After several twists, Texas arrives at the season it’s been building toward (2024)

Editor’s note:The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on sports is unprecedented, and its effect on the 2020 college football season is unclear. This story ispart of a continuing seriesthat serves as an annual offseason assessment of Power 5 and top Group of 5 teams.

Back in early June, Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger was on a Zoom call with reporters when he was asked about his hopes for 2020 in a time of immense uncertainty. Given everything that’s gone on over the past four months, just how confident is he that the ingredients are still there for this season to be a special one?

“My confidence is through the roof,” Ehlinger said. “I’m very, very excited with the experience and talent we have returning. And then add in the expertise and elite-ness of the coaching that we’re getting right now. Also, I’m really excited that I feel like this team’s a little bit older than we were last year. Guys have a lot of experience. My confidence is through the roof. I mean, I can’t wait. It’s gonna be a really fun year.

“And I just, yeah … I’ll stop there before I say anything too crazy …”

Tom Herman was on the call, too. The head coach smiled when he heard that last line, and he couldn’t help but quip, “He’s not the sophom*ore on the stage in the Sugar Bowl anymore, gentlemen.”

While Herman is no fan of proudly declaring Texas is back, that’s not to say he doesn’t agree with his QB. The Longhorns have had the 2020 season circled for a while now. Ehlinger is a senior going into his fourth year as the starter. The members of back-to-back No. 3 recruiting classes are now juniors and sophom*ores. The effects of years of training and developing under strength coach Yancy McKnight are becoming apparent. Internally, they knew that everything has been building and aligning toward Year 4 being the big one.

And that’s what made the Longhorns’ disappointing 2019 so fascinating. An 8-5 season wasn’t good enough relative to expectations. Herman responded with big changes, hiring seven new coaches. He still believes the program’s long-term trajectory is where everyone thought it would be. Herman admits the Longhorns “stubbed our toe a few too many times” but argues that, to some degree, he saw that coming.

“I think just on paper, we knew we were going to have to hold onto our shorts a little bit last year,” he told The Athletic. “With as young as we were gonna be on defense, and then the injury bug hit, it was like, ‘Oh boy.’ But we all kinda knew, injuries or not, that last year there were going to be some growing pains.”

There were plenty of those. There were also a few games when Texas put its potential on display. Before all the injuries hit, the Longhorns put up an impressive four-quarter fight against LSU and narrowly lost a 45-38 thriller to the eventual national champs. When they finally got healthy, they unloaded on No. 11 Utah with a 38-10 rout in the Alamo Bowl. Herman and his players walked out of the Alamodome on that New Year’s Eve night with a sense of reassurance.

“When we’re healthy and we’re fresh and happy, this is what we’re capable of,” Herman said.

Texas’ new year is off to a bumpy start. The Longhorns knew they’d be busy installing a new offense and defense. They knew they were demolishing their football facility. They didn’t know they’d encounter a global pandemic and get zero spring practices. Players couldn’t have foreseen how they’d spend the month of June, protesting racial discrimination and injustice and successfully pushing their university to make historic changes. It’s impossible to predict what the next few months hold. If there is indeed a season, can the Longhorns find a way to stay on course and make good on their goals?

They have 30 returning players with starting experience. They have real depth now and fierce competitions for starting spots. Herman calls this their fastest team yet. “All these new coaches watched us run around in January and February and were like, ‘Holy smokes. We can run,’ ” he said. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, I know. It’s pretty cool, right?’ ” They have a ton of skill talent. They’re strong up front. They know which players they can count on for leadership. And they have the quarterback.

This week, Texas will finally get to hit the practice field and start finding out just how good it can become in 2020. When asked last month how he would feel when that day finally arrived, Herman laughed.

“Oh, I don’t even want to jinx it,” he said. “I don’t know. It’s gonna feel good, I can tell you that. I certainly am excited about the pieces of the puzzle, you know?”

