Texas lost seven games last year. They also lost seven in 2015. New head coach Tom Herman lost seven total games the last five seasons as head coach at Houston and assistant at Ohio State.
"We'll win championships," Herman said during his introductory press conference in November. "We'll build men of character. We'll graduate our players. And we will do it all with integrity and class."
While expectations for Herman are championships — plural — he first needs to win games. After winning at least 10 games in nine-straight seasons (2001-09), the Longhorns haven't done so since. In fact, they've only topped six wins three times since 2010.
Herman's predecessor Charlie Strong went 16-21 in three seasons. He never finished above. 500 and was dismissed following back-to-back five-win campaigns. Strong is the only head coach in program history to not record at least above-.500 season.
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Because of three-straight sub-.500 seasons, very few current players have ever played on a winning team at Texas. Tom Herman knows that; he wants his players to know that too.
At Big 12 Media Day on Tuesday, he told a story of his first team meeting in Austin.
#Texas @CoachTomHerman said in first team meeting he asked how many had been on a winning team at #UT? "Three players raised their hands."
— Chip Brown (@ChipBrownHD) July 18, 2017
Those three players are believed to be fifth-year seniors cornerback Antwaun Davis, kicker Mitchell Becker and linebacker Naashon Hughes. All three redshirted as freshman in 2013 during Mack Brown's final season when they went 8-5. It's the last time Texas has finished at or above .500 in a season.
Texas opens the 2017 season at home vs. Maryland on Saturday, Sept. 2.
