There are some interesting DB- & Rice-related items in the 7-part series that the Austin American Statesman is producing on Tom Herman.

So far, the published segments cover Herman's time at:

1) Texas Lutheran & UT (graduate assistant):

Quote:Herman, who was born in Cincinnati and raised in California, is the living embodiment of that old saying: He wasn’t born in Texas, but (he) got here as fast as he could. In a 1994 Honda Civic, no less. With no power steering.

(From another article on Herman: Herman's college (California Lutheran) defensive coordinator, Bryan Marmion, got the head coach job at Texas Lutheran and offered Herman to be his receivers coach for $5,000/year and a cafeteria card good for one meal a day.)

Quote:“He wanted to coach,” said (Raymond) Rapp, 82, (TLU's play caller), now retired and living in Canyon Lake, (Tex.). “He was hell-bent for leather.”

2) Sam Houston State: Several laudatory quotes from SHS AD and Rice alum, Bobby Williams.

3) Texas State:

Quote:Bobcats coach David Bailiff had actually wanted to hire Major Applewhite, not Herman, to run his offense before that 2005 season. But negotiations were scrapped when Applewhite said both San Jose State and Syracuse were offering significantly more money than Texas State.

Major went to Syracuse, where he was QB coach for a year (2005 -- a "disaster", as Syracuse went 1-10), after which he joined Toad's Rice staff as OC & QB coach.

Quote:So Bailiff, coming off a 5-6 season, put his faith in Herman, the 30-year-old former Bearkats receivers coach with no play-calling experience.

“I told David, ‘Listen, he is like Major expect he didn’t play football here,’” (UT's Greg) Davis told the American-Statesman.

Herman turned down a higher-paying offer from Cypress Falls High School to join Bailiff's staff at Texas State.

4) Rice:

Quote:Tom Herman followed former Texas State coach David Bailiff to Rice in 2007, and there was a clear directive for the Owls’ new offensive coordinator.

“When we took the Rice job, I told Tom, ‘You need to pay your Mensa dues and get your cards,’” Bailiff said with a laugh. “The people at Rice really get a kick out of knowing my OC’s a card-carrying member of Mensa.”

Quote:Bailiff’s staff gave the program a shot of adrenaline. Herman was the offensive coordinator along with Craig Naivar (co-defensive coordinator/safeties), Jason Washington (defensive backs), Derek Warehime (graduate assistant) and Yancy McKnight (strength coach). All four have joined Herman at Texas. David Beaty, the current head coach at Kansas, was Rice’s passing game coordinator.

“They were young, energetic, they had a great game plan,” said Chris Del Conte, who was Rice’s athletic director at the time. “A lot of that credit goes to David Bailiff. But when Tom came to Houston, he had a plan.”

The Owls couldn’t really utilize the same power-running style the coaches had with the Bobcats. Todd Graham had spent only one season with Rice and left town, so Bailiff was stocked with mostly Hatfield’s recruits — leaner offensive linemen better suited to get out wide on option plays.

Herman plunged headfirst into studying a no-huddle, uptempo offense that best suited Rice’s personnel, Bailiff said.

“He took his ego out of it,” recalled former Rice quarterback Chase Clement. “He came in and basically said, ‘Here’s the offense that was successful at Texas State. We had a great run, but obviously that’s not going to work here.’”

By midseason, the Owls were starting to fly. Rice scored 48 points against Houston, 56 against UTEP and 43 against both SMU and Tulsa. Granted, the team finished 3-9. But it laid the foundation for an explosive year in 2008. After a 3-3 start, Rice closed the season with seven straight wins and a victory over Western Michigan in the Texas Bowl.

That 2008 Rice team finished eighth nationally in scoring (41.3 points per game) and 10th in total offense (470.9 yards per game). In 2009, after Herman left, Rice won only two games.

“When I think about our offense, we really had so many different plays and so many different formations because the guys could handle that,” Clement said.

(From another Herman history story: His wife Michelle, six months pregnant and with a 3-year old, lived in a Red Roof Inn for four weeks when Tom left Texas State for Rice.)

(01-17-2017 04:45 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  There are some interesting DB- & Rice-related items in the 7-part series that the Austin American Statesman is producing on Tom Herman.

So far, the published segments cover Herman's time at:

1) Texas Lutheran & UT (graduate assistant):

Quote:Herman, who was born in Cincinnati and raised in California, is the living embodiment of that old saying: He wasn’t born in Texas, but (he) got here as fast as he could. In a 1994 Honda Civic, no less. With no power steering.

