Texas football coach Tom Herman addressed the media after Wednesday’s practice. He said Tuesday’s practice was very physical, and his players had to push through it. Herman said there was teeth pulling going on, but promised the Longhorns if they kept battling, some of the gear would come off on Wednesday. They did and were rewarded with shorts and shoulder pads on Wednesday.
Here are the highlights from his media availability:
- Herman was asked what goes through his mind after hearing the Longhorns had five kicks blocked last year (three in one game against Oklahoma State). His answer resembles the same one Longhorn fans had: “Unacceptable. That’s a difficult team to be on because when you get real dudes in the middle there, that becomes a war inside for about a second and a half. I think we’ve helped ourselves by bringing in a fifth-year transfer short-snapper that’s got a little bit more girth on him to protect the A-gaps.”
- As a follow-up, Herman said, “One blocked kick on the year, whether it be a PAT, field goal or punt is too many, and the stats back that up. You block a punt and your chances of winning that football game increase substantially just from that one statistic.”
- Herman said skill position guys on offense are not allowed to start unless they are starting on special teams. Herman believes his starting punt team includes starters at other positions. The rest of Texas’ special teams will be comprised of starters and key backups: “That’s one-third of the game. We have always had the philosophy, even going back to days at Sam Houston State when I was the special teams coordinator, that if you’re an offensive and defensive player, and you need a breather, you need a play off, it’s going to happen on offense and defense. It’s not going to happen on special teams. Special teams miscues are much more disastrous than an offensive or defensive miscue. We’re going to put our most trustworthy guys on those teams.”
- Herman said the remaining schedule of preseason camp is going six days a week, with Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday as heavy contact days. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are limited to no-contact days, and Sunday will be a day off. That being said, Herman is not going to give players a practice off to go bowling, or anything like that. Herman may gave his players an evening off, or take them somewhere in the afternoon, but they will not miss a practice during training camp.
- When asked about kicker Joshua Rowland, Herman said, “I like him more than other kickers I’ve been around because he’s halfway normal, and I think he’s got a bit of toughness to him.” Texas ended Wednesday’s practice with a two-minute drill, and Rowland had to make a field goal to win. Herman said they simulated a bobbled snap with a timeout left, and the holder fell on the ball. They moved the line of scrimmage back for another attempt, then called a timeout to ice Rowland. Herman put the entire team around Rowland to form a tunnel of noise, and he made at least a 40-yard field goal.
- Herman said he is not sure if a bell cow running back will emerge during training camp, but is not bothered by that: “You’d like it to be, but production comes in all shapes and sizes and all different kinds of forms and rotations. Would you like a guy to really, really separate himself? Yeah, but if they don’t, but they’re all playing at an above average to winnable level, I think that’s a good thing. I don’t have a timetable on that, and I view running backs similarly to defensive line. We’re going to have two or three that are probably going to play quite a bit throughout the course of a game.”
- Here is Herman’s answer when I asked what they are selling to recruits to have 17 players verbally committed so far: “I think you sell the people. You sell our staff. You sell our strength coach. You sell our academic staff. You sell our nutritionist. You sell our assistant coaches. The truth is easy to sell. Your current players do as good a job recruiting and truth telling as anybody. When your current players tell this recruits, ‘Man, this guy, my position coach, he is phenomenal. He loves me, he cares about me, takes care of me. This strength coach, in seven months I put 70 pounds on my squat max. This guy is really, really training us to maximize our genetic potential. I think that goes a long, long way. You sell the people. You sell, obviously, the academics here. It’s about as good as it gets for a public institution. You sell the city of Austin. You sell the tradition, although, tradition for these guys is Vince Young. It’s not Earl Campbell and Tommy Nobis. It doesn’t go back very far. Tradition can only get you so far. You've got to sell the people, the academics, the city, and sell the track record, too. You sell the testimony of what we’ve done as a staff in the last place we were at.”
- In addition, I asked Herman why his sell is more effective than the majority of college programs right now: “I don’t know. If I knew that, I’d bottle it up and sell it and work a lot less hours. I really do think if there’s one thing I’ve done right as a head football coach is hire great people. Not just hired guns that are great recruiters, and not just an X and O lab guy that doesn’t care about people. We’ve hired the best of both worlds at every position. Everywhere from Kevin Washington, our player development guy, to Fernando Lovo and Tory Teykl in our operations staff. Obviously, Yancy McKnight [strength and conditioning coach] and his crew. Brett Wohlers and the academic staff. We’ve just been able to get that part right. It’s very evident. Everybody is going to say recruiting is about relationships, and it is, but the relationships have to be real, they've got to be genuine, and they've got to be substantive in order for that sell to take hook.”
- Herman does not expect to have a full class by the season opener. He said there are a few guys out there they are willing to wait for. However, he believes this year’s signing class could be completed by Christmas.
