment. There was no hope for the 2022 recruiting class with a lame-duck coach.
In addition, it is clear the BMDs were willing to sign the checks necessary to part ways with Herman, and they made Del Conte listen.
"I know many people will have questions about the financial implications of this decision," Texas President Jay Hartzell said on Saturday. "I want to make sure it's clear to all of you, and everybody, that Texas athletics is a self-sustaining arm of UT that fully supports itself. It's among the very few national athletics programs that gets no revenue from student fees, institutional or state sources. Far from competing with money for students, Texas athletics historically generates funds for students, contributing back to the academic side of the university. We've been able to contribute money to the academic enterprise because we invest in our coaches, our facilities, our athletic program. So, by making these strategic investments we can meet long-term financial goals that allow us to provide money for the academic budget. I view coach Sarkisian as a fantastic investment. One that will benefit our student-athletes, our alumni base, our fans, and the ultimate health of our football program, athletic department, and the benefits those produce for the academic commission."
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Here is a list of what Herman accomplished. Sarkisian needs to know that outside of winning a Big 12 Championship, none of these consolation prizes will matter at Texas.
--- Texas had four straight winning seasons under Herman. Texas finished 7-3 this season, the Longhorn's second-best winning percentage (.700) since Herman finished 10-4 (.714 winning percentage) in 2018. Texas' best winning percentage prior to that season was .929 (13-1) by the 2009 national title runner-up squad.
--- His overall record at Texas as 32-18 (.640 winning percentage) and 54-22 as a head coach (.711 winning percentage).
--- Herman never lost a bowl game at Texas (won four straight). It is the longest Longhorn bowl win streak since Mack Brown's five straight between 2004 and 2008.
--- Sam Ehlinger has an opportunity to be the first Longhorn quarterback drafted since Colt McCoy.
--- Sam Cosmi is a potential first-round pick, and will be the second Texas offensive lineman drafted during Herman's tenure (Connor Williams was a second-round pick by Dallas in 2018). Prior to Herman, the last Texas offensive lineman drafted was Tony Hills in 2008.
--- Mel Kiper listed Texas' Joseph Ossai in his top 25 and the No.2 outside linebacker in the country. Ossai skips will become the second Texas linebacker drafted in the past three seasons.
--- Bijan Robinson has more rushing yards than any 5-star running back in his class. Robinson has 86 carries for 703 yards and four touchdowns this season. The closest running back is TCU's Zach Evans with 54 carries for 415 yards and four touchdowns, while Georgia's Kendall Milton had 35 carries for 193 rushing yards.
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However, The Athletic's Max Olson showed the good and disappointing aspects of Herman's tenure in a recent article:
https://theathletic.com/2297592/2021/01/02/tom-herman-fired-texas-coach/
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Ketch and I were accused of stirring the pot when we noted the ambiguity of Del Conte's vote of confidence in December. Even when local reporters asked Del Conte to clarify his statement and were told Herman would coach the Longhorns in 2021, we remained skeptical.
There was a lot of bad blood created between Del Conte and Herman this year, which did not help Herman's case to remain at Texas after failing to reach the Big 12 title game and a recruiting drop-off.
Life is too short to be unhappy.
I am guessing Del Conte woke up feeling better about the program, while Herman can focus on starting over and finding happiness elsewhere. By the end of this past season, he looked like a coach who lost a lot of weight due to stress.
Here is what I wrote after the Oklahoma loss this season:
"After the game, Herman looked defeated. He reminded me of the President who aged dramatically after four years in office. Herman did not have any answers. He talked about how great practice was last Sunday in an effort to show how close his program is to winning football games like this. The coach did not understand his fan base is more concerned about the product they are witnessing each Saturday.
