We're counting down the days until football is back in the state of Texas, and we're less than five days away. To celebrate, we're listing five programs in Texas college football that we'd love to put on a "Hard Knocks" or "Last Chance U" style of program. For anyone unfamiliar, Hard Knocks follow teams and players through training camp to get insight into the team, the program and people that put it all together.

Houston Cougars

We need only two words to sell this idea: Dana Holgorsen. He decided to leave West Virginia to try and make a winner of the likes of UCF in Houston. Luckily, he fields one of the nation’s best offenses and several stars on defense. The transition from the quiet Major Applewhite to the outspoken Holgorsen will be fascinating to watch. 

Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks

There aren’t many more interesting coaches in the state than new SFA coach Colby Carthel. Carthel turned into a star at Texas A&M-Commerce, leading an unorthodox team to a national championship in 2017. His work will be cut out at SFA, which won just two games last year. Setting the culture is the most important part of creating a program, and it would be fun to watch it happen in real time. 

Texas Longhorns

For the first time in almost a decade, the Longhorns have real, national expectations. Sam Ehlinger comes into the year as a Heisman contender. There’s more eyes on this program than there have been for a long time. It would be fascinating to watch how the Longhorns are adjusting, and how the coaching staff is dealing with success. Of course, following Ehlinger around campus for a few days would be a must.

Texas A&M Aggies

Texas A&M is unique. The fans know it. The haters know it. They want to win perhaps more than any team in the country right now, and they brought in a national championship coach to do it. This would have been even more electric a year ago when Jimbo first arrived on campus, but following this team in year two – and hopefully a few games into the year, too – would be must-watch television. 

TCU Horned Frogs

Gary Patterson is perhaps the most secretive coach in the state, no matter the level. All that secrecy makes watching him in action even more fascinating. It has long been said that it takes a very special type of player to play for Patterson, and it would be interesting to see how Patterson finds ways to manage his short temper with his innate genius while coaching. It’s worked for 20 years – let’s see how.