Bevo’s Daily Roundup: Texas’ Tom Herman has faith there will be a football season

During a recent talk with the Austin American-Statesman’s On Second Thought podcast, Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman insisted there will be a football season. “There will be football played,” Herman said. The only problem: It’s unclear whether it’ll be this year.

WHAT THE WISE MEN ARE SAYING ABOUT THE LONGHORNS

Austin American-Statesman: The Dotted Line: COVID-19 pandemic hits close to home for Texas enrollee Troy Omeire

Austin American-Statesman: Bohls, Golden: Sizing up Texas’ new staff, issues for 2020

Sports Illustrated: Herman expects young O-linemen to compete for playing time

247Sports: Mike at Night: Odds and ends from Texas recruiting

247Sports: Texas eyeing linebacker help in uncertain grad transfer market

NEWS FROM ELSEWHERE IN LONGHORN LAND AND THE BIG 12

• Katie Benzan, the all-time record holder for three-pointers in the Ivy League, has decided to take her talents to the Maryland Terrapins, and not the Longhorns, the Austin American-Statesman reports. From the Statesman: “Benzan, who would have been the only senior on UT’s roster next season, signed with Texas when Karen Aston was the program’s head coach. Aston was replaced by former Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer earlier this month. Schaefer inherited seven returning players and five incoming recruits from Aston. Thus far, Benzan has been the only defector.”

• Herman was ready to hire an old associate, former Kansas coach David Beaty, for an analyst gig earlier this year. In fact, Texas as a program was on the verge of it. But then Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte reached out to Kansas athletic director Jeff Long, the Kansas City Star reports. “Jeff stated at that point … ‘I wouldn’t do that if I was you. His behavior is egregious,’” Beaty testified, according to court filings. “‘It was definitely Level I.’ And that … I think it made Mr. Del Conte take pause.” Beaty wasn’t hired in the end.

• A recent report in the Dallas Morning News spells out bad news for whether or not there will be football later this year. From the Morning News: “Some of the most powerful people in college football indicated that games won’t be back until students return to campus and in class in the aftermath of the coronavirus. That was one of the takeaways from a 30-minute teleconference Wednesday between Vice President Mike Pence and the College Football Playoff management committee, which includes the 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick. ‘I think all of us understand that participants on our football teams and cross country teams and volleyball teams, this is a student-based program,” Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in a phone interview. “So if our students aren’t going to class, I don’t think you can have a sports program.’” That means fans in the stands.

• Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger’s COVID-19 fundraiser hit the $100,000 mark.

• Texas legend Ricky Williams, a former Heisman Trophy winner and longtime medical and recreational advocate, is opening up about the NFL’s new usage policy, which raises the limit from 35 to 150 nanograms of THC allowed during only the first two weeks of camp.

• ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum doesn’t think playing the college football season in the spring is “viable at all.” ... “The bigger issue is, even if we have college football this year, will fans show up? On our program, fans can’t wait to watch football. They can’t wait to see it,” Finebaum said. “But there’s a difference between wanting to see it and going to a stadium with 103,000 people. Based on word of mouth and talking to people, I think there’s going to be a great reluctance. Will there be people? Sure. But I don’t think you’ll see full stadiums, at least not in September or October.”