Pros and cons of Texas' hire of Tom Herman

Now that the University of Texas has closed the book on the Charlie Strong era, the Longhorns are moving forward with not only the hottest name on the coaching market, but the seemingly unanimous choice of administration and fans alike in Tom Herman.

In just two seasons as the head coach in Houston, Herman has led the Cougars to a 22-4 overall record, with a surprising Peach Bowl victory over Florida State to punctuate last season. The Cougars had a puncher’s chance at spot in this season’s College Football Playoff, but disappointing losses to Navy, SMU and most recently, Memphis, doused those aspirations.

So how should those past two seasons be weighed when considering just how good a hire Herman actually is? He certainly took Houston’s program to new heights in short order, but that was also the case made for Strong when he was hired away from Louisville. In Austin, Herman will be facing challenges just as his predecessor did, but he’ll also look forward to some opportunities he never had while at Houston.

MORE TEXAS COVERAGE: Reviewing Charlie Strong's recruiting record with Horns | Orangebloods on Herman

HE’S A KNOWN IN-STATE COMMODITY

Strong was given a lot of credit for being popular with his players and recruits, but when he took over in Texas, he had to start from the ground floor in building his own equity outside of the Longhorns’ brand. Herman has already established himself as a brand and has had the benefit of frequently playing televised games, both locally and nationally.

The obvious double-bonus scenario for Herman now is he has a better chance to land players thought to be out of reach for a Group of Five Houston program as well as players that were apprehensive about Texas’ future with another head coach unfamiliar with the in-state recruiting landscape. He already has established relationships with recruits from around the state - and into Louisiana, for that matter - and can hit the ground running to fill in a pretty sparse 2017 recruiting class at this point for Texas.

THE CURRENT ROSTER ALREADY HAS PLENTY OF TALENT

Freshman quarterback Shane Buechele played well enough to satisfy the optimism he generated in the preseason. The players that the Longhorns added from the group granted release from their letters of intent to Baylor provided, in some cases (e.g. Devin Duvernay) instant results. A number of other players considered to have ‘down’ seasons like John Burt or Malik Jefferson will get a fresh start with a new buzz around the program next fall and the confidence of at least having a couple of years’ worth of experience under their belts.

After the offensive output both Houston and Texas enjoyed this season, Longhorns fans can at least stay upbeat about the prospects of continued success scoring points next season.

MANY OF THE TOP 2017 RECRUITS IN TEXAS HAVE LIKELY ALREADY ELIMINATED THE LONGHORNS

Five-stars Baron Browning and Jeffrey Okudah are both in Columbus this weekend on official visits and Ohio State is a heavy favorite in both of their recruitments. Browning has been set to announce his commitment on Nov. 29 and didn’t include Texas in his final top-six.

In October, five-star Marvin Wilson said that if Texas fired Charlie Strong, that would eliminate the Longhorns from his recruitment. With the news that LSU is keeping interim head coach Ed Orgeron, the Tigers should be confident in their chances to become a favorite with him.

Wilson’s five-star teammate, Walker Little, has repeatedly said that he hoped Texas would retain Strong, and has also long been linked to programs like Stanford and Ole Miss, which still seem more likely destinations for him at this point.

Of course, Herman could potentially convince any of them to flip before National Signing Day in the likely event they initially commit elsewhere, but he’ll have to make up ground quickly without significantly recruiting them as realistic targets for Houston prior.

THE FRUSTRATION OVER MEDIOCRITY IS AT A FEVER PITCH.

Even though Herman is the name that everyone from the top-down at Texas seemed to want as head coach - in some cases before the season even started - that doesn’t mean he’s not expected to get results at a much higher and much faster clip than Strong did. For as much as Herman has earned his reputation as the heir-apparent to whatever top program was going to land him, he now has to prove he can graduate from being the big fish in a small pond.

Not forgotten are the last four seasons of Mack Brown’s tenure at Texas, three of which ended in five or more losses, prior to Strong taking over after the 2013 season.