I am beginning to think Cougar High has built in advantages. They play in G5, and they have the city of Houston to raid for talent that most G5 schools don't have access to. I'm not so sure a coach that wins at Houston has necessarily proven anything. UCF and USF have this similar advantage in Florida.
Charlie made us desperate. We wanted to bail, and bail fast. Three straight losing seasons, we fielded the worst defenses in Texas history, and we lost to Kansas. After Baylor zapped one up, A&M zapped one up, and then here came the next wonder child coach out of Houston. Briles was the goods, Sumlin not so much, and Herman is not showing me anything. Applewhite will probably start steam-rolling down there shortly. Again, Houston recruiting in a G5 conference. Piece of cake.
I'm not giving up. Herman gets his 3 years. Herman is a cut above Charlie, I will allow that - and I say that mostly because our special teams are not a 100% embarrassment (just 50%), and we did beat Kansas. Charlie lucked into a decent offense with Sterlin Gilbert, and Herman seems to have lucked into a good defense with Orlando. I will say in 10 years, Herman may be a decent coach, whereas Charlie is Charlie.
It will take more than recruiting to win in P5, but obviously recruiting is where Texas needs to start. The meddle of a coach is demonstrated in situations like where Texas is right now - low on talent - low on alternatives - but still finds a way to compete.
Now I will yield that Herman's Longhorns have been competitive in a few games against superior opposition this year. That's really all I can hang onto right now. But Texas needs a statement win, not a moral win. I will allow West Virginia as a qualifier for this.
Herman needs to come out with this team ready to play in Morgantown. Not only that, but we need to see something out of Beck that works. We can't just line up and run into brick walls week after week. It's time to cook up something - that's why they are paid the big bucks.
I want a Texas win next week. Is that a fair request? Probably not, but the thing is - it should be a fair request, and given that we have not yet made up for the Maryland debacle.
Herman's got to give me a glimmer of something this next game, his shine is tarnishing fast. And he doesn't have the charisma to mesmerize me.