2017 Texas Longhorns football team

2017 Texas Longhorns football
Texas Bowl champion
Texas Bowl, W 33–16 vs. Missouri
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	7–6 (5–4 Big 12)
Head coach	Tom Herman (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Tim Beck (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Todd Orlando (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium

2017 Big 12 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 Oklahoma y$^		8	–	1					12	–	2
No. 9 TCU y		7	–	2					11	–	3
No. 14 Oklahoma State		6	–	3					10	–	3
Texas		5	–	4					7	–	6
West Virginia		5	–	4					7	–	6
Kansas State		5	–	4					8	–	5
Iowa State		5	–	4					8	–	5
Texas Tech		3	–	6					6	–	7
Baylor		1	–	8					1	–	11
Kansas		0	–	9					1	–	11
Championship: Oklahoma 41, TCU 17
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2017 Texas Longhorns football team, known variously as "Texas", "UT", the "Longhorns", or the "Horns", was a collegiate American football team representing the University of Texas at Austin as a member of the Big 12 Conference in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season; the 2017 team was the 125th to represent the university in college football. The Longhorns were led by first-year head coach Tom Herman with Tim Beck as the team's offensive coordinator and Todd Orlando as the team's defensive coordinator. The team played its home games at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.

Following a 5–7 season the previous year, the 2017 preseason involved a complete overhaul of the coaching staff for the Texas Longhorns football team. On November 27, 2016, Houston head coach Tom Herman was hired as the Longhorns head coach, replacing Charlie Strong.^[1]

Recruiting

Position key

Back	B		Center	C		Cornerback	CB		Defensive back	DB
Defensive end	DE		Defensive lineman	DL		Defensive tackle	DT		End	E
Fullback	FB		Guard	G		Halfback	HB		Kicker	K
Kickoff returner	KR		Offensive tackle	OT		Offensive lineman	OL		Linebacker	LB
Long snapper	LS		Punter	P		Punt returner	PR		Quarterback	QB
Running back	RB		Safety	S		Tight end	TE		Wide receiver	WR

Recruits

Texas signed a total of 18 recruits.

College recruiting information (2017)
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Damion Miller WR	Tyler, Texas	John Tyler HS	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	Jun 25, 2015
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Sam Ehlinger QB	Austin, Texas	Westlake HS	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	Jul 28, 2015
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Kobe Boyce CB	Lake Dallas, Texas	Lake Dallas HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	163 lb (74 kg)	Apr 3, 2016
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Montrell Estell WR	Hooks, Texas	Hooks HS	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	May 20, 2016
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Josh Thompson CB	Nacogdoches, Texas	Nacogdoches HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	Jul 27, 2016
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Ta'Quon Graham DE	Temple, Texas	Temple HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Sep 5, 2016
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Josh Rowland K	Madison, Mississippi	Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C.	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Dec 11, 2016
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A
Toneil Carter RB	Houston, Texas	Langham Creek HS	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	197 lb (89 kg)	Dec 19, 2016
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Daniel Young RB	Houston, Texas	Westfield HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Dec 23, 2016
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Cade Brewer TE	Austin, Texas	Lake Travis HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	223 lb (101 kg)	Dec 23, 2016
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Derek Kerstetter OG	San Antonio, Texas	Reagan HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	280 lb (130 kg)	Dec 26, 2016
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Reese Leitao TE	Jenks, Oklahoma	Jenks HS	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	234 lb (106 kg)	Dec 29, 2016
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Marqez Bimage LB	Brenham, Texas	Brenham HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	233 lb (106 kg)	Jan 6, 2017
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Max Cummins DE	Fort Worth, Texas	All Saints Episcopal School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Jan 17, 2017
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Gary Johnson LB	Douglas, Alabama	Dodge City C.C.	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jan 20, 2017
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Sam Cosmi OT	Humble, Texas	Atascocita HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	260 lb (120 kg)	Jan 30, 2017
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Jordan Pouncey WR	Winter Park, Florida	Winter Park HS	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Feb 1, 2017
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Jamari Chisholm DT	Valdosta, Georgia	Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	280 lb (130 kg)	Feb 1, 2017
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Texas Football Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 7, 2017. "2017 Texas Football Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved February 7, 2017. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 7, 2017. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved February 7, 2017. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 7, 2017.

