Very good piece from Ian Boyd
http://insidetexas.com/herb-hand-smashmouth-spread-founding-father/
"..... Even Gus Malzahn apparently used to be a guy that wanted to throw the ball around the field…until he worked with Herb Hand at Tulsa. It was there, amongst other places, that the “smashmouth spread” as it exists today really began to take form. Hand and Malzahn began to configure the Wing-T inspired Malzahn run game that would allow the offense to attack the middle of the defense with a physical, downhill running game in order for the various screens, perimeter sweeps, and play-action throws to really light up opponents for big gains.
Hand and Malzahn were reunited two years ago at Auburn and made great use of a big, veteran OL along with the sort of H-back/fullback that they love (Chandler Cox) to churn out a 1k-yard rusher (Kamryn Pettway) and a 800-yard rusher (Kerryon Johnson).
The run game is VERY similar to what Herman oversaw this past year at Texas. At Auburn they were generally much more multiple and tricky with how they’d attack opponents off the base runs than was Texas this past year but it’s hard to say how much of that was due to the Longhorns’ lack of experience and continuity across the offense. They’re also more consistent about doing little motions and tricks to try and clear up the picture on where to find angles or advantages to exploit.
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In terms of recruiting and developing OL, Hand has a nice reputation for using his Twitter and his cooking effectively, sometimes in conjunction. He’s also fond of swapping his OL around all offseason and cross-training them at multiple positions in order to have flexibility in getting the best five on the field. That paid off this past year when they were able to use Austin Golson all over the line and would likely be useful again with Texas swingman Elijah Rodriguez.
Herb Hand is basically the “Joe Wickline” of the smashmouth spread, a longstanding and well established OL coach within this school of offense that has a great rep as a recruiter and technician but also a knack for coordination and higher level thinking. Also, unlike Wickline when he arrived at Texas, he’s not as deep into his career and still has a lot of hunger. Particularly since he wasn’t with Malzahn for the 2010 championship ring at Auburn.
This is a hire that fits within the greater Herman concept and philosophy but who comes from outside of his more immediate network (I’m pretty sure they’ve met and talked offense before though) and brings fresh eyes, new tactics, and more skins on the wall in terms of implementing the broader strategy of making Texas into a proper smashmouth spread offense."