Both UH head coach Tom Herman, right, and Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo are finalists for the Coach of the Year Award this season. | File photo/The Cougar.
Houston head coach Tom Herman was announced as a finalist for the Bear Bryant Head Coach of the Year Award Wednesday.
Among other nominees for the award are the University of Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, Stanford University’s David Shaw, the University of North Carolina’s Larry Fedora, The United States Naval Academy’s Ken Niumatalolo, the University of Alabama’s Nick Saban and Clemson University’s Dabo Swinney.
In his first year as a head coach, Herman has a 12-1 record with the Cougars, captured an American Athletic Conference championship and has become just the fifth coach in NCAA history to win the first 10 games of his career.
Of those four other coaches, UH over took the team with the worst winning percentage in the previous year.
This isn’t Herman’s first honor as a head coach: he was also named American Athletic Conference Co-Coach of the Year.
Herman has led the Cougars in a form of a renaissance, leading the Cougars to their first conference championship since 2006, their first conference championship game appearance since 2011 and a New Year’s 6 Bowl appearance in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl against Florida State University.
The Cougars rank in the top 20’s nationally in a number of categories, including ranking 12th in rushing defense, 13th in rushing offense, 12th in scoring offense and 19th in scoring defense.
Herman has also made a positive impact with his students in the classroom, setting a program mark for most-hours-passed per student-athlete in a spring semester, its highest semester GPA in the last four years, and third-highest spring semester GPA in program history.
The Cougars have also made a big leap on the recruiting trail behind Herman, with their class currently ranked 28th in the nation by Rivals, including a commitment from five-star prospect Ed Oliver.
