Baylor’s football coaching search essentially lasted months.

Texas’ was done in a day.

At the end, the results were remarkably similar with Texas landing Tom Herman and Baylor hiring Matt Rhule.

Each is 41, relatively young for an FBS head coach. Each won conference titles in the proving ground known as the American Athletic Conference, Herman at Houston in 2015 and Rhule this season at Temple. Each talks in positive motivational sound bites and each spoke about putting his stamp on the team immediately.

The two even sport enough facial hair for the coolness quotient.

As important as the two new coaches may be for their respective schools, they may be just as significant for the Big 12 - and not just for providing an obvious storyline at July’s media days.

When a conference has just 10 teams, it can’t afford too many mediocre or worse programs. The conference finished with just three teams ranked in the final College Football Playoff top 25, and No. 7 Oklahoma in the top 10.

It’s up to Herman and Rhule to deliver on the promise that surrounded their introductions. It won’t be easy in either case.

Since 2010, Texas has finished with a losing record in four of seven seasons and is 30-32 in the Big 12. While every story about Texas featured its young talent, it’s also a team that finished 5-7 and didn’t beat a team that finished over .500.

As much as fans at other schools may dispute the notion, the Big 12 does need Texas to return to national prominence from a brand standpoint. When Texas and Oklahoma each do well, the Big 12’s image improves from perception to TV ratings. While Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard might have been politically incorrect talking about Texas and Oklahoma in relation to the rest of the Big 12, he’s wasn’t totally off-base.

Herman already got an endorsement from a former employer, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.

“Came into a tough situation of we asked him to learn our offense and help coordinate it, and he did a wonderful job,” Meyer said at a College Football Playoff press conference this week. “I think he's ready for the task.”

The Big 12 also can’t afford for Baylor to return to the struggles that marked decades between Grant Teaff and Art Briles. While Baylor fans are adamant that so much is different now - from McLane Stadium to financial support - don’t expect instant miracles.

The challenge for Rhule is to weather the damage done by the aftermath of the investigation in sexual assaults committed by football players. It led to the ouster of Briles and a fan base that is divided. It also decimated the 2016 recruiting class and Baylor has just one commitment so far in the 2017 class. With the departure of the current seniors after the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl, estimates have indicated that Baylor might have only 50 scholarship players.

Baylor AD Mack Rhoades hopes the hire got the right kind of attention.

“One of the things that I think about always in my mind is the other nine coaches in the league -- and we've got great coaches in this league -- but I always think about, if I hire somebody, what's their reaction going to be?” Rhoades told Waco’s KRZI-AM (1660). “I think they're going to say, 'Wow, Baylor just hired a heck of a football coach.’”

Twitter: @ChuckCarltonDMN