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Tom Herman

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For other people named Tom Herman, see Tom Herman (disambiguation).

Tom Herman
Herman with Florida Atlantic in 2024
Biographical details
Born (1975-06-02) June 2, 1975 (age 49)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Austin
Playing career
1993–1996Cal Lutheran
Position(s)Wide receiver
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1998Texas Lutheran (WR)
1999–2000Texas (GA)
2001–2004Sam Houston State (WR/ST)
2005–2006Texas State (OC/QB)
2007–2008Rice (OC/QB)
2009–2011Iowa State (OC/QB)
2012–2014Ohio State (OC/QB)
2015–2016Houston
2017–2020Texas
2021Chicago Bears (offensive analyst)
2023–2024Florida Atlantic
Head coaching record
Overall60–36
Bowls5–0
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
  • 1 AAC (2015)
  • 1 AAC West Division (2015)
Awards

Thomas Herman III (born June 2, 1975) is an American college football coach who most recently served as the head coach for the Florida Atlantic Owls.[1] He was the head football coach for the Texas Longhorns from 2017 to 2020. Prior to that, he served as the head football coach for the Houston Cougars from 2015 to 2016.

Early life

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An only child,[2] Herman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and has family there. From age six he was raised in Simi Valley, California.[2] He earned his B.S. in Business Administration from California Lutheran University in 1997, where he was a Presidential Scholarship recipient and cum laude graduate. At California Lutheran he was an All-Southern California Athletic Conference wide receiver. He also earned a master's degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Coaching career

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Early coaching career

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Herman began his coaching career in 1998 at Texas Lutheran as a receivers coach. He then took a position in 1999 at the University of Texas at Austin as a graduate assistant under the mentorship of Greg Davis.[3] During his tenure at Texas, Herman worked with the offensive line, which included All-American Leonard Davis.

Sam Houston State

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In 2004, they finished 11–3 and advanced to the Division I-AA championship's semifinals. The Bearkats' offense was ranked second nationally in passing offense, averaging 358.5 yards, while the Bearkats' 471 yards of total offense ranked fifth among Division I-AA schools.[4]

Texas State

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After four seasons at Sam Houston State, Herman joined Texas State as the offensive coordinator in 2005. During his two seasons at Texas State his squad led the Southland Conference in total offense and the 2005 team ranked eighth nationally in scoring. The Bobcats went on to make a deep run in the NCAA in the team's first ever Division I-AA appearance, while Barrick Nealy finished fifth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award (top offensive player in Division I-AA).[4]

Rice

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In 2007, Herman then followed head coach David Bailiff from Texas State to form the new coaching staff at Rice. Rice ranked in the Top 10 nationally in 2008 in passing offense (5th; 327.8), scoring offense (T8th; 41.6) and total offense (10th; 472.3). Two Rice receivers had more than 1,300 yards receiving that year, tight end James Casey had 111 catches and quarterback Chase Clement was the Conference USA MVP.[4][5]

Iowa State

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Herman at Iowa State

After building one of the nation's most prolific offenses at Rice, Herman joined Iowa State as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.[3][6] Iowa State's 52 points in a win over Texas Tech marked the most points put up by the Cyclones against a conference opponent in 38 years. Iowa State quarterback Austen Arnaud ended his career as the Cyclones No. 2 all-time leading passer with 6,777 yards and 42 touchdown passes. His 8,044 yards of total offense is the second-best total in school history. Running back Alexander Robinson finished his Iowa State career as the Cyclones' fourth all-time leading rusher with 3,309 yards.[7]

Ohio State

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On December 9, 2011, Urban Meyer selected Herman as his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Buckeyes.[8] On December 9, 2014, after leading Ohio State's fourth ranked offense to their first national title since 2002, while playing two backup quarterbacks, Herman was awarded the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top assistant coach.[9]

Houston

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On December 15, 2014, Herman was hired by Houston as its new head football coach. In the 2015 season, he led his 21st-ranked team to an 11–1 start and the Western Division title in the American Athletic Conference.[10] They won their first American Athletic Conference title by defeating the Temple Owls 24–13.[11]

On December 31, 2015, Herman led the 14th-ranked Cougars to a 38–24 victory over the 9th-ranked Florida State Seminoles at the Peach Bowl. The Cougars had not beaten an AP top-10 team in a bowl game since 1979. After the game, Herman stated that the Cougars had completed their return to national relevancy. The Cougars ended the season 13–1 and ranked #8 in both the AP and Coaches Polls, their highest post-season ranking since 1979.

In 2016, Herman's second season with Houston, the Cougars slipped to a 9–3 regular-season record. Among their nine wins were victories over Oklahoma and Louisville, each of which was ranked #3 in the AP Poll at the time Houston faced them.

Houston's overall record in its two seasons under Herman was 22–4, which included unblemished marks in home games at TDECU Stadium (14–0), in games versus teams ranked in the AP Poll (6–0), and in games versus teams from Power Five conferences (5–0). Herman's success with Houston brought him significant attention from the media and from multiple Power Five football programs throughout the season, which culminated in his appointment as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns immediately following Houston's final regular-season contest of 2016.

