With Urban Meyer off the table and no obvious No. 2 option, Chris Del Conte is standing pat.
The Texas AD released a statement saying, "I want to reiterate Tom Herman is our coach" while at the same time acknowledging the team did not meet expectations in 2020.
Many are interpreting this statement to state unequivocally Herman will be back in 2021 -- and that may very well end up being the case -- but Del Conte does not come out and say Herman will coach the team next season.
Read the full statement below.
While endorsing Herman, Del Conte acknowledges why it came to the point of UT's fourth-year coach needing his endorsement. "Like many fans that follow and support our program, I can't help but think what could have been in 2020." Texas will open a nine-figure renovation to Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium's south end zone and the Longhorns' football building in 2021, while presumably attempting to sell 100,000 tickets to each home game. Bringing Herman back will make filling those seats more difficult.
Herman stated Del Conte offered to speak on the phone to any recruits that had questions about his job security, and this statement will put those questions to bed through the December signing period, which opens Wednesday. Herman pointed to changing seven coaches, including both coordinators, as reasons why the Longhorns fell short of expectations this fall, which ignores that the team's underperformance in 2019 is the reason why those changes were made in the first place. "I think any answer I give you right now is going to come across as an excuse," Herman said after a Black Friday loss to Iowa State that knocked Texas out of Big 12 championship contention.
Herman's contract dictates he'd be owed a $15 million buyout right now and, with no clear option outside of Meyer, no consensus built for another option -- and so it appears Texas will move forward with the status quo. At least for now.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.