Tom Herman emphasizes ‘students first’ mindset at UHS Day at the Capitol

There were many major players in the UH System at UHS Day at the Capitol, but new head football coach Tom Herman might have received the warmest introduction of the day.

“You may have heard me say that I have fire in my belly,” President and Chancellor Renu Khator said. “I don’t often find people who have more fire in their belly than I do, and that is what sold me on our new football coach. You just gotta come out here and watch him play, because that’s where you see that fire.”

While speaking to the hundreds of attendees at the Capitol, Herman stressed a “students first” attitude and said that he hopes all UH-System students feel that he’s working for them.

“I’ve met nine full-time assistants (at UH),” said Herman. “Eight of them are either native Texans or have strong ties to the state of Texas, especially the city of Houston, as well as myself. We’ve got over a hundred years of combined recruiting (from) the state of Texas and that is something we take a great deal of pride in and something that I think you’ll find will pay dividends in the long run.”

Herman also announced that March 28 will be known as Student Appreciation Day, coinciding with Frontier Fiesta’s weekend events. The football team will be scrimmaging, and all students from the UH System are invited to participate. Students will be allowed on the sidelines and on the field, and Herman said that he “might even let (students) call a play or two.”

“It’s not one of those deals where you’ll be up in the stands,” Herman said. “We want to put our students first, and we want to make the student body very, very proud in what we do.”

Coming off the heels of a national championship win as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, Herman has stressed the importance of recruiting and hopes to develop a “culture of toughness and accountability” within the football program.

The new coach was hired in December after head coach Tony Levine was fired, following a career 21-17 record and UH’s brutal 27-2 loss to UTSA in the new stadium’s opener.

Herman will make his coaching debut on April 18 at the team’s spring scrimmage game.

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