On Thursday, Florida Atlantic University announced the hiring of Tom Herman as head football coach, first reported by Brett McMurphy of The Action Network. 

“It is an honor to have the opportunity to lead the Florida Atlantic football program,” Herman said in a press release from FAU Athletics. “All the pieces are in place at FAU for us to be successful. There are already great young men on this team, great facilities, a great location, a great recruiting base and great leadership, all of which are important to building a successful program.”

Herman has experience coaching in the American Athletic Conference (AAC), FAU’s new conference starting next season, serving as the University of Houston Cougars head coach in 2015 and 2016. In two seasons at Houston, Herman finished with an overall record of 22-4 and led the Cougars to their first AAC Championship in program history in 2015, earning himself the AAC Coach of the Year award that season. 

Following two successful seasons at Houston, Herman became the head coach at the University of Texas in November 2016. In four seasons at the helm in Austin, Herman led the Longhorns to an overall record of 32-18 and four consecutive bowl wins.  

After departing from Texas in 2021, Herman spent a year in the NFL as an offensive analyst and special projects coach for the Chicago Bears, before briefly working as a CBS analyst. 

Penn State Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was one of the top contenders to get the head coaching job, according to Bruce Feldman from The Athletic, before Herman emerged as the consensus favorite over the last 48 hours.

“Throughout the process and the more we talked with Coach Herman, the more it became apparent to me that he was the right person to lead our football program,” said FAU Vice President and Director of Athletics Brian White. “He has coached winning programs everywhere he has been and we believe he can be tremendously successful at FAU as well.”

Maddox Greenberg is a staff writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email maddoxblade04@gmail.com or DM via Facebook @maddox greenberg