"This is the moment when you save a fighter from himself. Herman is not winning the way he or the fan base desires. Recruiting is not going well. Literally, a player quit during the middle of a game this season. Longhorn fans are pissed about his team’s lack of participation in The Eyes of Texas. Herman will not throw in the towel, but I sensed if Del Conte tapped him on the shoulder after Saturday’s game and said they should discuss an exit plan, deep down, Herman might be relieved to get out of this situation. That is just my opinion and nothing I heard from my sources. "
It is time for everyone to move on.
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Here are the remaining question-and-answers from Steve Sarkisian's media session on Saturday (he will hold a longer media availability after Alabama's season concludes):
Q: How are you different as a coach now than when you were at Washington and USC?
Sarkisian: "With age comes maturity. When I took over Washington, I accepted the job at 33, and then I was 34 years old. You learn a lot about yourself. When you become a first-time head coach, it's like drinking out of a firehose. I mean there's so many things flying at you. When you're a young head coach, you try to tackle them all on your own. At times you don't instill enough trust and faith in the staff that you hire, but I think having spent some time in the National Football League, and having spent obviously the last two years with Coach Saban here in Alabama, you realize the value in the staff and why you hire such good staff. It's to put people in place to do what they're what you're asking them to do, what they were hired to do. In turn, I think that takes some of the burdens off of your shoulders as the head coach, allows you to manage people, and not overreact to some of the other things that are going on and allow those people to do what they do. I think that keeps you focused. I think it keeps you grounded. I think the other side of it is when you've gone through essentially what I've gone through, but really in the public eye, I don't want to say you're humbled, because you are, but the reality is you do the soul-searching and digging yourself. You do the work and you try to be the best version of Steve Sarkisian. The best version of Sarkisian every day is what will be best for our student-athletes. I've grown a lot. From a maturity standpoint, I think I've grown a lot. Just understanding the players and student-athletes that we deal with every day because ultimately, it's not always about winning the game. Winning the game will be the result of the process [of] putting our players in the best position to be successful in life. When we can teach them to discipline off the field, then ultimately, we'll get the discipline on the field. So, a lot of those things I wasn't nearly as tied into when I first took over Washington, and then ultimately at USC. Through coming here to Alabama and really assessing how Coach Saban does some things, and then looking back on maybe the mistakes I made, I really believe that we've got the right formula for success here, Texas.
Q: Over the past few years many fans have asked, "Is Texas back?" How do you plan on bringing Texas back?
Sarkisian: "First of all, I'd like to say that this is a talented roster. There's plenty of good football players on this team to go win a championship with. Aside from that, you start from the ground up. We have to recruit really well. We have to recruit really well in-state. We cannot let the top talent leave the state of Texas, and cannot leave and go to the SEC or the Big 10. The second thing is we have to be a great developmental staff. I think we have to develop our players. And again, that's easy to look at on the football field, but making sure we're developing them in life, developing them in the classroom. The third thing, I think we have to instill some core standards and beliefs in the program that the players live by. That's a standard of excellence, and that comes from discipline, that comes from mental and physical toughness that's needed to persevere and to win those close games late in the fourth quarter. But again, all of those things are easy to say at an introductory press conference. The real work is doing the work. It's putting in the work and it's holding people accountable, and having players on your team that are great teammates and accountable to one another that do have the discipline the mental and physical toughness to persevere. The game of football is the best sport in the world, right? It's the ultimate team game. You need everybody in that locker room as a driving force in the same direction, and that's my challenge as a coach to get that to get done."
Q: The past two UT coaches talked about turning things around and didn't. What makes you different?
Sarkisian: "I can't comment on what previous people said and or didn't say or did and did not do. All we're going to focus on is who we are and what we're getting done. I think one of the keys to that is you have to have a real foundation for what you believe in and what we believe in. Like I said, when we start talking about discipline, we start talking about mental and physical toughness, we start talking about developing players, again, on-the-field and off-the-field in their personal lives, and you start to develop a culture of one, and one driving force moving in a common direction for a common goal. Then we don't focus so much on the outcome of that "We're back" or the outcome of that there's a championship. Those things will come if we put in the work and we trust the process that we're in. Again, it's not to shy away from the question. We all want Texas to be back. We all believe Texas should be back. That's why I'm taking this job. But the reality of it is we have to put into work. When you put in the work, then you can get the outcomes that you desire. There's no guaranteed promises to this thing here. You got to put in the work. We'll put together great staff. We'll recruit really good players and really good kids on and off-the-field, and then we'll develop a culture and a unity on our team that they can't be broken."
