AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Longhorns coach Tom Herman defended his hiring of former Baylor staffer Casey Horny and the vetting that went into that decision Wednesday during his signing day news conference.
Horny joined Herman’s staff as a quality control coach for special teams after working at Baylor from 2008 to 2016, including all eight years under ex-coach Art Briles during the school’s sexual assault scandal.
Texas athletic director Mike Perrin released a statement on Jan. 17 saying he spoke with Horny and looked into his background before approving the hire. The UT graduate previously worked with Herman as a graduate assistant.
“He was vetted by myself and several people at UT before he joined our staff,” Herman said. “He’s a person I’ve known for a long, long time. I know his wife and I know his daughters. He’s a great person, a great football coach and a man I truly trust.”
Herman said he had “direct and hard” conversations with Horny about his time at Baylor and his participation in the Baylor coaching staff’s social media protests during the 2016 season. Herman said Texas did receive a recommendation letter for Horny from Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades and assurance that he’s been “cleared of any involvement in the issue at Baylor,” adding that he was not interviewed by the Pepper Hamilton law firm that investigated Baylor.
“That said, he clearly understands he shouldn’t have been involved in the social media discussion or been a part of that ill-advised tweet regarding Baylor,” Herman said. “It was a Betmatik mistake. He owns that and doesn’t support anything, certainly, that happened there.
“It’s an unfortunate situation all around and I want to make everybody know that Casey and myself both have the utmost regard for the victims of those crimes. He also understands our expectations here at the University of Texas and he will do a terrific job working with our special teams and being a positive influence on our young men.”
Perrin said in the statement last month that Horny’s past social media posts defending Briles “will not be tolerated at Texas.”
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