Ian Boyd: "Why Tom Herman failed at Texas" - nice long read if you need the reminder
" ...Tom Herman earned his first head coaching job by coordinating an overpowering run game that propelled Ohio State to the Big 10 and then National Championship in 2014. He chose wisely, landing at Houston with a 7-5 team and Greg Ward Jr. at quarterback. He was also parked just a few hours from Austin where the Longhorns were in the midst of a Charlie Strong era off to a horrible start.
Everything clicked in year one. Herman deployed standard spread tactics with Ward and star receiver Demarcus Ayers to go 13-1 and win the AAC Championship. Ayers had 1221 receiving yards and Ward survived 197 carries to pick up 1114 yards at 5.7 ypc with 21 rushing touchdowns (including sack yardage!). Then Tom Herman signed a 5-star defensive tackle in Ed Oliver who helped the Cougars beat Oklahoma in the season opener, overcome injuries to Ward and the offensive line, and beat Lamar Jackson’s Louisville in primetime.
The penchant for big game performances, high level recruiting, apparently strong defensive hires, and spread offense competence made it all seem obvious Herman was the guy for Texas. The physical victory over Oklahoma really captured everyone’s imagination in Longhorn nation.
Herman’s strategy at Texas, from day one, was to build a power-spread offense to grind down smaller, less talented teams in the Big 12 by running the ball and facilitating great defense. Given the Longhorns were coming off a season in which their main back had rushed for over 2,000 yards behind an offensive line returning four starters, and power running quarterback Sam Ehlinger was enrolling early, things certainly appeared promising on this front.
Instead the 2017 offensive line and tight end were savaged by injuries and became an absolute train wreck. Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele each rotated in at quarterback while the other nursed fresh injuries. Texas’ ability to control games and dominate opponents in the box was off to the worst possible start.
Subsequent seasons saw improvement, but never dominance. Texas has had just two offensive linemen selected to the league’s All-Big 12 team during the Tom Herman era. Zach Shackleford was second team in 2018 and first team in 2019 while Sam Cosmi was second team in 2019 and will likely be first team in 2020. The tight end position has put just one player on the All-Big 12 list when Andrew Beck was named first team fullback in 2018. It’s not a coincidence this was the one truly solid season of the Tom Herman era....."
Gameplan: Why Tom Herman failed at Texas - Inside Texas