Do we really have to discuss Navy again? Quick list
Herman one foot out the door
Players hearing Herman one foot out the door
Team ranked 6th in the nation, Navy unranked
Navy, a completely different offense, hard to prepare for
Two of your top 3 linebackers out for game (easily the most important position against Navy offense)
The Navy game was the perfect storm. SMU was just bad coaching.
Still confused why people bring up his recruiting when talking about the 2016 season though. Itās not like anyone is saying UH had a top 10 recruiting class and only top 10 recruiting classes make a noticeable impact their freshman year.
My understanding is that if there is no buyout clause, a head coach can take another head coaching job at another school at the same level with no penalty. That is the part of the contract I donāt get.
Also Iāve seen UH give coaches that should be salivating to get the job long contracts. So contracts definitely donāt guarantee quality.
Thatās true but a school could also fire him without paying him anything. Itās a contract that both sides agree to.
And, no decent coach is agreeing to a year to year contract. While there is no guarantee of quality, there is pretty much a guarantee to a lack of quality if a school tried that. It would also kill recruiting.
Are you sure? This is the part that I am unclear with. In a basic contract, Iām pretty sure a school has to pay out the remainder of the contract if the coach is fired for performance. Usually what happens in that case, they may negotiate a buy out after the fact if they want to hire the coach in another position, or the coach wants to seek employment elsewhere before the contract is up.
The buyout works both ways if there is or isnāt one. It protects both sides. If there isnāt one, both sides owe the remainder of the contract if they break the contract.
You are implying, if a coach has a 5 year, $4 million a year contact and they leave after 4 years, they have to pay the university $16 million back if they donāt negotiate a buyout? I donāt believe that is true.
Here is why: his best season was Year 1. He is described as a master motivator/recruiter and elite coach and that is why UH was successful in 2015. So what happened in 2016? He had UHās highest ranked recruiting class so why would Year 2 see such a drop off? And if you can beat two top 10 teams, why canāt you handle Navyās unique style? Teams like Notre Dame seem to manage to defeat them.
Just like all football seasons 2015 required a lot of things to go just right. Herman did a great job that season. It carried on to the OU opener but it has been mostly downhill since then. My argument is that the body of work as HC is too small at this point. He might be the next Urban Meyer or he might be the next Charlie Weiss.
Iām sorry, but this whole comparing Herman to Applewhite as a HC is just crazy talk. Herman had a very good year followed by a very mediocre (but extremely disappointing) year here, followed by a very mediocre first year at UT. Applewhite has been a HC exactly 1 year, taking a team that lost a ton of senior leadership, including one of the most productive QBs in school history, and ending the year with a very mediocre record (albeit with a couple of head scratcher losses). The sample size we have for Applewhite is WAY too small to come to any conclusions about his abilities as a head coach, especially given the circumstances. Complain all you want about his abilities as a coordinator, but it only takes a few brain cells to realize being a HC is a completely different animal than being a coordinator. Ask our good buddy, Wade Phillips, about that. Heck, while youāre at it, ask Kliff Kingsbury.
However, I do think 3 years for Herman is a good enough sample size to start coming to conclusions about his abilities as a HC. He took a 2015 UH team loaded with talent and senior leadership and one of, if not the best defenses this school has ever seen, and turned it into a championship year. I agree he is a master motivator and got the fan base on board better than any other coach in my lifetime (Iām only 38). He was also able to convince players who had seen 3 different coaches in their tenures to buy what he was selling. That was amazing and we have to recognize that for what it was. I have no first hand knowledge of how he sold those kids, but he did sell them and it paid off in year 1 for him.
Then come the next 2 years. An extraordinarily disappointing 2016 despite 2 wins over top 5 teams and what I assume was a very disappointing 2017 for a bunch of UT fans who deserve nothing more than disappointment for the rest of their lives.
The point: it is intellectually dishonest to say Herman is a better HC than Applewhite when taking into account Herman has had 1 good year out of 3 and Applewhite has only had 1 year that was just as good as Hermanās 2016 and 2017. Like @pray10 said, Iām thankful for the ride Herman took us on for 1 year and 5 games. It was amazing. But then he took the taste right out of my mouth over the rest of that 2016 season and, just like Sumlin, heāll always be dead to me for the way he handled that situation. Iām willing to give Applewhite a full 3 years before I come to any solid conclusions. Last year we had a terrible offensive coordinator and a terrible o-line coach. Briles and Clements will be infinitely better. Last year we went through 3 QBs before finding the right one. This year weāll start the year with the right one. Last year, Applewhite was getting his feet wet with being a HC. This year, it appears he has directly addressed last yearās deficits. Can we at least wait to find out if the adjustments have worked before we condemn the man as a HC? Geez!
I donāt remember anyone attributing the 2015 success on his recruiting. He recruited like 3 players that January that never even hit the field. I think you are confused.
To clarify again. Are you saying he pays back $4 million of the $16 million he earned or $4 million out of the $20 million he hasnāt finished earning. Because the latter wouldnāt really be a penalty.
P.S. I hope you donāt think I am arguing. I am truly trying to get a grasp on how college coaching contracts work.
Because, like a good leader, he realized there was room for improvement. I did mention that in my diatribe. The point I was trying to make is that Iām not down on Applewhite because of one mediocre season given the circumstances. He screwed up the OC hire. No doubt about it. But he was willing to admit that and fix it. Thatās a positive in my mind.
lets be real, we know the reason why they lost to Memphis. iāll give you the smu and navy loses but applewhite lost to freaking Tulsa and Tulane and his Memphis loss was worse than hermanās Memphis loss.
No, he owes $4M for the last year. The same as the school. That said, it all depends on what the contract says. They can all be different. This is also a really rare occurrence as most contracts have buyouts for this reason.
Both had inexcusable losses and surprising wins. We have a 3-year sample of Herman as HC and a 1-year sample for Applewhite. Neither is enough to convince me either is a great or a horrible coach. Herman has trended down in his three seasons while Applewhite hopefully has nowhere to go but up. We will see.
I am certainly not disagreeing with you. He screwed up. The offense was abysmal all year, and I give about 90% of the fault to the OC and OL coaches (and therefore, also to Applewhite for hiring them) and 10% to āI have no freaking clue.ā What I do know is that Briles and Clements will be better and if our offensive woes are corrected in one year, Applewhite deserves some credit for realizing and owning his screw up and fixing it.