School takes first step in sweetening Herman’s contract
The University of Houston made a jump in the College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday.
It was the school’s second-biggest move of the day.
With Tom Herman being linked to seemingly every available job, the university is taking steps to lock up their fast-rising, first-year head coach.
An item on Thursday’s UH Board of Regents agenda seeks approval “to delegate authority to the Chancellor to negotiate and execute an amendment to the contract of the head football coach at the University of Houston.”
Herman, who has led the Cougars to a 10-0 start and No. 19 in the latest CFP rankings, has been mentioned for several Power 5 openings in the SEC (Missouri and South Carolina), Big Ten (Maryland), Pac-12 (Southern Cal) and ACC (Miami).
UH is being forced to address Herman’s contract earlier than expected because of the Cougars’ immediate success — the Nov. 27 game against Navy is for a spot in the American Athletic Conference championship game — and the unusual number of openings at major-conference programs with deeper pockets.
At the time of his hiring, Herman agreed to a five-year contract worth at least $6.75 million. The deal includes a $1.35 million annual salary, making Herman the highest-paid football coach in school history.
There is a buyout of
$2.25 million if Herman leaves the school before Feb. 28, 2018.
An athletic spokesman declined further comment on the agenda item.
Hunter Yurachek, UH’s vice president for intercollegiate athletics, has said publicly in the past month that “don’t think I’m not developing a plan to try and retain” Herman and UH “doesn’t need to be a steppingstone to other schools” similar to the departures of Art Briles (Baylor) and Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M) over the past decade.
After being 25th and 24th the previous two weeks, the Cougars jumped to No. 19, three spots behind Navy in the race for the highestranked school from the Group of Five. The AAC champion is considered the favorite to secure the New Year’s Six bowl spot to the Fiesta or Peach.