Texas’ regression on the defensive side of the ball has resulted in the first of what should be many staff changes for Tom Herman.
Per Yahoo! Sports, defensive coordinator Todd Orlando has been let go by the program on Sunday.
Source: Texas has fired defensive coordinator Todd Orlando.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 1, 2019
Orlando was one of Herman’s marquee hires upon taking the job at Houston and followed him to Austin in 2017. After their first season on the 40 Acres together, the Longhorns fended off interest from several other programs and made Orlando one of the highest paid assistants in the country, ranking No. 5 overall last year at $1.7 million according to USA Today.
However, the salary has not matched the results on the field for UT since then. The team regressed each of the past two seasons and ranked eighth in the Big 12 in total defense in 2019 as they slumped to 7-5 overall.
Injuries, especially in the secondary, were definitely a contributing factor to the defensive numbers slipping down the stretch recently but it appears that Herman will be bringing in somebody new to oversee the Longhorns’ rebuild in 2020.
One name to keep an eye on for the vacancy is fired Rutgers coach Chris Ash, who won a national title with the UT coach while the pair were at Ohio State in 2014 and has been reportedly already helped Texas prep for games behind the scenes.