Q: How do you think your offensive system will translate to the Big 12 conference?
Sarkisian: "I believe it'll translate well. It clearly was effective in the PAC-12. It was effective in the National Football League. It was effective in the SEC so far. So, I think it will translate well. It is an attacking style of offensive play, but a physical brand of football. We believe in running the football, and then in turn, creating things in the passing game off of the running game. I've been fortunate enough that I've had an 1,000-yard rusher every year I've called plays in college football. So, there's a definite belief in running the football, but the balanced attack I think is what makes us go. When you put it all together, now you really have to recruit all the positions, right? We're not just a quarterback-driven system, but we definitely need a quarterback to make this go and play at a high level. We've been fortunate enough to have these five or six top-10 NFL draft picks that played quarterback in the system with me. So, all in all, it's a great system. It's quarterback friendly, but yet the runners are explosive. They catch the ball on the backfield. Clearly, the receivers, hopefully, we've got a Heisman Trophy winner here [from] the quarterback or the receiver position here from Alabama here in a couple of days. To make all that go, you need really good offensive linemen, and a balanced attack to do that, so, they got to be run-blockers and pass-protectors. It's a great system because it's versatile. I really believe it'll translate well through Big 12."
Q: Have you had a chance to look at the current Texas football roster, do you anticipate trying to keep him on the roster for a fifth season if possible?
Sarkisian: "Well, clearly, Sam's a heck of a football player. I mean this guy's a tremendous competitor. He's somebody that I'd be remiss not to try to keep around. There's a phone call coming. But, we'll see he's got a personal decision to make. I'll try to guide him as best I can and maybe some of the limited discussions that we'll have. I'll try to guide him as best I can with some information and knowledge that I have of what it looks like for him now, and maybe what it would look like for him in a year. That's all those are all conversations down the road. I do believe this is a talented roster. I think we saw that on display in the Alamo Bowl. I thought there were a lot of young talented players that were playing that night that were athletic, long, physical, all of the really cool attributes you look for in a player. There were a lot of young players doing that. But, I'm going have to get in there and start to dig into the individuals and who does what well, and then try to get them to put them in a position to do the things they do well. Then what do we need to work on, or maybe where we're limited that we need to fill the void."
Q: What is the outside perception of the Texas football program over the last 10 years?
Sarkisian: "Well, I think probably the biggest thing, whenever we would kind of just talk in general is "What's wrong?" Why isn't Texas in the college football playoff again? What's wrong? Nobody really knows because you're not in the building. You don't really know. I think Texas is held in such high regard in my world, my community of coaching and college coaching, that I think everybody realizes what Texas has the capability of being. It's my responsibility to make the perception become a reality that Texas is a perennial powerhouse. That we are always in the discussion year-in and year-out for the college football playoff and a Big 12 Championship. Ultimately, that's what we need to go do. So, I think the perception is what we all think Texas should be. Now, it's our job to make the perception a reality."
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
This personal trainer is not certified
Worst attempt at diving off a boat ever
A beat trying to catch snowflakes is a great start to 2021
A new way to celebrate?
Sports On A Dime
1. Del Conte on the boxes Sarkisian checked (via LHN): "I don't think there's this quite this idea of these boxes you need to have. You're looking for someone that is a quality human being, that's a great coach, that makes leaders out of men, that has a personal story to share with kids that says, guess what? Through hard work, this can happen. But he also has a great offensive mind. Great game for football. I love the fact that he was a coordinator in the NFL. I love the fact that he had been a head coach I love the fact that he had built a program of Washington on stole drums, and he understood the gravitas of a job like University of Texas from being Alabama. Secondly, he trained under Pete Carroll. He trained under Nick Saban. Two completely different coaches, but understood recruiting in today's age, and what we need to do with University of Texas and how we want to develop talent on and off the field … I thought he was the right man for us."
