Dan Wolken: Texas football “wasted money on new coaching staff”
When a program loses three consecutive games, blame is thrown around in every direction.
Whether it be fair or not, the majority of blame typically always falls on the shoulders of the head coach. After many expected the Longhorns to contend for the Big 12 title this season, Steve Sarkisian and his staff are facing quite a bit of adversity at the moment.
Sarkisian was considered a home run hire in January, and he was able to assemble an impressive coaching staff weeks later. Everything seemed to be moving in the right direction. However, nothing seems to be working in their favor as Texas currently sits with a 4-4 record.
It’s unrealistic to assume a new coaching staff can come in and instantly turn a program around, but the double-digit leads that were blown in three consecutive games is cause for concern. Is it the personnel use? The lack of in-game adjustments? The play-calling?
At this point, Texas’ struggles have people questioning whether or not Sarkisian is any better than Tom Herman.
Dan Wolken of USA TODAY Sports recently stated that Texas “wasted money on the new coaching staff.” While it is tough to disagree with his point of view, it’s also important to remember that good things take time.
For the low, low price of $24 million, Texas got rid of Tom Herman and a bunch of assistant coaches who had expensive guaranteed contracts after last season. Problem solved, right? Coaching changes are always the answer at Texas, where the failures are never about anything inherent to the program or administration and always chalked up to the idiot with the whistle. Texas’ bottomless pit of resources allows the Longhorns to do as they please and get rid of as many coaches as they wish. But the buyout money Texas has doled out lately isn’t exactly making things better. Surely that $24 million could have been spent on more interesting pursuits than watching new coach Steve Sarkisian blow double-digit leads three weeks in a row.
For the low, low price of $24 million, Texas got rid of Tom Herman and a bunch of assistant coaches who had expensive guaranteed contracts after last season. Problem solved, right? Coaching changes are always the answer at Texas, where the failures are never about anything inherent to the program or administration and always chalked up to the idiot with the whistle. Texas’ bottomless pit of resources allows the Longhorns to do as they please and get rid of as many coaches as they wish. But the buyout money Texas has doled out lately isn’t exactly making things better. Surely that $24 million could have been spent on more interesting pursuits than watching new coach Steve Sarkisian blow double-digit leads three weeks in a row.
Maybe Sarkisian’s recruiting chops will eventually cure some of these ills, particularly if Texas can land high school junior quarterback Arch Manning. But at the Misery Index, we only evaluate a program’s future based on what we see and what we know. And what we know at Texas is that in the month of October, they lost games in which they had an 18-point lead in the second half against Oklahoma, an 11-point lead against Oklahoma State and an 11-point lead against Baylor. Had it been Herman orchestrating that trio of collapses this season, it would have been no less annoying for Texas fans — but an awful lot cheaper.
