A Texas-Sized Mess: Examining the Collapse of the Longhorns
Gary Rohman-USA TODAY Sports
It's hard to think 11 years ago that the Texas Longhorns hoisted up the crystal ball in the Rose Bowl after beating a seemingly invincible USC team. It's hard to think 7 years ago they made it back to the Rose Bowl to try again facing Alabama. But we are here, at that point, seeing the Texas Longhorns become an afterthought of the Big 12 right now.
Yes, the Longhorns are an afterthought.
They say everything is bigger in Texas. And that is true. I have visited there a few times and enjoyed my time there and it is true of that phrase. But one thing is evidently, so are giant messes/carwrecks/and piles of cowdung. And the Texas Longhorns are that.
And they can blame nobody but themselves.
Texas is really trying to be on that same level as the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, etc. in the college world.
One thing that I think a lot of people associate Texas with is football. But mostly on a high school level. Heck, certain high schools in the state are treated like colleges such as Alabama and others, complete with season tickets, suites, and jumbotrons. It is a way of life. And granted, Texas has a great plethora of college football universities (Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Baylor, Texas Tech, SMU, etc.), but it isn't to me the same as you hit the Southeast where college is king in places like Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, etc.
And that is where the problems begin for Texas.
The Longhorns, for as good as they are, aren't really considered the top choice by many for a face of college football. Or maybe even a top 5 program. And it bothers them. The largest, well-known university in the state where football rules and many recruits prefer the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Florida State, Oklahoma, etc. over them, even when the Horns were a national contender. And that bothers everybody associated with Texas. And for the last 5 years, it REALLY has shown not only it bothers them but they have made moves that have kept them from not even being a first choice IN THE STATE anymore. So where does this downfall of the Longhorn program start?
Big 12 is the youngest Power 5 Conference in college football
Formation of the Big 12: Let's be honest here. The conference had issues from the get-go. Yes, the programs that were established in Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and even Colorado are/were top tier programs in the nation. So let's not kid ourselves to that. But the other 7? Baylor? K-State? Kansas? Oklahoma State? Texas Tech? Iowa State? Missouri? Let's face it: they weren't on that level. So the teams that were the "money-makers" for the program had the weight of what was "right" for the conference. I know people are going to say "but look at the Big Ten with Ohio State and Michigan or the SEC with Alabama or the ACC with Clemson!" First off, those conferences have been together for a long time and teams have been together for a good while. Secondly, at least with the ACC, they learned their lesson with South Carolina leaving way back when. Something the Big 12 had to go through with Nebraska.
Give another 10-15 years and we will forget Nebraska/Texas was a must-see IN-CONFERENCE game.
Nebraska started to notice a major power grab by Texas in the sense of they knew that the Big 12 would make Texas happy first. The Big 12, where the motto was evidently keep the rich richer, allowed Texas to have their own network, thanks to ESPN backing them, gain far more revenue. So the Huskers, a face of the Big 12 early on, split for the Big Ten. And it put chaos to the rest of the college football nation. The Big 12 obviously was irate Nebraska left, meaning no conference championship anymore. So then others started looking around, including Texas to see what was open for them. Rumors flew about the Horns joining the Big Ten with Nebraska, SEC, and the PAC-12 where they also tried to make a power play by bringing the likes of Baylor, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State among others while leaving the rest high & dry. However, and I remembered this, it came off as Texas wanted the other conferences to have concessions so the Longhorn Network could remain. The other conferences told the Longhorns no, so they decided to stay put and be happy, meaning the rest also stayed put, thus infuriating some within the conference, including their famed in-state rival Texas A&M.
One of the best rivalries in college football was the Aggies/Horns until 2012 when A&M left for the SEC.
The Aggies, tired of all the power plays the Longhorns did, wasted no time in joining the SEC. Missouri, who had wandering eyeballs for the Big Ten from Day One (probably because of the excessive power Texas and Oklahoma got), joined the SEC as well. Colorado, not wanting to be of a crumbling conference, still ended up joining the PAC-12 (alongside Utah). So what you got from having a 12-team conference with quality teams to an 8-team conference with really Oklahoma. Yes, West Virginia and TCU joined later, but still not the same caliber as A&M or Nebraska. Now rumblings of Oklahoma possibly entertaining an idea of either joining the PAC-12 or the SEC is coming to play as the Sooners are probably thinking they are in a failing conference and a conference that still caters to Texas, a team the Sooners and their fans are thinking aren't worth the gum scraped off their shoe at this point.
The symbol that has made a giant mess for Texas
THE LONGHORN NETWORK: As I alluded to earlier, this creation was more of a moneymaking power-grab by the Horns. By all accounts, it drove 4 teams away from the conference with it and possibly a 5th (Oklahoma), and lost $48 million since the creation (though somehow Texas has made money off of it). Sadly, the Longhorns will not let go of the network given they are making money in the process as most of it goes to ESPN for the losses (Brilliant idea ESPN). The best solution for the Horns and the Big 12 is actually changing it to the Big 12 Network, but that means Texas has to share revenue and that won't happen. Why? They are Texas and everybody must bow down to the Longhorns.
After hearing a lot about the Saban to Texas rumors, it seemed like it was never close to happening.
THE NICK SABAN/CHARLIE STRONG FIASCO: After the 2013 regular season ended, the Longhorns fired long-time coach Mack Brown because he was no longer getting the job done. Meaning, no conference championships since 2009 and constantly getting thumped by Oklahoma were his reasons. So Texas, thinking they are the face of college football, went right after the coach of college football, Nick Saban from Alabama. When Brown got fired, the rumors started to swirl.
