AUSTIN, Texas – Texas’ spring game didn’t start until just after 1 p.m., but it kicked off 10 minutes earlier than that as Tom Herman gathered his team for a big screen rendition of the circle drill.

Backup quarterbacks faced backup quarterbacks and All-American left tackles faced All-Big 12 DTs as Texas’ players smashed into each other in one-on-ones.

It was physical. It was new. Most importantly, it set the tone.

“It just got the juices going,” said Texas defensive tackle Poona Ford.

Welcome to Herman’s Texas Longhorns program: Energetic. Physical. Fan friendly. Different.

The spring game, from a scrimmage perspective, showed Texas fans plenty.

Shane Buechele seemed to state his starting nod at quarterback is a mere formality with a 23-of-39, 369-yard, two-touchdown performance (his true freshman competition, Sam Ehlinger, finished 10-of-31). Sophomore wide receiver Collin Johnson (all 6-foot-6, 215 pounds of him) emerged as a monster – "freakish" said sophomore running back Kyle Porter – with eight catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Not to be outdone, the first-team defense flashed with 11 sacks.

But in reality, the spring game simply served as the culmination of what’s been a tenure of transformation under Herman.

One day prior to the spring game show, the Longhorns social media account (revamped considerably under Herman) unveiled Texas’ flawless new lockers (they won't actually debut for the players until June). At the basement price of $10,500 each, the lockers are personalized for every player with a 42-inch television placed atop each replacing the traditional name plates.

It’s the definition of bloated excess in college football. It’s also exactly what Texas, college football’s richest program, needed to keep up with the Joneses.

In college football, if you have money – flex it.

Herman demanded facility upgrades when he arrived, and the Texas administration is yet to say no. The lockers, which will cost a million on their own, are only a small part of what’s expected to be a $10 million upgrade to the team’s football facilities this offseason.

“We’re committed to providing our student athletes the best facilities possible," Herman said. "We’re going to make these facilities state of the art and as first class as we can. There will be no reason from a facility standpoint for a recruit to want to go somewhere else.”

Texas flexing its monetary muscle isn’t singularly transformative, but it’s part of the Herminification of the program.

The Longhorns are more open under Herman than they were under Charlie Strong. Herman served pizza to students on campus and held an open practice specifically for students. The Longhorns have also held more media sessions and opened more practices to the media. Add in a real push of inclusion for former lettermen and high school coaches in the state, and the Longhorn program is putting its best public face forward.

The Longhorns scrimmage even had a halftime skills competition featuring students vs. NFL players (the students even won a few).

It’s outreach and needed public pandering for a team that’s endured three straight losing seasons.

Alumni flooded back to Texas in droves. Colt McCoy, Vince Young, Quandre Diggs, Aaron Ross and Marquise Goodwin were only a few of the Longhorns’ notable pros to come back. These guys weren’t missing under Strong, but it’s another piece to the puzzle Herman is connecting.

It’s working, too. An estimated 25,000 fans showed up to watch Texas scrimmage, and many stayed throughout the three-hour affair.

Herman, seemingly at the center of everything, spent most of the afternoon either at midfield observing (Herman iced his kicker at one point by walking in front of him after a snap) or on the sideline hugging everyone in sight. If there were a hug count on the scoreboard, Herman would’ve broken the three-digit barrier.

"I can't even describe the feeling," Ford said when asked about Herman's hugs. For what it's worth, Ford received three today.

Texas, despite the display, remains a sleeping shadow of its former self.

Wins are needed for Herman to truly spark a downtrodden fan base that used to regularly clear the 50,000 attendance figure in spring games under Mack Brown a decade ago. Of that Herman said, "In the future we'll have that thing sold out."

But, at least for now, Herman’s provided a jolt for a program desperate for it.

Herman is back at Texas, a place where he once served as a graduate assistant under Brown, and he’s certainly not comfortable with stagnant.

He’s a changer.

“He's obviously bringing the change to the program," said sophomore running back Kyle Porter.

"Coach Herman has a plan for everything," added junior defensive back P.J. Locke. "He rarely makes a mistake, it's crazy. That mentality he's showing us is rubbing off on us. We're taking his identity and making it our own.