Take two: Herman and Texas, Orgeron's future, Kelly's disappointment

Take Two is back this week tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape.

Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

RELATED: Rivals Q&A: Bob Stoops

Storyline: A report this week by NFL writer Benjamin Allbright stated that Houston coach Tom Herman taking the Texas job was “all but official,” but it seems that is premature and that nothing has been taken to that stage yet.

Sure, Herman could definitely wind up at Texas, especially if the Longhorns continue to struggle this season and the Texas honchos decide to get rid of coach Charlie Strong. LSU or Texas seem to be likely destinations for Herman, one of the hottest names in coaching circles.

The Longhorns are 3-4 this season, and they've lost four of their last five. Texas hosts Baylor this weekend.

Could Herman be headed to Austin? Definitely. And it could help with late recruiting in the 2017 class. But to report that deal is “all but official” does not seem incredibly accurate at this juncture.

First take: “Simply put, that report is premature, per multiple high-level sources. Now, Herman to Texas could very well happen, so those reports may wind up looking like they were accurate, but there is no back-channel deal in place with Herman. Things are nowhere near that stage. Should Texas continue to struggle down the stretch, which I expect, it’s a pretty safe bet that the Longhorns will be going through a coaching change and Herman is the most obvious candidate. My guess right now is that he’d wind up being the guy, but there are other candidates that the power people at Texas would probably approach. Remember, there were influential people at Texas three years ago who thought the Longhorns were going to land Nick Saban, so this is a group that doesn’t mind swinging for the fences and taking a shot.

“As for recruiting, things are pretty quiet for Texas right now as everyone waits to see how things play out and because Texas doesn’t do a ton of in-season recruiting. If and when a coaching change takes place, be it Herman or anyone else, I would expect recruiting would pick up in a hurry due to the excitement of the change.” – Jason Suchomel, Orangebloods.com

Second take: I don’t buy the report because it’s the middle of the season and it’s completely unethical for the head football coach of a program that’s paying him millions of dollars to have his agent negotiate a deal that’s done with Texas. I don’t see Herman as that type of individual. I don’t think he would disrespect Houston that way, and I don’t think that’s the way Texas operates. The report itself is just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks.

Do I think he’s the next coach at Texas? I’d say there is a high probability of that. But to say it’s a done deal now - I think that’s 'sources,' and I don’t believe it.” - Farrell

Storyline: Ed Orgeron is back to being an interim coach – he previously had that role at USC – and he's doing a phenomenal job at LSU, with comfortable wins over Missouri, Southern Miss and Ole Miss so far. LSU’s showdown against Florida has been postponed.

But will the Tigers hand over the program to Orgeron full-time after this season if he continues to win, or will LSU be searching for a hot, young coach and thank Orgeron for a job well-done?

LSU has a bye week and then faces top-ranked Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Texas A&M to finish off the regular season. It doesn’t get much tougher than that. And some think the LSU-Alabama game could really be a job interview for Orgeron. That is a pretty steep hill to climb.

First take: “When (athletics director) Joe Alleva and the powers that be at LSU fired Les Miles, I don't think they did that with the intention of elevating Orgeron to full-time head coach. That said, he's had LSU playing well and winning the games we thought in the preseason they were supposed too. If the coaches at the top of Alleva's list fall through, does Orgeron get the job if he goes 3-1 or 4-0 in November? Yes, I think it's possible.” – Mike Scarborough, TigerBait.com

Second take: “If they run the table, it’s highly probable the search ends with Orgeron. LSU is too good of a job and too attractive of a program not only to college coaches, but to NFL coaches, to really just hand it over to him if they show signs of progress, which they have, but still get throttled by Alabama and finish the season out that way. That Alabama game is really his job interview. LSU fans want to see them win the SEC West and compete with Alabama. If they take Alabama down to the wire and win all their other games or he runs the table, then he’s the guy.” - Farrell

Storyline: The first sign things are not going well inside a program is when the athletic director comes out and says things are going well.

So might be the case at Notre Dame where AD Jack Swarbrick came out this week and gave full-throated support to coach Brian Kelly, who then responded by saying he was disappointed that anything needed to be said at all.

Kelly has had a successful run at Notre Dame, taking the Irish to the national title game in the 2012 season and winning 10 games last season. But Notre Dame is 2-5, rudderless and Kelly has fired his defensive coordinator and blamed players for losses in recent weeks.

Things are not good in South Bend. But Kelly probably has job security unless something unforeseen happens late in the season, and it doesn’t seem to be negatively affecting recruiting at all down the stretch.

We’ll report back if Notre Dame keeps losing games it should be winning.

First take: “Kelly may have raised a few eyebrows Tuesday with the way he phrased his reaction to receiving a vote of confidence from Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick this past Friday. However, the only way it should be interpreted is Kelly was ‘disappointed' not because Swarbrick came out and said it, but disappointed in the place the Irish currently sit at 2-5 where Swarbrick feels he has to say publicly Kelly’s job is safe heading into the 2017 season. Kelly is obviously not happy with the way this season has turned out for the Irish given the high hopes in the preseason. It is also probably frustrating for him to continuously hear outside noise and calls for him to be let go following the season despite his record (57-28) at the university. Kelly’s comments simply reflect his frustration and disappointment his program is to the point his boss has to reinforce his job security.

“It doesn’t appear there are any worries among the current Irish commits about the job security of Kelly. If there are, they haven’t been expressed publicly through interviews or social media. It has all been positive from the recruiting side of things for Notre Dame this season minus the recent Donovan Jeter decommitment. Many see this season as just one rough patch for Kelly and Notre Dame and believe the program will reverse course starting next season. Many feel they can be part of the solution and help return Notre Dame closer to the top of the mountain. With Kelly receiving the vote of confidence, the 2017 class should remain intact as is with only additions left and not subtractions.” – Corey Bodden, BlueandGold.com

Second take: “If they lose out, then there could be a chance he’s gone. But there is so much money involved and he has a huge buyout. His response to the vote of confidence was interesting because a lot of people will take it like he was upset at his boss. I don’t take it that way at all. It’s an example of Kelly reacting to something that leaves a lot of things open to interpretation. That’s part of his problem. He was upset because he put himself in this position and as a head coach you never want to get that show of good faith from your athletic director during a horrific season. It’s embarrassing. Other people think he was upset because he earned the right not to even have that come out. I don’t know which it was. I don’t think he’s gone unless they lose out and then Notre Dame wants to write a huge check and some big-time coach is knocking on the door.” - Farrell