Texas's partner in crime since 2010, ESPN, became TMZ about Saban. One piece they put out was a PA call for Nick Saban to go to the limo, which got Texas fans excited. Of course when that wasn't true and Saban was out on the road recruiting, they looked like fools. Then the next rumored report by ESPN was that Saban had not signed a contract extension with Alabama like he was supposed to and left it on his desk. Again, it was said that Alabama placed it when he got back from recruiting. Now to be fair, Texas really pushed for Saban before he opted to stay at Alabama, but it sounded like it wasn't much of a thought for Nick. And people close to Alabama did not seem bothered by all the ESPN reports of him heading to Texas as he was fine staying put. So, Texas, looking like that dorky kid in high school wanting to take the future prom queen to the prom only to be gobbled up by the prom king, had to run and find a date. Jimbo said no. Dantonio said no. And a few others turned the Horns down. So they had to choose the hot up-and-coming coach: Charlie Strong. Strong came from Louisville and got the Cardinals back to contention in the American Conference including a Sugar Bowl win. He was the "it" coach everybody wanted. But Texas went..........."he's no Saban but he will do..........I guess. But he better start winning soon!"
Many think Strong was never given a real chance by the Longhorn brass.
Gary Rohman-USA TODAY Sports
Strong arrived and was stunned on how it looked like the Horns players ran the asylum. He kicked off key players in his first year, getting the fans a little excited about having a new sheriff in town, but the wins were not there. They did make a bowl in his first year in 2014 but got waxed in it, losing to Arkansas 31-7. The next year was a mess. And Strong's defenses, which is his staple, were a disaster. And by the end of 2015, Strong was on the hot seat and fast. Probably has to do with Strong not being the #1 choice for Texas back in 2013. And if you look at it, when a program guns for a head coach to take over and not get it, the next choice on the list is a coach that is lukewarm by the boosters, AD, and the higher ups (Michigan with RichRod after wanting Miles, Notre Dame with Willingham, Alabama with Shula after Beamer). In a way it seems like these schools WANT their second choice to fail so a new first choice can happen 3 years down the road. And Strong might be in that boat.
This year started off as promise with the Horns beating Notre Dame on national television with stud quarterback Shane Buechele. But the losses mounted again and Strong had to answer questions about his job security and hear about all the rumors of him being fired by the end of the season, even in wins. And then since then have fallen flat on their face, with the Kansas loss being probably the nail in his coffin. I can't defend Strong losing to Texas. The defense, even after he took over as coordinator, still was rotten and you can fault him. But you do have to think all the pressure from boosters and the higher ups from Texas (and ESPN) got to him.
Now it looks like Strong is done in Texas. But the next bit for the Horns is, who is next? It sounds like the Horns have zero intention for jumping after Saban again and eyes are turning to Houston head coach Tom Herman, who for a while looked like he would take the first "other 5" conference to the playoff and beating Texas's chief rival Oklahoma. But the irony is Herman is similar to Strong: an Urban Meyer guy who garnered success in the American Conference as head coach, taking down a top power 5 team in a major bowl. The path is the same, and Texas looks like they want to jump on it again, hoping for a different result and get back to the top of the Big 12 where they believe they belong.
Strong looks to have recruited solidly for the Horns in his time. He won't see the end result for the Horns if he is fired soon, and if Herman comes in and wins 9 games in what is becoming a very weak Big 12 again (looks like only the Oklahoma schools and West Virginia have a pulse while the rest is becoming a disaster), then the Horns are either going to have a lot of hype surrounding them or if he turns in a 7-5 or 6-6 record again, Herman will have the same problem: he will be on the hot seat because the powers that be in Texas believe they are the face of college football and in 3 years we can hear about how they might gun for Dabo Swinney to cure all ills in Austin (no, I am not insinuating Dabo will leave Clemson; in fact, he's pretty much solidified there) because he is the guy.
Texas needs help from the likes of Baylor in any way possible instead of kicking them down and keeping them a really a middle-tier program.
Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports
The issue persists is that the Longhorns are a victim of their own arrogance and how they are the beacon of greatness in the Big 12 while the others are mediocre and even the nation for that matter. They don't want to help out anybody besides themselves, especially in their own conferences. You can make an argument that if the Horns started to do their share for the conference, you could see programs flourish in Lubbock with Texas Tech, Manhattan with Kansas State, Ames with Iowa State, etc. Just look at the SEC. You think Alabama would benefit if LSU, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, etc. weren't flourishing? You think Ohio State doesn't need Michigan, Wisconsin, and Penn State to help them out? Teams in the conference NEED each other. They need those teams to succeed and flourish just as much as they are and if it means to help the conference out, so be it. For the Horns, you think they care that Baylor is in a world of trouble? No. If anything that means more money for them and less for their competition.
Not sure if losing to Kansas in football was rock bottom for Texas, but changes need to be made outside of Strong for the Horns or else this is a bump on the fall to the bottom
Gary Rohman-USA TODAY Sports
If you want to clean up the giant mess in Austin with the Longhorns it is really simple: Start from powers that be and get the current ones out and get guys who are willing to wait it out for 3 or 4 years before they can be super-competitive. If they are pressured by ESPN over the Longhorn Network over this, then while I know it isn't realistic, but sever ties, fold the network and help the conference out and it might help you out in the process. The current heads are so delusional of what the Longhorns are and where they should be. The problem is, they think they can transport from a mediocre level to the top similar to what Alabama and Michigan did with Saban and Harbaugh respectively. It needs to take time to establish and develop to an elite level that was never really there to begin with. They need to use the blueprint of Clemson and let their coach build it from the ground up like Dabo did. Even Florida State with Jimbo had to do the same thing. But Texas wants to have a skyscraper built in one day and build the roof first.
And that has been the problem with Texas and how they handled their program.............and the conference.
-Fan in the Obstructed Seat
