Texas football will still have a bowl game to play this season. However, now that the regular season is over due to the game against Kansas getting canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Longhorns off-season starts now.
Changes
No changes will be official until after the bowl games are finished, but it doesn’t mean they can’t be discussed. Texas needs a change and it needs one bad. In the Tom Herman era, the Longhorns have made a Big 12 Championship appearance but have never won one. This string of disappointing seasons, can’t be making Longhorn fans happy. Bringing in a coach like Urban Meyer will make Texas a better team and will draw a lot of potential recruits wanting to play for the Longhorns.
Sam Ehlinger
Ehlinger’s main focus is the bowl game right now. However, he’s likely been asked multiple times about his future at Texas and more than likely discussed it with close friends and family. Ehlinger should come back next season. Right now, he is probably the fourth or fifth quarterback on everyone’s NFL Draft board. This sets him up to be a potential fourth or fifth round draft pick. Ehlinger can’t be happy with that and will likely come back in order to change his draft stock.
Using that extra year of eligibility will give Ehlinger one last chance to prove he can be a starting NFL quarterback and show he can be that leader to take Texas back to Big 12 Championship glory. He just needs a new coach to do it.
Running game
This running game was all over the place this year. Ehlinger led the rushing attach and was the Longhorns’ leading rusher for nearly the entire season. Bijan Robinson ended the regular season as the leading rusher for Texas, and he’s only a freshman. The Longhorns need to allow Robinson be the main guy in the backfield. Herman didn’t realize the talent he had until it was too late. They need to utilize him more next season.
When that happens, it will take some pressure off Ehlinger, assuming he comes back. It will also give Robinson a chance to become one of the great running backs in school history. He has a lot of talent and Texas can’t afford to waste it. With Ehlinger having a running back who can take control of the game now, this team is going to be one to watch, assuming the Longhorns get good coaching. This was the main reason for the disappointing season this year.
Looking forward
At the end of the day, Texas football needs to change its playing style whether Herman stays the coach or not. If Herman remains the coach, he needs to work on doing those on-the-fly adjustments that some of the great coaches in college football can do. Some coaches will stick to their certain ways when coaching. Just because something worked in the previous games, doesn’t mean it will work the week after. Herman needs to adjust quicker in order for the Longhorns to be successful. If he doesn’t, then Texas needs to move on.
