# 2017 Texas Longhorns football team

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.

## 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.
Texas then added another former Herman UH assistant, the one year offensive coordinator from Rutgers Drew Mehringer as the passing game coordinator. 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. Herman also added the recently retired NFL player and former Longhorn Michael Huff as a quality control/assistant DB coach.

### Roster and coaching staff
## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 11:00 a.m. | Maryland* | No. 23 | Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial StadiumAustin, TX | FS1 | L 41–51 | 88,396 |
| September 9 | 2:30 p.m. | San Jose State* | | Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial StadiumAustin, TX | LHN | W 56–0 | 88,117 |
| September 16 | 7:30 p.m. | at No. 4 USC* | | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA | FOX | L 24–27 $^{2OT}$ | 93,607 |
| September 28 | 7:00 p.m. | at Iowa State | | Jack Trice StadiumAmes, IA | ESPN | W 17–7 | 51,234 |
| October 7 | 6:00 p.m. | Kansas State | | Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial StadiumAustin, TX | FS1 | W 40–34 $^{2OT}$ | 90,462 |
| October 14 | 2:30 p.m. | vs. No. 12 Oklahoma | | Cotton BowlDallas, 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 StadiumAustin, TX | ABC | L 10–13 $^{OT}$ | 92,506 |
| October 28 | 11:00 a.m. | at Baylor | | McLane StadiumWaco, TX (rivalry) | ESPNU | W 38–7 | 39,110 |
| November 4 | 6:15 p.m. | at No. 8 TCU | | Amon G. Carter StadiumFt. Worth, TX (rivalry) | ESPN | L 7–24 | 48,042 |
| November 11 | 5:00 p.m. | Kansas | | Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial StadiumAustin, TX | LHN | W 42–27 | 96,557 |
| November 18 | 11:00 a.m. | at West Virginia | | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV | ESPN | W 28–14 | 53,133 |
| November 24 | 7:00 p.m. | Texas Tech | | Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial StadiumAustin, TX (Chancellor's Spurs) | FOX | L 23–27 | 100,629 |
| December 27 | 8:00 pm | vs. Missouri* | | NRG StadiumHouston, TX (Texas Bowl) | ESPN | W 33–16 | 67,820 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to gameAll 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.

## Rankings

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