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

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach who most recently served as the head coach for 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 the American Athletic Conference. On October 21, 2021, Flori ...

. 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 ...

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

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...

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

. 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, United States. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It o ...

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 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

Coaching career

Early coaching career

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 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

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 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 running backs coach for the Texas State Bobcats. College career A quarterback at Texas Stat ...

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 to 2022; prior to that he was the head coach at Rice University in Houston, ...

from Texas State to form the new coaching staff at

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

. 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 Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

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 an American Sports commentator, sportscaster and former college football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green F ...

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 ...

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

Houston

On December 15, 2014, Herman was hired by

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

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 (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

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

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the college athletics, athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson (athletic director), Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and masco ...

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 (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

at the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played annually in Atlanta, Georgia, since December 30, 1968. The first three Peach Bowls were played at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Grant Field on the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech c ...

. 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: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, 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 conferences are the most prominent athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I, the highest level o ...

(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 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 (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') 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 border ...

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 + Outdo ...

. 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 The Big 12 Championship Game is a college football game held by the Big 12 Conference between the best and the second-best Big 12 team. The game was played each year since the conference's formation in 1996 until 2010 and returned during the 201 ...

, which was the program's first since

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. Texas defeated

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

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 only ...

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

. Expectations were high for Herman's third season in 2019, but Texas posted a disappointing 7–5 regular season record. Texas defeated No. 11-ranked

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

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 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 second ...

, 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.

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

coaching staff in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

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

Matt Eberflus Matt Eberflus ( ; born May 17, 1970) is an American professional football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head coach for the Chicago Bears of the National Football L ...

for the 2022 season.

Florida Atlantic

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

Personal life

Herman is a member of

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

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

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 in the U.S. state of California, United States. On California's Central Coast (California), Central Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the List of largest California cities by populati ...

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

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

Texas profile

Iowa State profile

Florida Atlantic 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 Bearkats football coaches Mensans Simi Valley High School alumni Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from Ventura County, California Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Cincinnati