(From another article on Herman: Herman's college (California Lutheran) defensive coordinator, Bryan Marmion, got the head coach job at Texas Lutheran and offered Herman to be his receivers coach for $5,000/year and a cafeteria card good for one meal a day.)

Quote:“He wanted to coach,” said (Raymond) Rapp, 82, (TLU's play caller), now retired and living in Canyon Lake, (Tex.). “He was hell-bent for leather.”

2) Sam Houston State: Several laudatory quotes from SHS AD and Rice alum, Bobby Williams.

3) Texas State:

Quote:Bobcats coach David Bailiff had actually wanted to hire Major Applewhite, not Herman, to run his offense before that 2005 season. But negotiations were scrapped when Applewhite said both San Jose State and Syracuse were offering significantly more money than Texas State.

Major went to Syracuse, where he was QB coach for a year (2005 -- a "disaster", as Syracuse went 1-10), after which he joined Toad's Rice staff as OC & QB coach.

Quote:So Bailiff, coming off a 5-6 season, put his faith in Herman, the 30-year-old former Bearkats receivers coach with no play-calling experience.

“I told David, ‘Listen, he is like Major expect he didn’t play football here,’” (UT's Greg) Davis told the American-Statesman.

Herman turned down a higher-paying offer from Cypress Falls High School to join Bailiff's staff at Texas State.

4) Rice:

Quote:Tom Herman followed former Texas State coach David Bailiff to Rice in 2007, and there was a clear directive for the Owls’ new offensive coordinator.

“When we took the Rice job, I told Tom, ‘You need to pay your Mensa dues and get your cards,’” Bailiff said with a laugh. “The people at Rice really get a kick out of knowing my OC’s a card-carrying member of Mensa.”

Quote:Bailiff’s staff gave the program a shot of adrenaline. Herman was the offensive coordinator along with Craig Naivar (co-defensive coordinator/safeties), Jason Washington (defensive backs), Derek Warehime (graduate assistant) and Yancy McKnight (strength coach). All four have joined Herman at Texas. David Beaty, the current head coach at Kansas, was Rice’s passing game coordinator.

“They were young, energetic, they had a great game plan,” said Chris Del Conte, who was Rice’s athletic director at the time. “A lot of that credit goes to David Bailiff. But when Tom came to Houston, he had a plan.”

The Owls couldn’t really utilize the same power-running style the coaches had with the Bobcats. Todd Graham had spent only one season with Rice and left town, so Bailiff was stocked with mostly Hatfield’s recruits — leaner offensive linemen better suited to get out wide on option plays.

Herman plunged headfirst into studying a no-huddle, uptempo offense that best suited Rice’s personnel, Bailiff said.

“He took his ego out of it,” recalled former Rice quarterback Chase Clement. “He came in and basically said, ‘Here’s the offense that was successful at Texas State. We had a great run, but obviously that’s not going to work here.’”

By midseason, the Owls were starting to fly. Rice scored 48 points against Houston, 56 against UTEP and 43 against both SMU and Tulsa. Granted, the team finished 3-9. But it laid the foundation for an explosive year in 2008. After a 3-3 start, Rice closed the season with seven straight wins and a victory over Western Michigan in the Texas Bowl.

That 2008 Rice team finished eighth nationally in scoring (41.3 points per game) and 10th in total offense (470.9 yards per game). In 2009, after Herman left, Rice won only two games.

“When I think about our offense, we really had so many different plays and so many different formations because the guys could handle that,” Clement said.

(From another Herman history story: His wife Michelle, six months pregnant and with a 3-year old, lived in a Red Roof Inn for four weeks when Tom left Texas State for Rice.)

To me the bolded part of the quote above goes to what I think our philosophy should be, particularly on offense. In almost every game, we will have the smartest guys on the field. We should run an offense that relies on our intellectual abilities and is something that most teams are unfamiliar with, and execute it to perfection. That is what the service academies do for the most part.

(01-18-2017 05:23 PM)Pimpa Wrote:  

Quote:“When I think about our offense, we really had so many different plays and so many different formations because the guys could handle that,” Clement said.

To me the bolded part of the quote above goes to what I think our philosophy should be, particularly on offense. In almost every game, we will have the smartest guys on the field. We should run an offense that relies on our intellectual abilities and is something that most teams are unfamiliar with, and execute it to perfection. That is what the service academies do for the most part.

I think our players can handle that. I'm not sure some of our coaches can.