Texas had a top-10 rushing defense this season despite not having all the talent on that side of the ball that head coach Tom Herman probably wants. The defense also kept teams to under 22 points a game playing in the high-scoring Big 12 so it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that the team wants to keep defensive coordinator Todd Orlando.
However, what might be surprising is the amount of money they could end up paying him. There was one report earlier saying that Texas A&M had been pursuing Orlando and now it looks like Herman is going to reward Orlando's loyalty. According Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel, the Longhorns plan to make him a top-5 coordinator as far as salary goes.
And Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman is hearing the number could be pretty large for a coordinator.
Should Orlando get the contract extension, it would put him in the area of what Dave Aranda is making at LSU now —- which is worth $10 million over four years —- and would put him on par with Clemson's Brent Venables as well who makes $1.7 million according to the USA Today salary database.
Texas also finished third in third down defense, allowing teams to convert 27.1 percent of the time and finished sixth in yards per carry allowed at a shade over three yards.
[h/t College Football Talk]
