Herman fulfilling his dreams on his own, but shares much with Brown

As Tom Herman entered the room for his introductory press conference, he appeared to do all the right things. He greeted Edith Royal, the widow of Texas football great Darrell Royal. He greeted DeLoss Dodds, Greg Fenves, Mike Perrin, Frank Denius, and many other Texas dignitaries.

Each received a heartfelt smile and a hug, but while each of those people made some sort of impact on Herman’s life, the people he embraced for the longest time, former Texas head coach Mack Brown and his wife, Sally, mean the most to Herman.

Herman’s respect for Brown was evident. While members of the media in attendance referred to the former coach and current ESPN analyst as “Mack,” Herman repeatedly made sure to call him “Coach Brown,” even excusing himself when he let one “Mack” slip out of his mouth.

Brown made sure he let Herman know he did not mind.

“Coach Brown, you’re a mentor and a friend and you took a chance on a young guy 17 years ago who dreamed of being like you, of standing here in Austin wearing the burnt orange,” Herman said referring to his time as a graduate assistant under Brown. “I couldn’t be happier that you’re here and made time to be here for me.”

There are a lot of parallels between Brown and Herman, but the styles will be incredibly different. Still, they knew how to make the right people happy, as evidenced by the people Herman acknowledged at his press conference.

“I want to take this time to let former players and members of the T Association to know that the door is always open,” Herman said. “They have built Texas football into what it is today and I want them to know that you are always welcome.”

Brown often opened his door to former players.

“I also want the high school coaches of the great state of Texas to know that this is their football program,” Herman said. “We’re the flagship university of the best high school football playing state in America.”

Herman referenced specific coaches at Cy-Falls High School and A&M Consolidated High School. Referencing Texas high school football and its coaches on the biggest stage available at the time? Brown did that as well.

“What you saw in ’99 is what you see today,” Brown said. “He’s very bright. He’s very passionate. He cares about everything he does. I do remember he was working with [former Texas offensive coordinator] Greg Davis. I do remember that we used to laugh and say ‘don’t tell Tom you want something unless you’re going to get it.’ Cause he’ll be right back.”

That hard-working, nose to the ground attitude is what got Herman from Iowa State to Ohio State to Houston to Texas.

As with any coaching change, one of the first jobs is to get the players from the previous staff to buy in to the new staff.

Herman said he had a team meeting at 4:15 p.m., about an hour prior to his introductory press conference. Herman acknowledged the loyalty and affection the players have for former head coach Charlie Strong. He said it was normal for his team to have those feelings.

But those feelings cannot stay if Herman wants to run a successful program. As Breckyn Hager, P.J. Locke III and Malcolm Roach looked on, Herman saw three players he would have to show his worth to, just as they will eventually have to show their worth to him.

“The sales pitch will be that the talent is there,” Herman said on both the team and recruiting. “You will be playing with some talented players. You’re going to be the best trained team in America. You’re going to be physically and mentally tough, the most physically and mentally tough team on the field.”

Brown came to Texas prior to his 1998 season and also had to recruit John Mackovic’s players to his side. It appears as if the players are on board, with defensive back Kris Boyd tweeting the team would go “balls to the wall” for Herman.

“He’s got to recruit the team,” Brown said. “That’s what you do wherever you go. Whoever goes to Houston is going to have to recruit that team because their disappointment Tom’s gone. That’s just what you do. You recruit the players that are there first, then you have contact with the recruits that are out there.”

Herman will face a tall task in recruiting the team in a situation extremely similar to one Brown walked into in 1997. Brown had to recruit Ricky Williams back to Texas to return for his senior season rather than entering the NFL draft.

He will have to talk to D’Onta Foreman, Texas’ current Heisman candidate, back to returning for his senior year.

“I have not had a chance to talk to him,” Herman said. “Planning on doing so very shortly, and hopefully by tomorrow morning I’ll have a chance to speak with him and figure out what his intentions are.”

The new coach can look to his mentor for advice.

“He will do it,” Brown said. “What you do is you sit down and first, if Ricky wanted to go to the NFL, there wasn’t anything we could do. What Ricky wanted to do was, they were 4-7 when we got here. He wanted to win. He wanted to leave the program in better shape.”

Now entering what was reported as his ‘dream job,’ Herman said he did not even know if he was ever going to be here.

He talked about the time he had to search for a new job after a new staff came to Sam Houston State and how nerve racking it was for him and his family. He talked about all the different things he learned at various stops along the way.

He never thought he would be in ‘Coach Brown’s’ shoes. He claims he did not have time to.

“To say that I ever dreamt about being the head coach of the University of Texas, probably,” Herman said. “As a coach, you’re so singularly focused on the day to day task at hand, you don’t have time to dream very often.”

He may not have time to dream still, but the dream is now reality.