- Finally, Herman said Tope Imade's transition from offensive line to defensive line has gone well. Imade received a lot of reps on Saturday, according to Herman. One of the things Herman wrote on in his notes on Saturday is they have to find a way to make Imade into a player. Herman is unsure if it will occur this year, but remains happy with Imade's progress.
Here are the highlights from his media availability:
- Herman was asked what goes through his mind after hearing the Longhorns had five kicks blocked last year (three in one game against Oklahoma State). His answer resembles the same one Longhorn fans had: “Unacceptable. That’s a difficult team to be on because when you get real dudes in the middle there, that becomes a war inside for about a second and a half. I think we’ve helped ourselves by bringing in a fifth-year transfer short-snapper that’s got a little bit more girth on him to protect the A-gaps.”
- As a follow-up, Herman said, “One blocked kick on the year, whether it be a PAT, field goal or punt is too many, and the stats back that up. You block a punt and your chances of winning that football game increase substantially just from that one statistic.”
- Herman said skill position guys on offense are not allowed to start unless they are starting on special teams. Herman believes his starting punt team includes starters at other positions. The rest of Texas’ special teams will be comprised of starters and key backups: “That’s one-third of the game. We have always had the philosophy, even going back to days at Sam Houston State when I was the special teams coordinator, that if you’re an offensive and defensive player, and you need a breather, you need a play off, it’s going to happen on offense and defense. It’s not going to happen on special teams. Special teams miscues are much more disastrous than an offensive or defensive miscue. We’re going to put our most trustworthy guys on those teams.”
- Herman said the remaining schedule of preseason camp is going six days a week, with Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday as heavy contact days. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are limited to no-contact days, and Sunday will be a day off. That being said, Herman is not going to give players a practice off to go bowling, or anything like that. Herman may gave his players an evening off, or take them somewhere in the afternoon, but they will not miss a practice during training camp.
- When asked about kicker Joshua Rowland, Herman said, “I like him more than other kickers I’ve been around because he’s halfway normal, and I think he’s got a bit of toughness to him.” Texas ended Wednesday’s practice with a two-minute drill, and Rowland had to make a field goal to win. Herman said they simulated a bobbled snap with a timeout left, and the holder fell on the ball. They moved the line of scrimmage back for another attempt, then called a timeout to ice Rowland. Herman put the entire team around Rowland to form a tunnel of noise, and he made at least a 40-yard field goal.
- Herman said he is not sure if a bell cow running back will emerge during training camp, but is not bothered by that: “You’d like it to be, but production comes in all shapes and sizes and all different kinds of forms and rotations. Would you like a guy to really, really separate himself? Yeah, but if they don’t, but they’re all playing at an above average to winnable level, I think that’s a good thing. I don’t have a timetable on that, and I view running backs similarly to defensive line. We’re going to have two or three that are probably going to play quite a bit throughout the course of a game.”
- Here is Herman’s answer when I asked what they are selling to recruits to have 17 players verbally committed so far: “I think you sell the people. You sell our staff. You sell our strength coach. You sell our academic staff. You sell our nutritionist. You sell our assistant coaches. The truth is easy to sell. Your current players do as good a job recruiting and truth telling as anybody. When your current players tell this recruits, ‘Man, this guy, my position coach, he is phenomenal. He loves me, he cares about me, takes care of me. This strength coach, in seven months I put 70 pounds on my squat max. This guy is really, really training us to maximize our genetic potential. I think that goes a long, long way. You sell the people. You sell, obviously, the academics here. It’s about as good as it gets for a public institution. You sell the city of Austin. You sell the tradition, although, tradition for these guys is Vince Young. It’s not Earl Campbell and Tommy Nobis. It doesn’t go back very far. Tradition can only get you so far. You've got to sell the people, the academics, the city, and sell the track record, too. You sell the testimony of what we’ve done as a staff in the last place we were at.”
- In addition, I asked Herman why his sell is more effective than the majority of college programs right now: “I don’t know. If I knew that, I’d bottle it up and sell it and work a lot less hours. I really do think if there’s one thing I’ve done right as a head football coach is hire great people. Not just hired guns that are great recruiters, and not just an X and O lab guy that doesn’t care about people. We’ve hired the best of both worlds at every position. Everywhere from Kevin Washington, our player development guy, to Fernando Lovo and Tory Teykl in our operations staff. Obviously, Yancy McKnight [strength and conditioning coach] and his crew. Brett Wohlers and the academic staff. We’ve just been able to get that part right. It’s very evident. Everybody is going to say recruiting is about relationships, and it is, but the relationships have to be real, they've got to be genuine, and they've got to be substantive in order for that sell to take hook.”
- Herman does not expect to have a full class by the season opener. He said there are a few guys out there they are willing to wait for. However, he believes this year’s signing class could be completed by Christmas.
- Finally, Herman said Tope Imade's transition from offensive line to defensive line has gone well. Imade received a lot of reps on Saturday, according to Herman. One of the things Herman wrote on in his notes on Saturday is they have to find a way to make Imade into a player. Herman is unsure if it will occur this year, but remains happy with Imade's progress.
