August temperatures in Austin, Texas, surpass 100 degrees on a daily basis, but no amount of hot weather matches the seat occupied by Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman.
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Though born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Herman is Texan through and through — His first coaching job was at Texas Lutheran, followed by stops at the University of Texas, Sam Houston State, Texas State, and Rice. He left "The Lone Star State" for gigs with Iowa State and Ohio State before taking over as head coach of the Houston Cougars, where his national star blossomed following a 13-1 record and Peach Bowl win his first season.
Two seasons as the Cougars' lead man landed Herman a five-year contract worth $28.75 million in Austin and laden with incentives; Herman gets $100,000 if he's named national coach of the year, $100,000 if Texas football wins a Big 12 Conference title, $250,000 for a College Football Playoff national championship, plus he received two dealer cars, according to Newsday.
Not a bad deal for someone with a 17-10 record in Big 12 games through three seasons.
Still, the University of Texas felt confident in Herman's tenure and awarded him a two-year extension through the 2023 season. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger enters (what feels like) Year 11 at the helm in 2020, and it seems like now-or-never for Herman and his staff to turn a corner and really give stock to the causally-used phrase, "Texas is back."
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The coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 outbreak casts a shadow over college football. The Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences chose to postpone all fall sports with announcements coming within hours of each other on August 11. Standing firm in their commitment to trust medical advisory boards and task forces out the wazoo, the ACC, SEC and Big 12 announced their intentions to push forward and play ball with modified schedules and student-athlete testing protocols.
The last conference schedule revealed came from the Big 12. The Texas Longhorns won't host the South Florida Bulls to open the year, nor will they get a revenge game by heading to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to challenge the defending national champion LSU Tigers, but their 2020 opponents remains largely unchanged.
Dates and times of Texas' nine Big 12 matchups were adjusted, and UT still plans to beat the piss out of UTEP at a home game inside DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium for its only non-conference game of the revised 10-game schedule.
2020 Texas Football Schedule (Revised)
Sept. 12: UTEP MINERS (Austin, Texas)
Sept. 19: BYE
Sept. 26: at Texas Tech Red Raiders (Lubbock, Texas)
Oct. 3: TCU HORNED FROGS (Austin, Texas)
Oct. 10: vs. Oklahoma Sooners (Dallas, Texas: Cotton Bowl)
Oct. 17: BYE
Oct. 24: BAYLOR BEARS (Austin, Texas)
Oct. 31: at Oklahoma State Cowboys (Stillwater, Oklahoma)
Nov. 7: WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS (Austin, Texas)
Nov. 14: BYE
Nov. 21: at Kansas Jayhawks (Lawrence, Kansas)
Nov. 28: IOWA STATE CYCLONES (Austin, Texas)
Dec. 5: at Kansas State Wildcats (Manhattan, Kansas)
— Game times TBD
— ALL CAPS denotes Texas as the home team
The Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game is slated to be played either Dec. 12 or Dec. 19, offering flexibility pending any unforeseen cancellations or schedule adjustments. The two teams with the highest winning percentage in conference play will meet at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
It remains to be seen how three Power 5 conferences proceed alone, but for now, mask up and get ready for a football season in the fall.