Roster analysis

Quarterbacks: No returning Power 5 quarterback has thrown for more yards over the last two seasons than Sam Ehlinger — not even Trevor Lawrence. Ehlinger is the FBS active career leader in total yards with 10,400, and the numbers he’s put up over the last two seasons (8,100 total yards, 80 total touchdowns, 15 interceptions) are pretty darn impressive. As a junior, Ehlinger powered a top-20 scoring offense while playing with a broken rib and had the second-best season by a passer in Longhorns history, bested only by Colt McCoy’s 2008 campaign.

What’s the next step for him? Herman mentions Ehlinger still has some room to grow in the RPO game with getting the ball out even faster, and throwing off-platform is something he continues to work on, “but it’s more polishing at this point than it is an overhaul.” He’s not the most efficient player, but few are more effective. Yurcich’s offense adapts to its best players and accentuates their strengths, and his track record at Oklahoma State and Ohio State backs that up.

Ehlinger has a good backup in Casey Thompson, a dual-threat passer entering his third year in the program. The long-term outlook here is extremely promising with freshmen Hudson Card and Ja’Quinden Jackson, a pair of top-100 recruits.

Running backs: Keaontay Ingram put up 1,095 total yards and 10 touchdowns in his sophom*ore season and proved fairly dependable with eight games of 90-plus yards. It’s fair to expect big things from him in 2020, but Ingram is sharing the load with two other big-time backs. Roschon Johnson was a revelation as a freshman, unselfishly moving from QB to RB when the position was hit hard by injuries and contributing 807 total yards and eight scores. And the Longhorns can’t keep five-star freshman Bijan Robinson on the bench. He should be one of the Big 12’s best newcomers. Herman feels as good as ever about the quality and quantity here. They just need to keep these guys healthy. Daniel Young is a proven reserve as well, but it’s doubtful Derrian Brown will be able to play this fall as he continues to recover from a stroke suffered in high school.

Wide receivers/tight ends: Devin Duvernay finished as the Big 12’s leading receiver during his breakout senior season. Collin Johnson ranked fifth in school history in career receiving yards. Replacing what they brought as playmakers and leaders is a tall task. It’s time for Brennan Eagles to put it all together and have a huge year. He had some big moments in 2019 while producing 522 receiving yards and six scores. What is Eagles’ ceiling? “First round,” Herman said. “I mean, he’s 6-foot-4, 229 pounds and runs a sub-4.4.”

Who else will emerge as Ehlinger’s top targets? Watch out for sophom*ore Marcus Washington, who could be poised for a breakout year. Jake Smith showed exciting potential as a freshman and should catch a lot of passes as the inside “H” receiver. Jordan Whittington is one of the Longhorns’ most gifted athletes, but he redshirted last season to recover from a groin injury. There shouldn’t be much of a learning curve for him in moving from running back to receiver.

Michigan grad transfer Tarik Black is a really intriguing addition who gives Texas a veteran in the room. If his right foot can stay healthy, he’ll make an impact. Joshua Moore is back in the mix after being suspended for the 2019 season, and Kennedy Lewis, Al’Vonte Woodard and Troy Omeire will push those guys for reps. This is a relatively inexperienced group now, but Herman feels great about its talent. And at tight end, the Longhorns have a returning senior starter in Cade Brewer and a sophom*ore with a lot of upside in Jared Wiley, plus two big pass catchers in Malcolm Epps and Brayden Liebrock who can flex out.

Herman has been asked a few times this year about how the offense will get guys like Smith and Whittington on the field together. His response: “Who do you want me to take off the field?” Between their backs, receivers and tight ends, the Longhorns have a ton of playmakers now. It’s a great problem to have. But you can only play five at a time. It’ll be fascinating to see how Yurcich makes use of all these assets.

Offensive line: Texas returns three experienced starters up front, led by projected first-round pick Samuel Cosmi at left tackle and versatile senior Derek Kerstetter at center. The left side of that line is all set with those two and Junior Angilau, who started 12 games as a redshirt freshman. The competition for the right guard and right tackle spots should be pretty strong. Senior Denzel Okafor is a favorite to earn one of those roles, and his ability to start at either tackle or guard means this can play out several ways. The upside here is that the battles between guys like Christian Jones, Tyler Johnson and Isaiah Hookfin at tackle and Willie Tyler, Tope Imade and Rafiti Ghirmai at guard should make whoever emerges even better.

