It’s Time To Start Winning

The Horns have made progress but a few issues remain.

Silence was golden on Tuesday. Herman usually has music blasting during practice, but Tuesday he wanted the team to learn how to play through a distracting silence.

“I wanted to hear what was really being said,” Herman said. “We talked before practice about (if) you want to be a great teammate, the kind of teammate you are is exposed when somebody else does something really well.

”I wanted to be able to make sure I heard the things that were being said, both from a communication standpoint and from an energy and excitement and leadership standpoint.”

What’s the biggest takeaway midway through spring practice?

The good, however, is the overall vibe within the program. Tom Herman mentioned on Tuesday what’s been obvious through the open windows we’ve had — there’s less coaching of culture and more teaching. Especially on defense, the coaches are able to really dig into the developing the talent on the roster now that standards for practice and daily behavior have been set. This feels like Herman and his coaches coaching their team as opposed to last spring when two different entities were trying every day to get on the same page.

Here’s a way-too-early look at the 2018-19 basketball season.

The Longhorns lose Mo Bamba but other than that they won’t take any big hits. Andrew Jones is expected to be back on the court and the Longhorns got some great play late in the season from Kerwin Roach, Matt Coleman, and Jericho Sims. It might have taken Shaka Smart a little longer than the Longhorns might have hoped but Texas does appear to be a consistent contender.

Kevin Sumlin is set to make $11.9 million in 2018 with his buyout from A&M and his salary at Arizona.

The Aggies paid Sumlin a little less than $9.9 million in 2018, according to documents obtained by The News through an open records request. The one-time payment fulfills the terms of Sumlin’s contract, which still had two years remaining when he was effectively fired in Nov. 2017 after the Aggies’ regular-season finale against LSU.

Land Thief QB Kyler Murray needs some work before he replaces Baker Mayfield.

The Big 12 is in big trouble.

Despite coming off a season in which Oklahoma’s offense dazzled all the way to the College Football Playoff, the Big 12’s chances of sending a representative back to the game’s biggest stage appear relatively slim, according to our Football Power Index projections. The Big 12 has a worse chance (26 percent) of having a team earn a top-four strength of record -- a good proxy for playoff chances -- than any of the other four Power 5 conferences or Notre Dame.

West Virginia could have one of the best offenses in 2018.