Urban Meyer and Tom Herman were on the same staff just three seasons ago with Ohio State, but now they’re on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to “excuses”.
It all started after Texas, as a three-score favorite, opened the season with a 51-41 loss to Maryland, and Herman said after the game:
“I told our guys to never get used to this feeling but that if we all thought we were going to come in here in nine months and sprinkle some fairy dust on this team and think that we’ve arrived then we’re wrong. And the only way we know how to fix things is to work harder.”
Well, in an interview this week with CBS Sports, his former boss, Urban Meyer, ripped his excuse-making, saying:
“C’mon man. I don’t know where that came from. It’s like a new generation of excuse. [Herman] said, ‘I can’t rub pixie dust on this thing.’ He got a dose of reality. Maryland just scored 51 points on you.”
Herman has had a weird week on the job in Austin. After the loss to Maryland, he referenced the 2014 Ohio State team he was a part of losing it’s opener to Virginia Tech before going on to win the first-ever College Football Playoff. That sure seems like a stretch of an analogy for a team that has 21 losses the past three seasons.
Then this week he pointed to Nick Saban‘s first season at Alabama where the Crimson Tide lost to Louisiana-Monroe and he pointed out that Mack Brown started off his career 1-2.
After years of struggles in Austin, I really don’t think this is the kind of nonsense fans want to hear. If I were Herman, I’d simply stick to the company line of improving this team each and every day, with the idea being this team will become the “best version of itself”. Spare us the comparisons to Nick Saban and Mack Brown, please.
In his Thursday press conference, Meyer was asked about Lincoln Riley taking over for Bob Stoops. Meyer said:
“I think the thing I advise my coaches when they go into positions and take new spots is always be extremely complimentary. Never talk as if those players aren’t your players. Obviously he was elevated from inside the staff, but when I hear coaches say ‘Well it’s not — these aren’t my guys, wait until he gets his guys,’ I cringe. Whose guys do you think they are? Once you become the head coach they’re your guys once you say I do.”
You think this wasn’t also a shot at Tom Herman? I’m convinced it was.
These excuses the past few days are reminiscent of National Signing Day in February when Texas vastly underachieved and Herman pointed to this such as the tough situation taking over for another staff, using the phrase “transitional year” and already harping on his plans to focus on 2018 when he could get more of “his guys”.
Spare us. Please. It’s only September 7th and it’s getting old.
