Baylor Bears rumored to be pursuing Tom Herman
By John Buhler
The Baylor Bears will be looking for a permanent replacement to the departed Art Briles in 2017. Could Houston Cougar’s Tom Herman be a fit in Waco?
According to Pete Mundo of Heartland College Sports, “Baylor University and Houston head coach Tom Herman have already touched base via a face-to-face meeting regarding the possibility of Herman becoming the next head coach of the Baylor Bears.”
But according to Yahoo’s Pat Forde, a source close to Herman said any contact with Baylor is “ridiculous” and without merit.
Source close to Tom Herman says Report of contact with Baylor is "ridiculous" and totally without merit.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 14, 2016
Further, Houston reporter for the Houston Chronicle, Joseph Duarte, reports Herman having contact with any other schools is false.
UH's Tom Herman to @HoustonChron: 'Reports of any contact between me and any other schools are completely ridiculous and absolutely false.'
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) July 14, 2016
In one year with the Houston Cougars, Herman has essentially made the mid-major program one of the best teams outside of the Power 5, earning the Group of 5’s automatic New Years’ Six Bowl bid last holiday season. Houston topped the Florida State Seminoles in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
While rumors of Baylor being interested in an up-and-coming head coach like Herman have been in circulation since Baylor fired former head coach Art Briles after a terrifying sexual assault scandal, it wasn’t until very recently that Herman could be interested in leaving Houston for Baylor.
This has to do with the Big 12, Baylor’s Power 5 Conference, not wanting to expand from 10 teams at this time. Houston would presumably be one of the Group of 5 schools lobbying for a bid to the Big 12, which could keep Herman at Houston in the long run.
On Wednesday, former Missouri Tigers athletic director Mack Rhoades, who hired Herman at Houston, left the SEC to take over the same position with Baylor. Ironically, this news came around the same time that the Tigers football team met with the media in Hoover, Alabama for SEC Media Days.
The Big 12 not wanting to expand as soon as possible and Baylor’s hire of Rhoades may end up making Herman more likely to leave Houston for Waco on the next trip through the coaching carousel. He’ll coach what should be a fantastic Cougars team led by Heisman hopeful quarterback Greg Ward, Jr. in 2016, but Herman now might emerge as the front-runner for the 2017 job with the Baylor football team.
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