Texas gets its top target Herman

That question has now been answered, as the University of Texas fired Strong on Saturday and announced the hiring of former Houston coach Tom Herman.

Tom Herman will be the next coach the of the Texas Longhorns, leaving the Houston Cougars a far more competitive program than when he arrived.

Herman replaces Charlie Strong, who was let go Saturday morning by UT after three season.

Texas acted quickly to snag Herman, who has only two years’ experience as a head coach but is 22-4 with the Cougars, with a 9-3 mark this season after Friday’s loss to Memphis.

Even though Herman is the name that everyone from the top-down at Texas seemed to want as head coach – in some cases before the season even started – that doesn’t mean he’s not expected to get results at a much higher and much faster clip than Strong did.

According to Ross Dellenger of the New Orleans Advocate, rumors were circulating that Herman’s agent actually sparked the reports by feeding information about the negotiations with LSU to either Texas officials or directly to media that covers the Texas football program.

But Texas hasn’t won a Big 12 title since 2009 and Strong was just 16-21 overall, ending with a 31-9 loss to TCU on Friday.

Strong was a landmark hire for Texas in 2014, an up-and-comer who had earned his shot at one of the nation’s top programs after a four-year record of 37-15 at Louisville.

Texas: Longhorns players had rallied behind their coach this week, with several giving tearful pleas for him to return next season.

“We wouldn’t be able to do the things that we’ve done at the University of Houston without a great staff, and by that I mean the nine assistants, the strength staff, the support staff, and everybody around our program builds us up”, Herman said.

Strong released a statement saying he understands “it comes down to wins and losses and we have not done our job in that area”. “(It’s) taking the program in the right direction”. “… Texas already has so many advantages over every school it recruits against, other than maybe Ohio State and Alabama”. While Mack Brown posted double-digit wins from 2001-09, the Longhorns are 30-32 in the Big 12 this decade. In his first year, he dismissed nine players, including some starters for violation of those values and that same year he lost his starting quarterback and center.

Sports Illustrated reported that safeties coach Craig Naivar also will join Herman at Texas.

In a statement, university president Greg Fenves said: “Charlie Strong is an outstanding leader and role model …”

Strong also made a promise he couldn’t keep.

Texas also will be facing the prospect of considerable payouts to Strong’s assistants. The Cougars also beat #3 Louisville on November 17 before dropping their regular season finale to Memphis on Friday 48-44. Or should Strong have been given more time?

“Those sessions culminate in a job fair at the end of the year for just our athletes, where there are something like 75 to 100 companies represented”. But we do know Texas makes a trip to USC on September 16, an early-season challenge that should help set the tone for the rest of Herman’s Year 1. The Longhorns would appear at No. 11 in the Associated Press Top 25 at one point, but things went downhill soon after.