Due diligence on Tom Herman

[terdferguson]

On the surface, I love this guy. He's my top choice. But on the surface Al Golden looked great too. It required more than a cursory review to uncover Golden's red flags.

With a quick review Herman looks great because:

1. He seems to have a real swagger about him. The kind of guy who wants to run up the score.
2. OSU offense looked awesome under him.
3. 7-0 first year at Houston.

Digging a little deeper, the first red flag I've found is this:

"Herman took his spread know-how and Texas ties to Iowa State, where his career almost stagnated. After improving Iowa State's Offensive S&P+ rank from 105th in 2008 to 42nd in 2009, the Cyclone offense crashed to 83rd in 2009 and 101st in 2010. Meyer plucked Herman from the wreckage, and they combined to guide the power spread offense that just won a national championship."

Why did his offense go backwards and get worse for two consecutive years after improving? Obviously Urban felt good enough about the guy to hire him despite the setback so that's a positive. But I'd still like to know what the **** happened.

 

[McGahee2TheHouse]

I dunno. I do know what he did at Ohio State. And I do know what he is doing at Houston.

Herman is a savage who would destroy the ACC and win a national title here.

 

[blackvern]

On the surface, I love this guy. He's my top choice. But on the surface Al Golden looked great too. It required more than a cursory review to uncover Golden's red flags.

With a quick review Herman looks great because:

1. He seems to have a real swagger about him. The kind of guy who wants to run up the score.
2. OSU offense looked awesome under him.
3. 7-0 first year at Houston.

Digging a little deeper, the first red flag I've found is this:

"Herman took his spread know-how and Texas ties to Iowa State, where his career almost stagnated. After improving Iowa State's Offensive S&P+ rank from 105th in 2008 to 42nd in 2009, the Cyclone offense crashed to 83rd in 2009 and 101st in 2010. Meyer plucked Herman from the wreckage, and they combined to guide the power spread offense that just won a national championship."

Why did his offense go backwards and get worse for two consecutive years after improving? Obviously Urban felt good enough about the guy to hire him despite the setback so that's a positive. But I'd still like to know what the **** happened.

good research....somtehing is up with those IOWA st numbrs mane..im a lil skeptical now

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

On the surface, I love this guy. He's my top choice. But on the surface Al Golden looked great too. It required more than a cursory review to uncover Golden's red flags.

With a quick review Herman looks great because:

1. He seems to have a real swagger about him. The kind of guy who wants to run up the score.
2. OSU offense looked awesome under him.
3. 7-0 first year at Houston.

Digging a little deeper, the first red flag I've found is this:

"Herman took his spread know-how and Texas ties to Iowa State, where his career almost stagnated. After improving Iowa State's Offensive S&P+ rank from 105th in 2008 to 42nd in 2009, the Cyclone offense crashed to 83rd in 2009 and 101st in 2010. Meyer plucked Herman from the wreckage, and they combined to guide the power spread offense that just won a national championship."

Why did his offense go backwards and get worse for two consecutive years after improving? Obviously Urban felt good enough about the guy to hire him despite the setback so that's a positive. But I'd still like to know what the **** happened.

Good points, and one more thing that I found: he actually had a pretty good quarterback who had a sensational sophomore year and then regressed badly in his next two seasons.



2008 247 401 2792 YDS 15 TDS
2009 178 303 2015 YDS 14 TDS
2010 171 290 1703 YDS 13 TDS

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

I dunno. I do know what he did at Ohio State. And I do know what he is doing at Houston.

Herman is a savage who would destroy the ACC and win a national title here.

"He" didn't necessarily do it himself at Ohio State. And what he is doing at Houston is beating up on a bunch of really bad teams. Does a Miami fan really need to be reminded about what a team like Houston does when it faces an opponent with a pulse?

 

[CaneMutiny06]

I'm fine with delving into his prior stops but if we're going to look at his Iowa state tenure we might as well consider what he did as OC at Rice, where their offense exploded the one year he was there.

