Thomas Herman III (born June 2, 1975) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and head coach of the

Florida Atlantic Owls The Florida Atlantic Owls are the athletics teams of Florida Atlantic University. The Owls participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division I as members of Conference USA. On October 21, 2021, Florida Atlantic accep ...

. He was the head football coach for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

from 2017 to 2020. Prior to that, he served as the head football coach at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

from 2015 to 2016.

Early life

An only child, Herman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and has family there. From age six he was raised in

Simi Valley, California Simi Valley (; Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in the valley of the same name in the southeast region of Ventura County, California, United States. Simi Valley is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. The ...

. He earned his B.S. in Business Administration from

California Lutheran University California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It opened in 1960 ...

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

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Herman began his coaching career in 1998 at

Texas Lutheran Texas Lutheran University (TLU) is a private Evangelical Lutheran Church in America university in Seguin, Texas. History The university traces its roots back to 1891, to an academy of the first German Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Texas, in Br ...

as a receivers coach. He then took a position in 1999 at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

as a graduate assistant under the mentorship of Greg Davis. During his tenure at Texas, Herman worked with the offensive line, which included All-American Leonard Davis.

Sam Houston State

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.

Texas State

After four seasons at Sam Houston State, Herman joined

Texas State Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

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 Barrick Nealy (born August 7, 1983) is a former American and Canadian football quarterback who played for the Calgary Stampeders. Nealy is currently the Wide Receiver Coach for the San Marcos Baptist Academy in San Marcos, TX. College career A ...

finished fifth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award (top offensive player in Division I-AA).

Rice

In 2007, Herman then followed head coach

David Bailiff David Edward Bailiff (born May 26, 1958) is an American football coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach at Texas A&M University–Commerce from 2019-2022; prior to that he was the head coach at Rice University in Houston, Tex ...

from Texas State to form the new coaching staff at

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

. 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.

Iowa State

After building one of the nation's most prolific offenses at Rice, Herman joined Iowa State as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. 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.

Ohio State

On December 9, 2011,

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fro ...

selected Herman as his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Buckeyes. 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 The Broyles Award is an annual award given to honor the best assistant coach in college football. First awarded in 1996, it was named after former University of Arkansas men's athletic director Frank Broyles. The award is presented in Little R ...

, given annually to the nation's top assistant coach.

Houston

On December 15, 2014, Herman was hired by

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

as its new head football coach. In the 2015 season, he led his 21st-ranked team to an start and the Western Division title in the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

. They won their first American Athletic Conference title by defeating the

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and mascot for Temple University since its founding in the 18 ...

24–13. On December 31, 2015, Herman led the 14th-ranked Cougars to a 38–24 victory over the 9th-ranked

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivis ...

at the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

. 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 Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, 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 John O'Quinn Field at TDECU Stadium is an American football stadium on the campus of the University of Houston. The stadium serves as the home of the Houston Cougars football team, which represents the University of Houston in collegiate ...

(14–0), in games versus teams ranked in the AP Poll (6–0), and in games versus teams from

Power Five conferences The Power Five conferences are the five most prominent and highest-earning athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA D ...

(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

immediately following Houston's final regular-season contest of 2016.

Texas

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. Texas would go 7–6 in Herman's first season at the helm, which culminated in a 33–16 victory over

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

in the

2017 Texas Bowl The 2017 Texas Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 27, 2017, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. Sponsored by the Academy Sports + Outdoors sporting goods company, it was officially known as the Academy Sports + Outd ...

. 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 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. Texas defeated

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

, which clinched the first 10-win season for the Longhorns since

. 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 Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

in the

2019 Alamo Bowl The 2019 Alamo Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2019, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. EST (6:30 p.m. local CST) on ESPN. It was the 27th edition of the Alamo Bowl, and was one of the 2019–20 bowl games conclu ...

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 The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Since 2010 it matches the second choice team from the Pac-12 Conference and the secon ...

over Colorado. Despite four bowl wins in four seasons, Herman was fired on January 2, 2021.

Chicago Bears

Herman joined the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

coaching staff in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

as an offensive analyst and special projects coach. He was not retained by new head coach

Matt Eberflus Matthew Charles Eberflus (born May 17, 1970) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts from 201 ...

for the 2022 season.

Florida Atlantic

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

Personal life

Herman is a member of

Mensa International Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organisation open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test. Mensa formally compr ...

. He and his wife, Michelle, have a daughter, Priya, and two sons, Maddock and Maverick.

Media work

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 Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

, a highlight coordinator for Fox-TV in Los Angeles and a producer/production assistant at XTRA Sports Radio in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

Chicago Bears profile

Texas profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herman, Tom 1975 births Living people American football wide receivers Cal Lutheran Kingsmen football players Chicago Bears coaches Houston Cougars football coaches Iowa State Cyclones football coaches Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Rice Owls football coaches Texas Longhorns football coaches Texas Lutheran Bulldogs football coaches Texas State Bobcats football coaches Sam Houston State Bearkats football coaches Mensans Sportspeople from Ventura County, California Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from California Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Cincinnati