New Texas football coach Tom Herman defended the hiring of former Baylor staffer Casey Horny in his first public comments on the subject Friday.
The hire of Horny as a quality control staffer drew criticism and questions from fans, media and from sexual assault survivor and activist Brenda Tracy on Twitter. Horny was a member of the Baylor staff for nine years and was a strong supporter of former coach Art Briles.
"Casey, I've known Casey for 18 years," Herman said in an interview with Austin radio station 104.9 the Horn. "He's a wonderful husband. He's a fantastic father to his lovely daughters and a fantastic football mind, a great football coach.
"He had some uninformed and regrettable tweets that he's apologized for, and I'm fully confident that he is in alignment with what our vision is at the University of Texas and will prove to be a very valuable member to our staff. And we've moved on."
During a tense time during last season between the Baylor football staff and school regents, Horny had backed Briles in tweets with the TruthDontLie hashtag. Texas athletic director Mike Perrin issued a three paragraph statement explaining the hire Tuesday.
"He was vetted very rigorously through the athletic department and also myself and my relationship with him," Herman said. "Of course, I knew that the vetting process would come up; was nothing that would deter us from hiring him. Just extremely excited. He's one of the best young coaches in the country in my opinion and (this is) a small bump in the road. Just have to vet that stuff out."
Herman indicated that being a member of the Baylor staff in the wake of the sexual-assault scandal that brought down Briles, President Ken Starr and athletic director Ian McCaw should not be disqualifying for future employment.
"At the end of the day, those guys. ... because you wear a green pullover with a 'BU' on it doesn't mean that you're not given an opportunity to coach if you've been forthright in everything you've seen and done," Herman said. "And Casey has certainly has passed all of those tests with flying colors."