Texas

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On November 27, 2016, Herman was hired as the new head coach at Texas. He signed a five-year contract with a base salary of $5 million per year.[12] Texas would go 7–6 in Herman's first season at the helm, which culminated in a 33–16 victory over Missouri in the 2017 Texas Bowl.

In his second season at the helm, Herman led Texas to a 9–3 regular season record, including a 7–2 record in conference play, and a berth in the Big 12 Championship Game, which was the program's first since 2009. Texas defeated Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, which clinched the first 10-win season for the Longhorns since 2009. In Herman's third season, expectations were high for the Longhorns, but Texas posted a 7–5 regular season record. Texas defeated No. 11-ranked Utah in the 2019 Alamo Bowl by a final score of 38–10 to end the season on a high note. In 2020, Herman coached Texas to a 7–3 record, culminating with a second straight victory in the Alamo Bowl over Colorado. Despite four bowl wins in four seasons, Herman was fired on January 2, 2021.[13]

Chicago Bears

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Herman joined the Chicago Bears coaching staff in 2021 as an offensive analyst and special projects coach.[14] He was not retained by new head coach Matt Eberflus for the 2022 season.[15]

Florida Atlantic

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On December 1, 2022, Florida Atlantic announced Tom Herman as their next head coach.[16] Herman replaced Willie Taggart, who was fired after three years with the Owls.[17]

Herman was fired on November 18, 2024, after starting the season 2-8 and 0-6 in conference play. During his two seasons at FAU his overall record was 6-16, and 3-11 in conference play.[18]

Personal life

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Herman is a member of Mensa International. He and his wife, Michelle, have a daughter, Priya, and two sons, Maddock and Maverick.[2]

Media work

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During college Herman interned and worked in various positions in the sports broadcasting industry. He worked in television as a sports production assistant in Oxnard, California, a highlight coordinator for Fox-TV in Los Angeles and a producer/production assistant at XTRA Sports Radio in Los Angeles.

Head coaching record

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Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches# AP°
Houston Cougars (American Athletic Conference) (2015–2016)
2015 Houston 13–1 7–1 T–1st (West) W Peach† 8 8
2016 Houston 9–3 5–3 T–3rd (West) Las Vegas[note 1]
Houston: 22–4 12–4
Texas Longhorns (Big 12 Conference) (2017–2020)
2017 Texas 7–6 5–4 T–4th W Texas
2018 Texas 10–4 7–2 2nd W Sugar† 9 9
2019 Texas 8–5 5–4 T–3rd W Alamo 25
2020 Texas 7–3 5–3 3rd W Alamo 20 19
Texas: 32–18 22–13
Florida Atlantic Owls (American Athletic Conference) (2023–present)
2023 Florida Atlantic 4–8 3–5 T–8th
2024 Florida Atlantic 2–8 0–6
Florida Atlantic: 6–16 3–9
Total: 60–36
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

Notes

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  1. ^ Herman left for Texas after the regular season; new head coach Major Applewhite coached the Cougars against San Diego State in the Las Vegas Bowl.

References

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  1. ^ Hummer, Chris [@chris_hummer] (December 1, 2022). ".@247Sports can confirm that Tom Herman to FAU is done" (Tweet). Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b c Townsend, Brad (January 12, 2018). "How Longhorns coach Tom Herman wants to be 'dad to everybody' after losing father to addiction, homelessness". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Jacobi, Adam (December 8, 2011). "Ohio State hires Iowa State OC Tom Herman". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c "Player Bio: Tom Herman – RICEOWLS.COM – The Rice official athletic site". Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  5. ^ "Tom Herman Bio :: The Ohio State University :: official athletic site". Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  6. ^ "Herman Brings Explosive Offense to Iowa State – Iowa State University Athletics". Iowa State University Athletics. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  7. ^ "Land-Grant Holy Land, an Ohio State Buckeyes community". Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  8. ^ "Tom Herman Named Ohio State Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach". Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  9. ^ "Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman wins Broyles Award". Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  10. ^ "Report: Houston to name Buckeyes QB whisperer Tom Herman head coach". December 15, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  11. ^ "Houston secures New Year's Six bid with AAC title win over Temple". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  12. ^ "What Tom Herman's contract at Texas will reportedly look like; Length, yearly salary and more". November 26, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  13. ^ "Source: Horns target Sarkisian after Herman out". ESPN.com. January 2, 2021.
  14. ^ Thamel, Pete (March 1, 2021). "Former Texas coach Tom Herman joining Chicago Bears". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  15. ^ Biggs, Brad (February 23, 2022). "Chicago Bears Q&A: What are the 1st steps to rebuilding the offensive line? Will Tarik Cohen be on the roster in Week 1? And who are some top cornerback targets to fill a clear area of need?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  16. ^ "Herman To Lead Florida Atlantic Football". Florida Atlantic Owls Athletics. December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  17. ^ Baumgartner, Blake (December 1, 2022). "Ex-Longhorns coach Herman takes over at FAU". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  18. ^ "Tom Herman fired by Florida Atlantic two seasons into job: Owls 2-8 in 2024, 6-16 overall during Herman era". CBSSports.com. November 18, 2024. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
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