Personnel

An entire staff needed to be built as Coach Herman chose not to retain any current staff members that were under Coach Strong. The initial group of 6 that followed Herman from Houston to Texas included four assistant coaches, all of whom have extensive coaching experience in the state of Texas with three being Texas natives. Former Longhorn great Oscar Giles, Corby Meekins, Derek Warehime and Jason Washington all were coaches on Herman's Houston staff and will join him in Austin. Positions and titles for the assistant coaches will be announced after the completion of the staff. In addition, Fernando Lovo will serve as Assistant AD for Football Operations, while Derek Chang will be Director of player personnel. Both also come from Herman's UH staff.^[2]

Texas then added another former Herman UH assistant, the one year offensive coordinator from Rutgers Drew Mehringer as the passing game coordinator.^[3] 4 more pieces of the puzzle then were announced on Dec 19, more from his Houston staff. Todd Orlando, who was Hermans Defensive Coorindator at Houston comes over in the same role. Assistant Coach Craig Naviar also joins him. Additionally, Yancy McKnight will serve as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Football, while Tory Teykl will be Director of football operations.^[4] Herman also added the recently retired NFL player and former Longhorn Michael Huff as a quality control/assistant DB coach.^[5]

Roster and coaching staff

2017 Texas Longhorns football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 1 John Burt Jr WR 6 Devin Duvernay So WR 3 Armanti Foreman Sr WR 84 Lil'Jordan Humphrey So WR 14 Lorenzo Joe Sr QB 7 Shane Buechele So WR 8 Dorian Leonard Sr WR 9 Collin Johnson So QB 11 Sam Ehlinger Fr WR 13 Jerrod Heard Jr WR 14 Kai Locksley Fr WR 17 Reggie Hemphill-Mapps Fr QB 18 Josh Covey So RB 21 Kyle Porter So RB 25 Chris Warren III Jr RB 26 Tim Yoder Jr RB 27 Roderick Bernard Sr RB 28 Kirk Johnson So RB 30 Toneil Carter Fr WR 36 Eric Gonzalez So RB 40 Trenton Hafley Jr RB 41 Tristian Houston So TE 43 Robert Willis Sr TE 47 Andrew Beck Sr OL 51 Terrell Cuney Jr OL 54 Garrett Graf Sr OL 55 Connor Williams Jr OL 56 Zach Shackelford So OL 58 Brandon Hodges Sr OL 63 Alex Anderson Jr OL 64 Jake McMillon Jr OL 67 Tope Imade Fr OL 69 Austin Allsup Jr OL 70 Buck Major So OL 71 J.P. Urquidez Fr OL 72 Elijah Rodriguez Jr OL 73 Patrick Hudson Fr OL 74 Jean Delance So OT 75 Tristan Nickelson Sr OL 77 Patrick Vahe Jr OL 78 Denzel Okafor So OL 79 Garrett Thomas So WR 82 Michael Wilson Jr WR 16 Davion Curtis Fr WR 85 Philipp Moeller Jr TE 87 Garrett Gray Jr TE 89 Chris Fehr Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 2 Kris Boyd Jr S 4 DeShon Elliott Jr DB 5 Holton Hill Jr CB 18 Davante Davis So DB 11 P. J. Locke Jr DB 15 Chris Brown Fr DB 19 Brandon Jones So LB 23 Jeffrey McCulloch Fr DB 23 Jordan Strickland Jr CB 24 John Bonney Jr CB 7 Antwuan Davis Sr DB 26 Eric Cuffee Fr DB 27 Donovan Duvernay Fr DB 28 Jarmarquis Durst Jr S 31 Jason Hall Sr LB 31 Kyle Hrncir So OLB 32 Malcolm Roach So DB 33 Trevor Carr So LB 35 Edwin Freeman Jr LB 36 Demarco Boyd Fr LB 39 Edward Pequeno So LS 39 Michael David Poujol Fr DE, OLB 40 Naashon Hughes Sr LB 42 Jay Harper Jr LB 43 Cameron Townsend So DE, OLB 44 Breckyn Hager Jr LB 45 Anthony Wheeler Jr LB 46 Malik Jefferson Jr DL 48 Andrew Fitzgerald Fr DS 53 Jak Holbrook Jr DE 90 Charles Omenihu Jr DL 94 Gerald Wilbon So DT 95 Poona Ford Sr DT 97 Chris Nelson Jr DL 98 D'Andre Christmas So DL 99 Chris Daniels Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 37 Michael Dickson Jr PK 45 Chris Naggar Fr P 38 Mitchell Becker Sr PK 49 Joshua Rowland Jr	Head coach Tom Herman Coordinators/assistant coaches Tim Beck (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Stan Drayton (Associate head coach/run game coordinator/running backs) Oscar Giles (defensive line) Corby Meekins (Tight ends) Drew Mehringer (Pass Game coordinator/wide receivers) Craig Naivar (special teams coordinator/safeties) Todd Orlando (defensive coordinator/linebackers) Derek Warehime (offensive line) Jason Washington (Recruiting coordinator/cornerbacks) Yancy McKnight (head strength and conditioning coach for football) [6] Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: September 5, 2016