“You’re gonna play a really good player because of the competition,” Herman argues.

Or maybe offensive line coach Herb Hand will move guys around and pick an entirely different combination. The lack of spring practices and scrimmages took away his chance to cross-train these guys and work on finding the ideal starting five. They’ll have plenty of work to do in August, but Hand having this many options is a credit to how he and McKnight have developed their young big men.

Defensive line: As he made perfectly clear in the Alamo Bowl, Joseph Ossai is the rising star here. The 6-foot-4, 255-pound junior is Texas’ best pass rusher and moves up front into the “Jack” edge role in Ash’s scheme. He’s looking to build on an impressive sophom*ore season in which he recorded a team-high 90 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, five sacks and two picks. His monster game against Utah (6 TFLs, three sacks) was a sign of big things to come.

Ossai says this group wants to be the best D-line in the country. It has several guys who’ll contribute to that mission. Senior Ta’Quon Graham is a proven starter who will man the 3-technique role. Keondre Coburn was really good in the middle as a redshirt freshman, and he and T’Vondre Sweat will hold down the nose guard role. Marqez Bimage could be the pick forthe other defensive end spot, but they’re also going to get Moro Ojomo on the field a lot.Byron Vaughns can help at “Jack.” Then they’re adding four-star studs Vernon Broughton, Alfred Collins and Prince Dorbah to the mix as true freshmen. Texas switched to the four-man front to generate more pressure, and these guys are eager to deliver.

“The whole D-line is excited,” Ossai said. “We want to be more disruptive. I think this scheme gives us the opportunity to do just that. I know guys like TQ, Keondre, Moro, we’re all excited. We can’t wait to set the tone.”

Herman says the unit is probably a little thin when it comes to true edge guys from years of recruiting 3-4 defensive ends, which might require some adjustments, but he considers their defensive line depth “phenomenal.”

“Those guys are game wreckers,” Herman said. “Especially with young guys pushing them behind them, it’s gonna be fun to see them cut loose a little bit.”

Linebackers: Here’s the group that presents the biggest question mark. The Longhorns are still not in the best shape when it comes to numbers here and would’ve only had four scholarship players healthy for spring ball. So who are the two starters?

Juwan Mitchell figures to be the Mike linebacker and has at times shown he can play at a high level. He’ll have to fend off Ayodele Adeoye, David Gbenda and Marcus Tillman Jr. for that job, though Adeoye and Tillman are coming back from injuries. Is converted safety DeMarvion Overshown ready for the Will linebacker job? Overshown announced on July 2 he’s sitting out all team activitiesright now, so his status going forward remains uncertain. And let’s not forget former walk-on Cort Jaquess, who earned a start in the bowl game.

Unless a true freshman rises up or another safety like B.J. Foster moves over to Will, that’s pretty much what the Longhorns are working with. New linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler has an interesting challenge on his hands.

Defensive backs: Cornerback is another spot that will be dictated by good competition. D’Shawn Jamison, Josh Thompson, Jalen Green and Kenyatta Watson II are all pushing each other for these two starting jobs. Jamison earned the most starts (nine) in 2019, followed by Green (seven). Thompson took a four-game redshirt due to a broken foot and is a hard-working veteran ready for a bigger role. Watson took a four-game redshirt, too, as a freshman and has big potential. There’s also several freshmen to back them up. Now that Anthony Cook has gone into the transfer portal, Chris Adimora becomes the clear favorite to play the “Spur” nickel position. The staff has high hopes for the sophom*ore in that spot.

“He’s just a baller, man,” Herman said. “He may not always do it exactly the way he’s coached to do, but he finds a way to get around the ball and tackle people and all that. I’m really fired up to see him under Ash’s direction and see his development.”

