You may have a passing familiarity with Houston coach Tom Herman from this fall’s viral outbreak of college coaching speculation. His name seemed to be on every short list from Miami to Columbia, Mo.
You might have some knowledge of his work history. A season ago he became acclaimed as a quarterback whisperer, the coordinator who kept Ohio State on track to a national championship even as its quarterbacks began falling like Star Wars storm troopers. Why, the Buckeyes could have pulled Rex Kern (Class of 1971) out of storage and still been OK so long as Herman was there to hit his refresh button.
Unless your IQ is among the top 2 percent of Americans, you may not be aware that Herman is a fellow Mensa member. It’s not something that a football man really wants to highlight, but he has overcome it nicely.
So, does he flaunt the fact that he aced the Mensa test back in 1997 as he was graduating from Cal Lutheran? (Mom made him do it in order to flesh out his resume).
“No,” Houston offensive coordinator Major Applewhite answered, “but he’s told us he knows a thing or two about football.”
And Wednesday, Herman denied having ever gone to a Mensa meeting. Couldn’t have been more adamant if he had been asked the last time he was at a strip club or an opium den.
Learning all this, don’t get the mistaken impression that the 40-year-old Herman has accomplished this drastic remodel of Houston football by dazzling his players with his intellect and grasp of the Zen of football. For there was an awful lot of Bear Bryant, too, in the method that elevated the 12-1 Cougars to their highest-profile bowl game in three decades, opposite Florida State in Thursday’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Blowing into Houston straight from Ohio State’s championship season, the smart guy showed he had plenty of vinegar in him as well.
One of Herman’s first acts was to lock his team out of its own locker room. Strung a heavy chain across the door and padlocked the place like a condemned building.
It was winter workout season, right after Signing Day. You’ll show up a 4:30 in the morning, he commanded his new team and you’ll have to earn the right not only to use the locker room again, but also to wear anything with a University of Houston logo on it. “We had kids in the junior high gray cut off t-shirts,” Herman said.
Some players likened it to a boot camp. For a week they were exiled from an easy shower and a warm place to change. Over the long winter and into spring, a handful of players up and quit. That was part of the plan, to separate the dilettantes from the tough-minded.
“The biggest thing was we established very early we were going to do things right,” Herman said. “They’re 18- to 20-year-old kids; they’re going to test the perimeter every now and then. They need to know that electric shock fence is on 24/7. It doesn’t take any days off.”
The survivors now enjoy all the luxuries of big time college football, along with an American Athletic Conference championship and a chance to prove themselves against high-and-mighty FSU.
There seems to be some consensus among those still on scholarship that the momentary discomfort was worth it.
“Me and a lot of a seniors had gotten tired of being in games and losing by two points, losing by a touchdown,” linebacker Elandon Roberts said. Indeed, the Cougars had lost 10 games by a touchdown or less the previous three seasons.
This year, the Cougars have an average margin of victory of 20.2 points. They have beaten three ranked opponents — Memphis, Navy and Temple — none of those with the reputation of a FSU.
There’s no mistaking that Herman got here on his offensive reputation. The work he had done at Ohio State — and to lesser acclaim at Iowa State and Rice — rocketed him up the ranks. But it is worth noting that the Cougars are the only team in the nation ranked in the top 12 in scoring offense (12th) and top 20 in scoring defense (19th).
A major benefactor has been quarterback Greg Ward Jr., the junior whose curious career began with him bouncing twice between wide receiver and quarterback, before settling behind center midway in 2014. He has rushed for 1,041 yards and 19 touchdowns this season, but Houston also averages nearly 200 yards a game passing.
“The thing that’s helped establish him as a quarterback has been his willingness to listen to Tom and myself and other guys who have played the quarterback position,” said Applewhite, the former Texas quarterback.
A touchdown underdog in his first bowl game as a head coach, Herman has chosen not to play the overlooked, under-appreciated waif from the non-power conference. There has been no public sighting of a precariously balanced chip on his shoulder.
With FSU coach Jimbo Fisher sitting feet away at a Wednesday press conference, Herman proved himself quite adept at one of the most important tasks of head coaching: Poor-mouthing.
“We should be the underdog,” he said. “We embrace that. The two safeties we’re playing back there — they have to check the line at the roller coaster to see if they (are tall enough to ride). We’re playing with a tailback who can maybe break 4.9 in the 40 on a good day. We’re playing with a quarterback who is 5-10, 170 pounds and was a receiver his first two years in college.”
This rookie coach seems to have all the tools, and is certifiably smart enough to use them.
About the Author