 

[blackvern]

I'm fine with delving into his prior stops but if we're going to look at his Iowa state tenure we might as well consider what he did as OC at Rice, where their offense exploded the one year he was there.

too much research to compute

 

[jkaz1]

He has a very limited resume as a head coach...Maybe he'd be a great hire....maybe....let's see how his season progresses....

On the surface, I love this guy. He's my top choice. But on the surface Al Golden looked great too. It required more than a cursory review to uncover Golden's red flags.

With a quick review Herman looks great because:

1. He seems to have a real swagger about him. The kind of guy who wants to run up the score.
2. OSU offense looked awesome under him.
3. 7-0 first year at Houston.

Digging a little deeper, the first red flag I've found is this:

"Herman took his spread know-how and Texas ties to Iowa State, where his career almost stagnated. After improving Iowa State's Offensive S&P+ rank from 105th in 2008 to 42nd in 2009, the Cyclone offense crashed to 83rd in 2009 and 101st in 2010. Meyer plucked Herman from the wreckage, and they combined to guide the power spread offense that just won a national championship."

Why did his offense go backwards and get worse for two consecutive years after improving? Obviously Urban felt good enough about the guy to hire him despite the setback so that's a positive. But I'd still like to know what the **** happened.

 

[JimmyJohnsonsHair]

If you dig hard enough, every candidate will have some warts. The bottom line is this guy has produced recently and looks to be light years better than most of the other candidates being mentioned. Put his resume next to Mario and it's not even close. Butch, Herman, and Fuente need to be the three guys they focus on.

 

[McGahee2TheHouse]

I dunno. I do know what he did at Ohio State. And I do know what he is doing at Houston.

Herman is a savage who would destroy the ACC and win a national title here.

"He" didn't necessarily do it himself at Ohio State. And what he is doing at Houston is beating up on a bunch of really bad teams. Does a Miami fan really need to be reminded about what a team like Houston does when it faces an opponent with a pulse?

He's 7-0 so far in his first year. Sure he may end of tanking but I'm not really sure he can prove more than he is proving right now, unless you expect him to change the schedule mid-season to play an "opponent with a pulse." He most likely isn't going to last long enough at Houston so I guess he may never be a legitimate candidate in your eyes.

Weird argument.

edit: And to your Ohio State point, yeah he didn't do it by himself. But it is a little telling that Ohio State's offense hasn't looked the same this year.

 

[terdferguson]

I'm fine with delving into his prior stops but if we're going to look at his Iowa state tenure we might as well consider what he did as OC at Rice, where their offense exploded the one year he was there.

Sure. Post some stats and facts about Rice or anywhere else he's coached. I want to know everything about the guy. We should strive to dig a little deeper than "he's a savage! Hire him!"

 

[CaniacMike21]

I think you can probably put a microscope under just about every coach and find something similar. Point taken though. There's no such thing as a 100% sure thing.

 

[McGahee2TheHouse]

If you dig hard enough, every candidate will have some warts. The bottom line is this guy has produced recently and looks to be light years better than most of the other candidates being mentioned. Put his resume next to Mario and it's not even close. Butch, Herman, and Fuente need to be the three guys they focus on.

Pretty much how I feel.

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

I dunno. I do know what he did at Ohio State. And I do know what he is doing at Houston.

Herman is a savage who would destroy the ACC and win a national title here.

"He" didn't necessarily do it himself at Ohio State. And what he is doing at Houston is beating up on a bunch of really bad teams. Does a Miami fan really need to be reminded about what a team like Houston does when it faces an opponent with a pulse?

He's 7-0 so far in his first year. Sure he may end of tanking but I'm not really sure he can prove more than he is proving right now, unless you expect him to change the schedule mid-season to play an "opponent with a pulse." He most likely isn't going to last long enough at Houston so I guess he may never be a legitimate candidate in your eyes.

Weird argument.

A weird argument is assuming that he is going to be a great coach anywhere just because he is 7-0 with a schedule that doesn't provide a challenge. Do we want to be the program that takes the chance?

