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FRISCO – It didn’t take Tom Herman long to address what he called the “pink elephant” in the room at Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters from the dais during his breakout session at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Herman didn’t dance around questions regarding the absence of preseason All-American linebacker Malik Jefferson from the Texas contingent.

Promoted as the face of the program under Charlie Strong, Jefferson has yet to made available to the media since Herman was hired. That, Herman said, has been by design and has had nothing to do with Jefferson being in the doghouse or failing to meet expectations.

“Malik is a fantastic leader, fantastic ambassador for our program,” Herman said. “In February we had a really good heart-to-heart about what he wanted to get out of this season. He said, ‘Coach, I want to be as good as a linebacker and as good a leader and teammate as I can be.’ I said, ‘Great.’”

In order to do that, Herman said, the decision was made to keep Jefferson out of the spotlight. Herman said he and Jefferson agreed that focusing on media appearances and things that could keep Jefferson away from the work he needed to get done could be a distraction preventing him from reaching his goals.

Herman then chose to eliminate the distraction of the spotlight being on Jefferson by removing him from it. As a result, Herman said Jefferson is on his way to accomplishing his goals.

“He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do on that front,” Herman said. “We made players available after every spring practice and that was by design. That wasn’t because he was playing bad, or we didn’t like him, or there was a ‘disconnect.’ That was simply because that’s what him and I decided might be best for his growth.”

In terms of Jefferson being looked at as a possible first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Herman said he’s more focused on Jefferson meeting the staff’s expectations. As far as that goes, Herman said Jefferson’s willingness to improve has been “off the charts.”

While the NFL values things differently from college programs (Herman used the example of Greg Ward Jr. being one of the best quarterbacks he’s ever coached and having to change positions in the NFL), Herman admitted that Jefferson’s measurables check a lot of the boxes the NFL wants checked for a high draft choice. What Herman and defensive coordinator Todd Orlando value in Jefferson that the NFL ultimately will is his production, which Herman feels will improve in 2017 from last season (62 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks) considering how Jefferson has approached his relationship with Orlando.

“He’s basically thrown himself at Coach Orlando and said, ‘I’m yours. Do with me what you will and make me better,’” Herman said. “He’s done everything that we’ve asked him to.”

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