Texas quickly hires Herman; Tigers sticking with Orgeron

AUSTIN, Texas — Tom Herman, who coached Houston to national prominence the last two seasons, was announced as the new coach at Texas on Saturday, replacing Charlie Strong, who was fired in the morning after three consecutive losing seasons.

“Longhorn football has been — and always will be — a national power, winning and playing for national championships with great pride and passion, supported by an unbelievable fan base,” Herman said in statement released by Texas.

Contract details were not immediately released, and must still be approved by Texas’ Board of Regents. Texas still owes Strong nearly $11 million on his original five-year guaranteed contract.

Texas acted quickly to snag Herman, who has only two years of experience as a head coach but is 22-4 with the Cougars, with a 9-3 mark this season after Friday’s loss to Memphis. Herman’s name had emerged as a top target for Texas officials as Strong’s final season started 2-0 but faded to a 5-7 finish.

Herman had also been linked to the Louisiana State job, but the Tigers announced Saturday that interim coach Ed Orgeron would be the permanent replacement for Les Miles.

Herman was offensive coordinator at Ohio State when the Buckeyes won the 2014 season national championship. He spent a season at Texas as a graduate assistant early in his career under former Longhorns coach Mack Brown.

Herman’s record at Houston and big wins over top programs such as Florida State and Oklahoma had pushed the Cougars into early-season College Football Playoff contenders as well as candidates for a move to the Big 12. Neither scenario happened, however, as the Cougars dropped midseason games against Navy and SMU and the Big 12 chose not to expand.

Herman was regularly mentioned as a possible candidate at several schools, notably LSU. But most of the attention focused on Texas, where Strong was in his third losing season in a row.

“Tom was the hottest young head coach in the country the past two seasons, and I am thrilled we are able to get him back to UT to lead Texas football,” Texas President Greg Fenves said.

Orgeron, a burly, boisterous 55-year-old Cajun, energized LSU’s football program in the wake of Miles’ dismissa.

“Growing up in the state of Louisiana, watching the Tigers play, we get it,” said Orgeron, who is only the third Louisiana native to coach the Tigers since LSU joined the Southeastern Conference in 1933.

The announcement came two days after the No. 25 Tigers defeated No. 22 Texas A&M 54-39. Following Thursday night’s game, players’ raucous chants of “Keep coach O” could be heard from LSU’s locker room.