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It’s expected at some point soon that the hiring of Tom Herman as the next head football coach at Texas will become official.

It’s one thing to get Herman, the 41-year-old University of Houston boss who’s posted a 22-4 record through two seasons with the Cougars. If Herman could put together a top-notch staff, something Charlie Strong struggled to do through three seasons with the Longhorns, it could mean the difference between 2017 being a rebuilding year, or a season where Texas can realistically contend for the Big 12 title.

When picking out the ideal staff Herman could put together at Texas, there are a few things to take under consideration:

-- It’s expected that two of the top candidates to replace Herman at Houston will be his current offensive coordinator, Major Applewhite, and his current defensive coordinator, Todd Orlando. With that in mind, Applewhite and Orlando are going to be obvious options at the two coordinator positions at Texas, but they’re not going to be the choices listed in this piece.

-- The next Houston head coach will likely want to do whatever it takes to retain current tight ends/fullbacks coach Corby Meekins. The former Spring Westfield coach being on Herman’s staff is a huge reason why Herman was able to land elite defensive tackle Ed Oliver in the 2016 recruiting cycle.

-- It’s possible that this is the offseason where Cedar Hill head coach Joey McGuire looks to make a move. Texas tried to hire McGuire in 2015 as tight ends coach, a job that ultimately went to Jeff Traylor. Expect McGuire to be a hot commodity for a staff position at all of the major college programs within the state.

-- Current offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert and offensive line coach Matt Mattox have two years left on the three-year guaranteed contracts they each signed last December. Gilbert’s veer-and-shoot offense is different from the power spread attack Herman runs. Gilbert and Mattox are also a package deal. It’s not expected they’ll be back in Austin in 2017.

One of Strong’s biggest setbacks were the decisions made when putting together his initial staff. Herman has a chance to knock it out of the park with his initial hires.

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