 

[dookie blaylock]

On the surface, I love this guy. He's my top choice. But on the surface Al Golden looked great too. It required more than a cursory review to uncover Golden's red flags.

With a quick review Herman looks great because:

1. He seems to have a real swagger about him. The kind of guy who wants to run up the score.
2. OSU offense looked awesome under him.
3. 7-0 first year at Houston.

Digging a little deeper, the first red flag I've found is this:

"Herman took his spread know-how and Texas ties to Iowa State, where his career almost stagnated. After improving Iowa State's Offensive S&P+ rank from 105th in 2008 to 42nd in 2009, the Cyclone offense crashed to 83rd in 2009 and 101st in 2010. Meyer plucked Herman from the wreckage, and they combined to guide the power spread offense that just won a national championship."

Why did his offense go backwards and get worse for two consecutive years after improving? Obviously Urban felt good enough about the guy to hire him despite the setback so that's a positive. But I'd still like to know what the **** happened.

paul rhodes was his head coach... and it's iowa state.

 

[The Franchise]

This is why the interview process is so important. A HC, above all else, must be a great leader of men. You can't always see that from a guy's stats as an OC or a DC. I've heard Herman talk a few times, but I've never had the pleasure of listening to his philosophy on football and running a program. I don't have a feel for him as a leader of men because there's not a ton of data on him. And none of us have had the opportunity to spend a week with him really delving into his personality and his philosophy like you should do in the interview process.

Based on everything I've seen and heard, he'd be a great choice. I wouldn't focus on Iowa State OC numbers just like Urb didn't when he hired him at Ohio State. No one can do anything at Iowa State.

I'd look at his philosophy and approach to football. Is he a killer? Is he a leader? Is he a perfectionist whose goal is NCs and NCs only? Or is he a guy who just wants to win Coastal titles and spew quotes and cliches?

 

[L A M P]

Does a Miami fan really need to be reminded about what a team like Houston does when it faces an opponent with a pulse?

Houston beat Louisville by 3 pts. Clemson beat Louisville by 3 pts. Clemson beat Miami... by more than 3 pts.

What does this have to do with anything? Nothing. Yeah. Let that sink in.

 

[4th-and-14]

I dunno. I do know what he did at Ohio State. And I do know what he is doing at Houston.

Herman is a savage who would destroy the ACC and win a national title here.

I think Urban Meyer might have had a little more to do with OSU's offense than Herman.

And how do folks here feel about a Miami QB getting 15 rushing attempts per game?

 

[McGahee2TheHouse]

I dunno. I do know what he did at Ohio State. And I do know what he is doing at Houston.

Herman is a savage who would destroy the ACC and win a national title here.

"He" didn't necessarily do it himself at Ohio State. And what he is doing at Houston is beating up on a bunch of really bad teams. Does a Miami fan really need to be reminded about what a team like Houston does when it faces an opponent with a pulse?

He's 7-0 so far in his first year. Sure he may end of tanking but I'm not really sure he can prove more than he is proving right now, unless you expect him to change the schedule mid-season to play an "opponent with a pulse." He most likely isn't going to last long enough at Houston so I guess he may never be a legitimate candidate in your eyes.

Weird argument.

A weird argument is assuming that he is going to be a great coach anywhere just because he is 7-0 with a schedule that doesn't provide a challenge. Do we want to be the program that takes the chance?

Nah, that's not what I am saying. He looks extremely promising and better than most of the alternatives thus far, based on his record and previous success at Ohio State.

We obviously can't get him until the end of the season, so time will tell whether he is legit or not. I think it's weird to downplay what he has done thus far, considering you can't ask him to do anymore than go undefeated with the schedule given to him at this point.

Unless we hire a Kelly, Saban, Meyer, we will be taking a chance.

 

[jevoasis]

Good work by Terd...still think he's a good hire (after Butch). Very much doubt he'll be at Houston next year, too many jobs open at higher profile ($$$) schools.