Marble Falls ISD hires Brian Herman to lead football program

By Miles Smith
LPR Editor

The sun had barely crept over the horizon Tuesday morning as Brian Herman turned onto US 281 and crossed over into Burnet County, but his spirits were still bright as he headed in for his first day of work at his new job.
The night before, the Marble Falls ISD Board of Trustees had voted to hire the former Lockhart Lions’ coach, making him the new leader of their Class 5A football program and boys’ athletic coordinator a little over a month after former Mustangs’ head coach Mike Birdwell resigned on March 11.
“We’re on top of the world right now,” said Herman, who announced his resignation as Lockhart Lions’ head football coach in December. “I’m fired up and excited. Marble Falls is a place we always wanted to be. It’s got a great school system and it’s beautiful up here.”
Just like that, Herman and his family had a new home and he had a new team to lead: this time, a program that’s traditionally favored a spread offense and prototypical passers.
But the athletic department setup is similar to what Herman had in Lockhart before the LISD Board of Trustees voted to change to a combined athletic director and head football coach business model, a move that ultimately led to the hiring of perennial playoff contending coach Todd Moebes, who officially joined the staff in March.
Herman, who coached the Lions for six seasons and led them to two playoff appearances, has long been known as a proponent of the slot-T offense, a ground-oriented attack that uses trickery and misdirection to keep opponents off balance. Exactly what scheme he plans to implement in Marble Falls, a traditionally pass-oriented program, is unclear.
“It wasn’t black and white, and we are going to do what we do,” Herman said. “We broke formation last year and threw the ball. We’re going to do what we do.”
Much like the Lions, the Mustangs went 5-5 last year. Twenty-four seniors, including eight starters on offense and two on defense, according to DailyTrib.com writer Jennifer Fierro, are graduating, including 6-5 quarterback Andrew Stripling, who has committed to play for Abilene Christian University. But quarterbacks wait in the wings, including junior QB Luke Nail, who went 1-1 in relief last season, and sophomore quarterback Matt Becker, who went 8-1 on the freshman squad in 2018.
“I’ve seen film, and I like what I see,” Herman said. “We’ve got a lot of pieces on defense, too.”