Houston went from not even picked to win its half of the American Athletic Conference to the conference championship and a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl win over a college football powerhouse.
It was a magical ride for first-year coach Tom Herman, formerly the offensive coordinator at Ohio State, and the Cougars, who had last played in a major bowl after the 1984 season. Cougars safety Trevon Stewart put the rise into perspective – after the Cougars finished 5-7 in his freshman season in 2012, he vowed in a tweet that he would play in a BCS bowl game before he graduated. He said his high-school baseball coach saw the post.
“And he tweeted back and he said, ‘You must be transferring,’” Stewart said following the No. 18 Cougars’ 38-24 win over No. 9 Florida State.
While enjoying the mountaintop Thursday, Houston players and coaches were already plotting their return in the 2016 season. Boise State has proven that a mid-tier school can establish itself in the top 25. Others, such as Central Florida (12-1 and No. 10 in 2013, 9-4 in 2014 and 0-12 in 2015), demonstrate that success can be fleeting.
“I think what we’re certainly going to have to combat is that awful, dreaded word – ‘complacency,’” Herman said following the game.
The Cougars, who took four Cotton Bowl trips between 1976 and 1984 seasons but have finished in the AP top 25 only once since the 1990 season, may be able to do it. Herman has made a concerted effort to recruit the Houston area and has secured commitments from four players ranked among the ESPN’s top 300 prospects for the 2016 signing class, all Houston-area products. One is the No. 4 overall player. His plan to dominate recruiting in Houston has been compared to the formula that Miami used in winning five national championships between 1983 and 2001.
“It’s back,” Herman said. “We were here before. We went a little dormant. Yeah, the sky is the limit.”
