Report: Houston pursuing Dana Holgorsen to replace Tom Herman
By David Rouben
Houston is looking at West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen to replace Tom Herman, but would he leave the Big 12 to join the Cougars?
College football’s head coaching carousel was out in full force in Week 13. LSU kept Ed Orgeron which prompted Texas to fire Charlie Strong and replace him with Tom Herman. But where does that leave Houston in all of this?
Cougars beat writer Joseph Duarte is reporting that West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Dana Holgorsen is one of the potential suitors that they’re looking at. Holgorsen served as Houston’s offensive coordinator from 2008-09.
As a head coach, though, Holgorsen has only ever been with the Mountaineers. And while their most recent loss to Oklahoma stings, he’s still having a successful season with an 8-2 record.
Herman emerged as the hottest coach in college football when he guided Houston to a 13-win season last year. They couldn’t reach those same heights this year, but he still has two wins over Top 5 teams in Oklahoma and Louisville.
The thing that sets Houston back is that they don’t belong to a Power Five conference. That’s why Holgorsen joining Houston wouldn’t make much sense.
Houston is also on the verge of back-to-back 10-win seasons. They shouldn’t try to replace Herman with Holgorsen – that would be a massive downgrade. Holgorsen has only had one 10-win season at West Virginia, his first one, and hasn’t finished in the Top 25 since.
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Even though replacing Herman will be difficult, the job he did at Houston has made this job an attractive one and whoever replaces him will inherit a roster, including freshman sensation Ed Oliver and quarterback Kyle Allen, unless he decides to transfer and follow him to Texas.