At safety, Caden Sterns leads all returning defenders with 21 career starts. He’s looking to get back to playing at an All-Big 12 level after a knee injury forced him to miss four games last fall. He’s one of the undisputed leaders of this team. Chris Brown and B.J. Foster are two starter-caliber guys who’ll compete for the boundary safety role. Foster is coming back from shoulder surgery, and Brown dealt with a fractured forearm last season. All three need to stay healthy because the depth behind them is relatively unproven, with Montrell Estell, Tyler Owens and early enrollees Xavion Alford and Jerrin Thompson.

Herman argues they’ve recruited defensive backs as well as anybody in the country, and now many of these top guys (Sterns, Foster, Jamison, Green) are juniors. It’s time for all that blue-chip potential to pay off.

Special teams: Cameron Dicker was great yet again as a sophom*ore, hitting 14 of his 18 field goal attempts and connecting on game-winning kicks against Kansas and Kansas State. Punter Ryan Bujcevski showed improvement in his second year before missing four games with a shoulder injury. The Longhorns have an electric return man in D’Shawn Jamison, who has scored a return touchdown in each of his first two seasons, and no shortage of speedy skill guys who can contribute there.

How the Longhorns have recruited from 2017-2020

The first step in Texas building a national title contender is recruiting at the highest level, and Herman has done that. After back-to-back No. 3 recruiting classes, the Longhorns assembled another top-10 class for 2020 that actually rated better in terms of average recruit ranking (.9177) in the 247Sports Composite than their 2019 class (.9119). And that class was made up entirely of in-state players with the exception of one player from Arizona (Robinson) and one grad transfer (Black). Three years of stockpiling big-time recruits have pushed Texas’ Blue Chip Ratio up to 64 percent going into 2020, which ranks fourth nationally behind Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State.

The second step in constructing a contender is talent retention. Texas is doing a terrific job on that front. Look at those No. 3 classes. Forty-five players from the 2018 and 2019 classes are still in the program today, and 18 of them have already started games in the past two seasons. The Longhorns have had eight defections in those classes, most notably Bru McCoy, but two of the eight (De’Gabriel Floyd, Mikey Grandy) were due to medical issues. Keeping attrition under 20 percent in both of those classes is a crucial feat that should start paying off in 2020 with a much deeper roster.

Still, this year’s NFL Draft served as a reminder that Texas needs to be careful in its efforts to chase top-five classes. Herman takes a lot of pride in his staff’s evaluations and being selective on players who fit the culture and check all the boxes. His staff can point to Samuel Cosmi, a three-star Houston commit whom 247Sports ranked as the nation’s No. 135 offensive tackle prospect, and his development into a potential first-round draft pick as proof of concept. But the head coach is well aware there were 14 three-star recruits from the state of Texas who were drafted in April and didn’t have Texas offers in high school. It’s a huge state, and some great players are always going to get away, but he knows they can learn from those results.

“We’ve got to do a good job of trusting our evaluation on some of these guys that may not be as well-known and trusting that what we see in them, we’re gonna be able to turn them into starters/draft picks,” Herman said.

Impact of coaching changes

When Herman says he’s had the 2020 season circled for a long time, a massive overhaul of Texas’ coaching staff going into Year 4 was not part of that long-term plan. The head coach saw enough problems arise last fall to conclude new leadership was needed on both sides of the ball. He fully admits he was becoming a “jack of all trades and a master of none” who wasn’t too happy with his own performance as the Longhorns’ offensive play-caller. And despite all the success he enjoyed with Todd Orlando, Herman sought a scheme change on defense.

The first hire he made was ex-Rutgers head coach Chris Ash as defensive coordinator. The two go way back, working together at Iowa State in 2009 and winning a national title at Ohio State in 2014, and Herman knew Ash could deliver on a fast, simplified defense with a four-man front.

“Chris is a pro’s pro. He’s been a head coach. He’s so detail-oriented,” Herman said. “The playbook will be a lot smaller. But all the great defenses I’ve ever been around, they do a few things and they do it really well with really good players. I think that’s what I had envisioned at Texas. If we can recruit and develop the way we have the last few years, then let’s keep it as simple as possible and turn ‘em loose.”

