By Chuck Licata

Well, at least his new team’s colors are a familiar purple-and-gold.

That’s what “former” LHHS offensive coordinator Brian Herman will have for his new wardrobe as Herman leaves Liberty Hill to take over as athletic director/head football coach at Eustace High School, located 183 miles northeast of Liberty Hill.

Eustace, whose mascot is the Bulldogs, is located between Mabank, TX and Athens, TX right on West U.S. Hwy. 175 in Henderson County, near the Cedar Creek Reservoir.

Herman, who headed up the freshman basketball team along with his football duties at Liberty Hill High School, took the position June 23 and is in “transition mode” of moving up himself and his family up to their new hometown.

Also, former LHHS football and basketball assistant Jason Jones, who headed up the boys’ JV basketball squad, has signed to be the head basketball coach at nearby Lago Vista High School. He signed on June 23, the same day as Herman.

“I’m proud and tickled to death for both of them (Herman and Jones),” stated Jerry Vance, the LHISD athletic director and LHHS head football coach. “Jones is a great basketball coach and will do well at Lago Vista. As for (Brian) Herman, I’m surprised more athletic directors across the state didn’t know about him considering his impressive resume.

“Both guys are good coaches, they’re good family men and they’re very kid-friendly. Both will do very well in their new positions and we wish them the best of luck.”

Vance indicated there needed to be a 10-day posting for both positions before LHISD could hire Herman’s and Jones’ replacements; those postings went up the middle of last week.

“It’s a really good situation up in Eustace,” Herman stated Thursday afternoon. “The coach who’s leaving for another opportunity (Doug Wendel) has left everything in a great position. They have a relatively new staff in place so I won’t have to do any hiring right away, and the positions they had to hire for are already filled.”

The Bulldogs have made it to the first round three of the last four years under Wendell, according to Herman. However, Eustace – placed in District 6-2A, Division I – haven’t had a winning record in that time. The Bulldogs made the playoffs with a 2-3 district mark last season but finished 3-8 overall after a loss in the bi-district playoffs.

“They ran the Navy triple option (popularized by then-Navy coach Paul Johnson),” Herman remarked. “So they’re not only used to having multiple backs in their offensive formation, they rely heavily on the run. Bringing the Slot-T offense up there won’t be as big an adjustment as it might be at other places; in fact, they rely as heavily as the run as we do at Liberty Hill.

“Eustace has actually done very well on offense; they’ve had problems with their defense,” Herman stated. “They’ve lost some high-scoring games including one that was, I believe, 39-38. We have a new defensive coordinator coming in and he has a lot of energy, so I’m excited about what we can do.

“Not a lot of teams run the Slot-T up in that area, so we should be able to get a little bit of a jump up there. Even if (our opponents) were to get tapes of the Slot-T offense, they really wouldn’t know how to practice against it. We’re hoping that will help (jumpstart) us into a (new era) for Bulldogs’ football.”

Herman’s family, including his wife Nicole and their three kids (Faith, Isabella and Brady) will look to move up to Eustace very quickly. “(Life) has taken quite a fast-and-furious pace for us,” Herman deadpanned.

Herman’s new team has – according to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine – one of the best returning running backs in the district in Justin Bersterman, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound runner who nails the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds. Returning offensive lineman Raymond Shutak (6-5, 290) and linebacker Blake Ward (5-9, 175) are also mentioned as impact players for the Bulldogs, who have Grandview, Maypearl, Palmer, Dallas Life Oak Cliff and Sunnyvale in their district.

The June edition of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine predicted Eustace to finish third in the district behind Grandview and Maypearl – our guess is that Herman wouldn’t mind that scenario at all.

Like Jeff Walker – the former Liberty Hill offensive coordinator who left LHHS for Rogers High School in July of 2008 – Herman will hate leaving the Liberty Hill area.

“I was always concerned about that day and if/when it would come,” Herman reflected. “I told the Liberty Hill players the other day that I had a (10-year) plan. I wanted to work five years as an assistant then five years as a coordinator before looking into my first head coaching job. I’m at that point now and I’m blessed that this (Eustace) opportunity has come along.

“My family and I will miss Liberty Hill, for sure. We hope to stay in touch with as many people as we can – Liberty Hill is such a great community.”