 Herman withFlorida Atlantic in 2024 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1975-06-02)June 2, 1975 (age 50) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Texas at Austin |
| Playing career | |
| 1993–1996 | Cal Lutheran |
| Position | Wide receiver |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1998 | Texas Lutheran (WR) |
| 1999–2000 | Texas (GA) |
| 2001–2004 | Sam Houston State (WR/ST) |
| 2005–2006 | Texas State (OC/QB) |
| 2007–2008 | Rice (OC/QB) |
| 2009–2011 | Iowa State (OC/QB) |
| 2012–2014 | Ohio State (OC/QB) |
| 2015–2016 | Houston |
| 2017–2020 | Texas |
| 2021 | Chicago Bears (offensive analyst) |
| 2023–2024 | Florida Atlantic |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 60–36 |
| Bowls | 5–0 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| (2014) | |
| Awards | |
| |
Thomas Herman III (born June 2, 1975) is an Americancollege football coach who most recently served as the head coach for theFlorida Atlantic Owls.[1] He was the head football coach for theTexas Longhorns from 2017 to 2020. Prior to that, he served as the head football coach for theHouston Cougars from 2015 to 2016.
An only child,[2] Herman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and has family there. From age six he was raised inSimi Valley, California.[2] He earned his B.S. in Business Administration fromCalifornia 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 theUniversity of Texas at Austin.
Herman began his coaching career in 1998 atTexas Lutheran as a receivers coach. He then took a position in 1999 at theUniversity of Texas atAustin as a graduate assistant under the mentorship ofGreg Davis.[3] During his tenure at Texas, Herman worked with the offensive line, which included All-AmericanLeonard Davis.
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]
After four seasons at Sam Houston State, Herman joinedTexas 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, whileBarrick Nealy finished fifth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award (top offensive player in Division I-AA).[4]
In 2007, Herman then followed head coachDavid Bailiff from Texas State to form the new coaching staff atRice. 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]
After building one of the nation's most prolific offenses at Rice, Herman joinedIowa 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]
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 theBroyles Award, given annually to the nation's top assistant coach.[9]
On December 15, 2014, Herman was hired byHouston as its new head football coach. In the 2015 season, he led his 21st-ranked team to an11–1 start and the Western Division title in theAmerican Athletic Conference.[10] They won their first American Athletic Conference title by defeating theTemple Owls 24–13.[11]
On December 31, 2015, Herman led the 14th-ranked Cougars to a 38–24 victory over the 9th-rankedFlorida State Seminoles at thePeach 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 overOklahoma andLouisville, 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 atTDECU Stadium (14–0), in games versus teams ranked in the AP Poll (6–0), and in games versus teams fromPower 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 hiring as the head coach of theTexas Longhorns immediately following Houston's final regular-season contest of 2016.
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 overMissouri in the2017 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 theBig 12 Championship Game, which was the program's first since2009. Texas defeatedGeorgia in theSugar Bowl, which clinched the first 10-win season for the Longhorns since2009. Expectations were high for Herman's third season in 2019, but Texas posted a disappointing 7–5 regular season record. Texas defeated No. 11-rankedUtah in the2019 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 theAlamo Bowl, this time over Colorado. In 2020, the team again fell somewhat short of expectations, going 7–3, and Herman endured growing criticism amongst the fanbase relating to his handling of off-field issues, most notably a controversy relating to some players refusing to participate or even stay for the post-game singing of the school's alma mater, "The Eyes of Texas," due to its origin being traced to minstrelsy. Despite ending the season ranked (20th in the CFP) and having amassed four bowl wins in four seasons, Texas fired Herman on January 2, 2021.[13]
Herman joined theChicago Bears coaching staff in2021 as an offensive analyst and special projects coach.[14] He was not retained by new head coachMatt Eberflus for the2022 season.[15]
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 during his second season on November 18, 2024, after starting the season 0–6 in conference play and 2–8 overall. In just under 2 full seasons at FAU, his overall record was 6–16, and 3–11 in conference play.[18]
Herman is a member ofMensa International. He and his wife, Michelle, have a daughter and two sons.[2]
During college Herman interned and worked in various positions in the sports broadcasting industry. He worked in television as a sports production assistant inOxnard, California, a highlight coordinator for Fox-TV in Los Angeles and a producer/production assistant at XTRA Sports Radio inLos Angeles.
| 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) | WPeach† | 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 | WTexas | ||||
| 2018 | Texas | 10–4 | 7–2 | 2nd | WSugar† | 9 | 9 | ||
| 2019 | Texas | 8–5 | 5–4 | T–3rd | WAlamo | 25 | |||
| 2020 | Texas | 7–3 | 5–3 | 3rd | WAlamo | 20 | 19 | ||
| Texas: | 32–18 | 22–13 | |||||||
| Florida Atlantic Owls(American Athletic Conference)(2023–2024) | |||||||||
| 2023 | Florida Atlantic | 4–8 | 3–5 | T–8th | |||||
| 2024 | Florida Atlantic | 2–8 | 0–6 | [note 2] | |||||
| Florida Atlantic: | 6–16 | 3–9 | |||||||
| Total: | 60–36 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