Ash now oversees the safeties as well. He brought in one of his Rutgers assistants and former players, Jay Valai, to coach up the cornerbacks. New linebackers coach and co-DC Coleman Hutzler came from South Carolina, and the Longhorns now have two defensive line coaches in Oscar Giles and Mark Hagen, who was hired away from Indiana.

Herman handed the keys to the offense to Mike Yurcich, who spent last season as Ohio State’s passing game coordinator and QB coach. Yurcich’s work at Oklahoma State made it clear he’s an ideal fit for this job. It’s not just because he knows the Big 12 and beat Texas in five of his six seasons in Stillwater. He proved he can tailor an offense to his playmakers and score a ton of points no matter who’s playing quarterback, running back or receiver. Herman has called this hire a match made in heaven and says a few key staffers have told him Yurcich reminds them of Herman when he was a younger coordinator.

There’s much more continuity on this side of the ball with co-OC and offensive line coach Herb Hand and run game coordinator/running backs coach Stan Drayton returning, and new receivers coach Andre Coleman was on staff last year in an analyst role. The other new addition here is Oklahoma’s Jay Boulware returning to his alma mater as tight ends coach and special teams coordinator. It’s not hard to envision how this offense is going to look with Ehlinger returning and with Yurcich and Herman being fairly like-minded in their power spread philosophies. Yurcich even agreed to learn and teach the Longhorns’ offensive terminology instead of installing his own, in an effort to make it easier on players.

The unavoidable difficulty here is going through such a dramatic transition with zero spring practices. Herman feels good about what they were able to accomplish in January and February with their install walkthroughs and winter workouts. They’ve done all they can do from an X’s and O’s standpoint via Zoom. Now they must wait to see how players respond and execute in August practices.

“My gosh, we’ve met more between January and June — probably five times as much — as we’ve ever met,” Herman said. “That’s certainly not an issue right now, the book knowledge of the schemes. It’s the fact that, you know, we haven’t done anything full speed since bowl prep.”

Schedule analysis

The Big 12 has yet to make a final decision on its nonconference football schedule. If dumping those games is the verdict, Texas would miss out on a rematch with LSU down in Baton Rouge that would’ve been one of the best nonconference showdowns of 2020. It’ll be interesting to see if the Big 12 ends up reworking its round-robin schedule. As of today, the Longhorns’ conference opener is a road trip to Kansas State on Oct. 3. The very next game? Red River. Then again, the State Fair of Texas has already been canceled, so maybe that Cotton Bowl brawl can get moved to another date.

Texas had it good in 2019 when it came to idle weeks, getting one week off at the end of each month. This season wasn’t going to be so friendly. Once Big 12 play begins, there were no scheduled weeks off. That’s another reason why a revised league schedule might be needed if the conference hopes to get through a fall season. Texas would need a lot of luck on the injury (and illness) front to endure a nine-game stretch with no breaks. It’s worth noting, too, that playing a conference-only schedule would actually be a tougher challenge than the normal slate. Don’t overlook the week-to-week parity in this conference over the last couple years. The Longhorns were one of four good teams that finished 5-4 in league play in 2019.

Final assessment

Does Texas finally have what it takes to snap Oklahoma’s streak of five consecutive Big 12 titles? From a talent standpoint, maybe so. But Lincoln Riley’s teams have a certain swagger they’ve earned from playing with consistency and winning tough games. The Longhorns haven’t done enough of that yet.

It’s easy to say that if Ash and Yurcich pull off smooth transitions to their new schemes and this team manages to stay relatively healthy, Texas can be a top-10 team that competes for the conference crown. Had this been a more ordinary offseason instead of an utterly chaotic one, maybe this team gets hyped up more as a potential College Football Playoff contender. For now, it’s probably wiser to be cautious. Ehlinger and Herman dreaming big in Year 4 makes sense in a lot of ways, but the Longhorns still have a ton of work to do just to get ready to play good football this fall.

(Top photo of Sam Ehlinger: Tim Warner / Getty Images)