5 jobs Tom Herman definitely isn’t taking
By John Buhler
Houston Cougars head coach Tom Herman might leave his team for a bigger job in 2017, but here are five programs that he definitely isn’t going to next year.
Houston Cougars head football coach Tom Herman has lost one game in his two years leading the best Group of 5 team in the nation. Herman has already beaten two top 10 teams in the Florida State Seminoles and the Oklahoma Sooners during his short tenure coaching the Cougars.
Many believe that Herman will leave Houston for a Power 5 gig at the end of the year should the Cougars not get the Big 12 invitation they rightfully deserve. If the University of Houston and the University of Cincinnati get Big 12 bids, there’s no way Herman leaves Houston. Why would he leave a Power 5 program located in Harris County, Texas? There is more elite football talent per square mile in Houston than anywhere in the country!
If the Big 12 fails to realize that Cincinnati and Houston belong in their Power 5 conference, Herman will leave the Cougars for a bigger program in 2017. However, here are five jobs Herman will not take.
5. Northwestern Wildcats
Though the Northwestern Wildcats are off to a slow start in 2016, head coach Pat Fitzgerald isn’t going anywhere. Fitzgerald is beloved by his alma mater. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame as an elite linebacker during the 1990s, helping get the Wildcats to the 1996 Rose Bowl.
Fitzgerald is 71-58 (36-44) in his 11 years at the helm in Evanston. However, the Wildcats have only made one bowl in the last three seasons. With all teams in the Big Ten West besides Purdue improving, has Northwestern lost some of its edge in its own division under Fitzgerald?
Northwestern doesn’t have the rich football tradition to entice somebody like Herman to come coach its football team. Northwestern has long put academics ahead of its athletics as a member of the Big Ten.
However, schools with strong academic standards like Northwestern have found ways to win on the gridiron in the last decade. Stanford is a national power in the Pac-12. Duke has found on-field success under head coach David Cutcliffe. Even SEC doormat Vanderbilt had some success under former head coach James Franklin.
Rigid academic standards prevent schools like Northwestern from landing top-tier coaching talent like Herman. While coaching in the easier of the two Big Ten divisions could be appealing for Herman, Northwestern already has a solid coach in place in Fitzgerald. Parting ways with Fitzgerald would be foolish, as Herman won’t coach the Wildcats.