Firing Tom Herman ended up being one of the smartest decisions Texas ever made.
By the time the Longhorns moved on from him, the program had already spent years stuck in an awkward stretch - not far enough removed from Mack Brown’s run to feel like a full reset, but also nowhere near stable after Charlie Strong’s rough tenure. Herman arrived to clean that up, and while he did put together a few bowl wins, Texas never really climbed past being a 10-4 team under him. The Horns beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and lost to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship, but that was about the ceiling.
Four years was enough. Texas showed Herman the door, Steve Sarkisian took over, and the general feeling around the Herman era has been pretty cold ever since. Sam Ehlinger is probably the only one who left that period with a line people still remember, even if “back” proved to be a little too optimistic.
Now former Texas running back Chris Warren III has added his own blunt take.
After an old clip of Warren carrying the ball resurfaced online, one Texas fan jumped in with this: “I’ll never forgive Tom Herman for sitting him on the bench all year in 2017 behind Toneil Carter and Daniel Young.”
Warren did not hold back in response.
"Man, if you only knew half the s--- that was going on in 2017, man, y'all would be surprised we even won games," Warren wrote.
He doubled down with the same message on social media:
Man if you only knew half the shit that was going on in 2017 man yall would be surprised we even won games https://t.co/5ywdSGBtpI
- Chris Warren III (@ScorealldayCW25) August 12, 2026
That lines up with how strange that season looked from the outside. Texas finished 7-6 overall and still managed to win the Texas Bowl over Missouri, but Warren clearly wasn’t talking only about wins and losses.
On the field, he was buried behind Carter and Young despite being in his third year with the program. Herman gave Warren just 71 carries, and Warren turned those into 314 yards and six touchdowns.
The comparison to later Texas backfield usage only makes the 2017 split look even more puzzling. Roschon Johnson, playing behind Bijan Robinson, still got 93 carries in their final season together.
Warren was scoring once every 11 carries, while Carter and Young were producing less efficiently. Carter had 53 carries for 252 yards and three touchdowns.
Young led the trio with 81 carries for 373 yards and three touchdowns.
Taken together, Warren’s comments point to more than just a questionable depth chart. However you slice it, Texas was not functioning the way Texas needed to function.
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