Report: Texas football undergoes massive staff changes

By Darice Farris

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UPDATED (4:51 p.m.): In addition to Orlando, Texas has reassigned offensive coordinator Tim Beck, reassigned co-wide receiver coach Corby Meekins to an off-field role and fired wide receiver coach Drew Mehringer, according to OrangeBloods

Beck will still stay on the staff, but will not be in a coordinator role. Most likely, he will continue to serve as quarterbacks coach while Texas coach Tom Herman brings in another coordinator. Herman himself has served as the primary play-caller for most of the past two seasons, not Beck. 

The reshuffling now means that Herman will now have new coordinators on both sides of the ball. He brought both Beck and Orlando to Austin with his initial staff in 2017. The offense was especially bad in the penultimate game against Baylor, when the unit didn't get into the red zone until the last drive of the game in garbage time. 

The wide receiver group had solid performances across the board. Wide receiver Devin Duvernay developed into an All-America-type slot receiver, while Brennan Eagles turned into a consistent No. 1 option outside. However, Herman decided to go in a different direction.

Original Story: Texas football has fired defensive coordinator Todd Orlando after three seasons with the program, according to Yahoo Sports.

Orlando had tremendous success during the early part of his career working for Tom Herman at both Houston and Texas. His defense helped key a 12-1 season in Houston, and later was critical in Texas making a run to the Big 12 championship game in 2018. For his efforts, Orlando was given a big contract extension in 2017. 

However, the unit took a major step back in 2019 because of both inexperience and injuries. Texas ranked eighth out of 10 Big 12 teams in total defense, and fielded the third-worst defense in school history. Giving up 48 points to Kansas and 37 points to TCU were especially unforgivable. 

The Longhorns finished with a 7-5 record in 2019, well below the preseason expectation of making it back to the Big 12 championship game. 

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