Is it time to start a GoFundMe for Tom Herman’s buyout?

So the Texas Longhorns are still not back. Does that mean we need to start a GoFundMe for Tom Herman’s buyout? How much is it and would it be worth it?

Year three of the Tom Herman era in Austin is winding down. After winning the Sugar Bowl a year ago over the Georgia Bulldogs, achieving a 10-win season in the process, the Texas Longhorns have won just six through their first 11 games of the 2019 NCAA season. A win Friday afternoon over the Texas Tech Red Raiders will get Texas to 7-5, but an at-best 8-5 2019 mark won’t cut it.

So does this mean the University of Texas needs to move off Herman before 2020? How much would his buyout even be at this point? Do we need to start a GoFundMe to buy out Herman’s massive contract? What is Texas football to do? Will Texas football ever be back?

No, Texas shouldn’t fire Herman after three seasons. He just won a Sugar Bowl a year ago and has achieved bowl eligibility all three years in Austin. While he isn’t winning Big 12 Championships and sending the Longhorns to the College Football Playoff like we all thought he would, he has brought stability to a Texas program in need of it, albeit setting a low bar with maybe eight-win seasons.

Herman did get a contract extension this past offseason after beating Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. His contract is guaranteed through the 2023 NCAA season, set to make $6.5 million in 2020 and $7.0 million in 2023. Keep in mind that Herman’s extension did come off the heels of Texas’ first 10-win season since losing to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the national championship in 2009.

But after dropping five games this season, including four in Big 12 play, it would cost at least $20 million to buy Herman out of the last four years of his Texas contract if the university has had enough. This number will obviously shrink the longer he’s coaching in Austin, but Herman can’t keep getting worked by the better coaches in college football. He’s supposed to be one of them.

In Texas’ five losses this year, Herman has been outwitted by Ed Orgeron of the LSU Tigers, Lincoln Riley of the Oklahoma Sooners, Gary Patterson of the TCU Horned Frogs, Matt Campbell of the Iowa State Cyclones and now Matt Rhule of the Baylor Bears.

While Herman did beat Mike Gundy‘s Oklahoma State Cowboys and Chris Klieman’s Kansas State Wildcats, didn’t we all think Urban Meyer’s greatest coaching protegé would be able to hold water against the upper crust of the Big 12 coaching ranks? Gundy and Patterson are proven institutions at their schools. Losing to Riley’s Sooners happens and this is Klieman’s first year in Manhattan.

However, Herman has been essentially leapfrogged as the best up-and-coming coach in the Big 12 by Campbell at Iowa State and Rhule at Baylor. Campbell has turned a bottom-feeder in Iowa State into a perennial dark-horse contender in the Big 12. The Cyclones should win four games a year and he’s winning double that annually. Campbell has made Iowa State of all places relevant.

Baylor was a program in ruin when Rhule arrived in Waco. He brought his Temple Tough and Tom Coughlin coaching pedigree with him. Now the Bears are one of only nine teams still alive for the College Football Playoff heading into rivalry week. Campbell and he are destined for bigger jobs, with the NFL possibly on the horizon. Rhule can take any dumpster and turn it into a winner.

So, no it isn’t a talent mismatch that has prevented Texas from being back. It has been a player-development issue, as well as persistent coaching concerns. It should be the Longhorns playing the archrival Sooners in the Big 12 Championship Game every single year, not Baylor, not Oklahoma State, not TCU, and most certainly, not Iowa State. Yet, here we are with Texas in 2019.

At this time, setting up a GoFundMe to buy Herman out of his contract is ridiculous. It’s not a huge number, but who does Texas realistically think would take the job if they fired Herman after only three years? Look for him to get things turned around in 2020. That being said, if Texas loses at home to a 4-7 Texas Tech team, maybe somebody does set up Herman buyout GoFundMe?

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