Houston Football: Tom Herman agrees in principle to new contract
The Houston football program looks like they’ll keep Tom Herman around after the first-year head coach agreed to a new contract with the school.
Tom Herman was linked to every major opening across college football for the better part of the last month. With openings from USC to Miami to South Carolina and recently at Georgia, it seemed like Herman would be the ideal candidate to take one of those jobs after leading Houston to the AAC Championship Game in his first year at Houston.
However, Herman doesn’t look like he’ll be going anywhere this year after agreeing in principle on a new contract with Houston, according to Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle. This comes on the heels of reports that Houston was willing to make Herman the highest-paid coach in the American Athletic Conference and more than double his current $1.35 million salary.
Coach Tom Herman says he has ‘agreed in principle’ on contract with @UHCougarFB
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) November 30, 2015
.@CoachTomHerman says he has agreement in principle on new contract with @UHCougarFB. pic.twitter.com/qMs2DvaK2s
— Mark Berman (@MarkBerman_) November 30, 2015
No word on the potential buyout figure for Herman, but the commitment shown by the boosters and administration toward Herman is undoubtedly remarkable, and with Herman leading his team to the conference championship game and a chance for a New Year’s Six berth, keeping him around for the foreseeable future means more of those should be likely.
Plus, if Houston has plans of gaining entry in the Big 12 conference, they’ll need a head coach like Herman on board to compete with the likes of Oklahoma, Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State.
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Next up for Herman and Houston is preparing for the Temple Owls in the AAC Championship Game as teams like South Carolina, Georgia and Miami must continue with their coaching search knowing Herman won’t be coming to save their program.