2. Del Conte on needing Sarkisian to compete with Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley: "I think it's not only Steve, but the stuff he brings. What I'm really excited about is the rollout of the staff coming with him. We all put out the idea of who the head man is. It's also who you surround yourself with. I believe he's going to be able to recruit an incredible staff to come the University of Texas. The great state of Texas is the best state in the country for recruiting. We have so much talent. Seven of our players went to Alabama. There's six or seven from the state that went to Ohio State. We got to go back and lock the fences down in the state of Texas and have that talent come to our great university. So, I can't wait for his staff to be rolled out and see who we've hired as a staff. And there's some great/excellent coaches on staff that I know Steve wants to talk to. But when I look at Oklahoma, or I look at anyone that has great offenses, you also want to look at who's being successful in the CFP, and what formula they have for that success. Whether it be Ohio State, whether it be Alabama, whether it be Oklahoma, whether it be a Clemson, it's about people, and getting the right people on the bus. I'm excited about this afternoon for Steve our football program."
3. I would not be surprised if Tom Herman landed a job as an NFL assistant after the pro season concludes. According to my NFL sources, there are at least two teams interested in Herman. Herman's next move is likely taking a break from college coaching and becoming an NFL assistant.
4. Texas senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger informed Tom Herman and the staff he intended to skip his extra year of eligibility and enter the NFL Draft. It will be interesting to see if Herman's departure makes Ehlinger reconsider leaving. Ehlinger is likely a late-round draft pick and could increase his stock under a new coach. Plus, Ehlinger could earn a decent paycheck in 2021 due to Name Imagine and Likeness. Another year in a new offense could benefit everyone involved.
5. Here are some numbers that are worth noting:
Mack Brown's buyout in 2013 was $2.75 million
Texas gave Louisville $4.375 million for Charlie Strong's buyout
Texas fired Strong and paid a $10.4 million buyout
Texas gave Houston $2.5 million for Tom Herman's buyout
Texas fired Herman and will pay a $15 million buyout
Total: $35 million (not including assistants)
6. Sarkisian should have an instant recruiting impact, but it is hard to tell how significant the increase might be. Remember, coaches are still recruiting players through Zoom, and Sarkisian faces to the task of building relationships virtually. Obviously, having Alabama on a resumé will help, but just know the new staff faces a challenge.
7. Life definitely comes at you fast:
8. Here is what Pat Forde wrote about the hiring or Sarkisian:
"Will he work out? Maybe. If so, it's a great redemption story for a guy who lost the USC job due to personal problems reportedly tied to alcohol use. And Sark has done exemplary work as Alabama's OC, calling plays for what has become an offensive juggernaut. There is a reason the school bumped his pay to $2.5 million in 2020, highest of any offensive coordinator; Crimson tide coach Nick Saban valued his work that much.
"But Sark has a career record of 46-35 at Washington and USC. His best season was going 9-4 with the Trojans in 2014, which by USC standards is somewhere between ho and hum. He's never had a team finish a season ranked higher than 20th. He also was fired as offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons in 2018.
"That's the guy triggering a $50 million decision?
"Maybe at this stage of his life, Sarkisian is prepared to do his best work. He's only 46 years old, and working under Saban is the best place both to rehab an image and learn how to lead a championship-level program. But anyone who says this is a sure thing is only guessing."
9. It just does not seem fair. Texas men's basketball coach Shaka Smart has struggled for multiple years, and on the day of his biggest win, the football coach is fired and his achievement is an afterthought.
Congrats, Shaka.
10. That was one hell of a body shot by Ryan Garcia
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