Fansided

Urban Meyer and 5 likely candidates to replace Tom Herman at Texas

By Brad Berreman

STILLWATER, OK - OCTOBER 31: Head coach Tom Herman of the Texas Longhorns greets his team before a game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium on October 31, 2020 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Texas won 41-34 in overtime. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
STILLWATER, OK - OCTOBER 31: Head coach Tom Herman of the Texas Longhorns greets his team before a game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium on October 31, 2020 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Texas won 41-34 in overtime. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
Gary Patterson, TCU Horned Frogs
Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Gary Patterson, TCU Head Coach

Patterson seems entrenched at TCU for as long as he wants the job, now into his 20th full season as the Horned Frogs’ coach with a .703 winning percentage (175-74). But a 7-6 record in 2018 and a 5-7 record in 2019 has been followed by a 3-4 mark so far this season (heading into Saturday night against 0-7 Kansas). Since an 11-2 run in 2015, TCU has won more than seven games once (11-3 in 2017). Counting this season before Saturday night’s game, they are 21-24 in the other four of the last five seasons. After 12, 11 and 11 wins in 2014, 2015 and 2017, the results aren’t what they were for Patterson.

There are no indications Patterson is in danger of being fired, or that he’s at all compelled to leave TCU. He is under contract through 2024, and USA TODAY’s salary database has him as the ninth-highest-paid coach in the country this year ($6.13 million). So he wouldn’t be leaving for a raise in pay anywhere, and Herman is actually making less than he is this year ($5.827 million).

Patterson was easily mentioned as a candidate for other, bigger jobs (at least based on perception). He always resisted too, as TCU has tacked years onto his contract. But it’s worth wondering if this year’s incident with repeating a player’s use of a racial slur will start to impact recruiting, especially with the wealth of talent in the Dallas-Forth Worth area that needs to tap into. Early returns on the 2021 class are not good (108th in the country, last in the Big 12, according to 247 Sports).

Texas is plenty familiar with Patterson over years in the Big 12, and the Longhorns lost to the Horned Frogs earlier this season for the sixth time in the last seven years. Could they fire Herman and look at the established guy at an upstate rival?

Home/College Football