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According to an NCAA report obtained exclusively by CBS Sports, Texas has the distinction of having one of the largest support staffs in all of college football.

The NCAA has done a preliminary dive on staff sizes. Alabama isn’t No. 1. https://t.co/1bKHomxwwd — Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) May 15, 2017

Based on directory research, which will presumably be used by the NCAA Oversight Committee headed up by Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby that will look at potentially limiting staff sizes, Texas has 44 staff members. That trails only Notre Dame (45) nationally and puts the Longhorns ahead of SEC leader Georgia (42), Auburn (41) and Big Ten leader Michigan.

The NCAA is looking at potentially limiting the size of support staffs across the country. Currently, a head coach is allowed to employ nine full-time on-field assistant coaches, up to five strength and conditioning coaches and four graduate assistants.

Beyond those numbers, schools currently have free reign to add as many support staffers (analysts, quality control coaches, player personnel staffers, etc.) as they see fit. While the NCAA survey listed Texas as having 22 staff members, Tom Herman told reporters (including Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports) recently that he’s got 17 people on his support staff.

"Four grad assistants, four quality control guys, three in operations, one as our director of players [sic] development, three full-time in recruiting, three full-time in creative media.”

Herman reportedly told Dodd and other reporters (presumably at the recent Big 12 meetings in Phoenix) that schools like Texas, with an athletic budget of more than $160 million, shouldn’t be prevented from spending available money the way they see fit.

"Limits should not penalize the schools that might be able to generate more revenue and afford staffs like that," Herman said. "At some point it gets a little bit ridiculous."

Among Big 12 schools who had their staff members listed in the survey, Texas Tech had the next biggest football staff with 33 members employed under Kliff Kingsbury. The Longhorns and Red Raiders are followed by Baylor (31), Iowa State (30), Kansas (28), TCU (28), Oklahoma (27), Kansas State (24), West Virginia (23) and Oklahoma State (20).

The survey listed incomplete results for Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and TCU regarding the number of strength coaches on staff. Graduate assistant data for Kansas State and West Virginia was also not available.

Regardless, those numbers wouldn’t have any of those schools surpassing where the Longhorns appear to be.

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