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	11:00 a.m.	Maryland*	No. 23	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	FS1	L 41–51	88,396
September 9	2:30 p.m.	San Jose State*		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	LHN	W 56–0	88,117
September 16	7:30 p.m.	at No. 4 USC*		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	FOX	L 24–27 ^2OT	93,607
September 28	7:00 p.m.	at Iowa State		Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA	ESPN	W 17–7	51,234
October 7	6:00 p.m.	Kansas State		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	FS1	W 40–34 ^2OT	90,462
October 14	2:30 p.m.	vs. No. 12 Oklahoma		Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Rivalry)	ESPN	L 24–29	93,552
October 21	11:00 a.m.	No. 10 Oklahoma State		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	ABC	L 10–13 ^OT	92,506
October 28	11:00 a.m.	at Baylor		McLane Stadium Waco, TX (rivalry)	ESPNU	W 38–7	39,110
November 4	6:15 p.m.	at No. 8 TCU		Amon G. Carter Stadium Ft. Worth, TX (rivalry)	ESPN	L 7–24	48,042
November 11	5:00 p.m.	Kansas		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	LHN	W 42–27	96,557
November 18	11:00 a.m.	at West Virginia		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPN	W 28–14	53,133
November 24	7:00 p.m.	Texas Tech		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (Chancellor's Spurs)	FOX	L 23–27	100,629
December 27	8:00 pm	vs. Missouri*		NRG Stadium Houston, TX (Texas Bowl)	ESPN	W 33–16	67,820
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Central time

Media affiliates

Texas' flagship radio station is KTXX-FM ("The Horn", 104.9 FM) based in Austin, Texas. Fourteen other FM stations and twenty-one AM stations cover UT's football games around Texas, while a pair of FM and AM stations based in Austin cover Texas games in Spanish. Texas Longhorns football games are broadcast via satellite radio on Sirius channel 117, XM channel 202, and SiriusXM channel 969.^[7]

Rankings

Further information: 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	23	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	23	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
CFP	Not released									—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released

References

1. "Longhorns hire Herman as Strong's replacement". November 26, 2016.
2. "Herman hires six staff members at Texas".
3. "Reports: Texas hires Rutgers OC Drew Mehringer". December 11, 2016.
4. "Herman hires four staff members at Texas".
5. "Former All-American safety Michael Huff joins Texas staff". December 7, 2016.
6. "2017 Football Roster". TexasSports.com. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin. August 26, 2016. Archived from the original on August 24, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
7. University of Texas at Austin. "Austin Radio Network: Radio Affiliates". Longhorn Sports Marketing/IMG College. Austin, Texas: TexasSports.com. Retrieved October 17, 2015.