It may ultimately be to no avail, but Houston is going to go down swinging financially when it comes to retaining Tom Herman as its head football coach.
Earlier this week it was reported that UH’s Board of Regents was looking for ways to, essentially, show Herman the money. Thursday, the board did just that, approving a new contract for Herman that would bump his current salary from $1.45 million this season to $3 million when he agrees to the deal. Additionally, Herman would have a financial pool in the neighborhood of $2 million for his assistant coaches.
It’s all a part of a concerted effort by the university and the athletic department to retain a coach whose team is currently undefeated and whose name has been attached to several Power Five openings already, even as it’s his first year as a head coach.
. @UHouston BOR chair Fertitta: 'We wanted to get it out there to world and let everybody know we are committed to Tom Herman being at UH.'
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) November 20, 2015
. @UHCougars AD @HunterYurachek on increase to $3M: 'We’re going to make it really hard for him to choose to go to another institution.’
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) November 20, 2015
UH AD @HunterYurachek: ‘Coach Herman is one of hottest coaches in country. He is a hot commodity. We want him to be our hot commodity.'
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) November 20, 2015
A $3 million-a-year salary -- that figure is also a starting point, one regent stated -- would easily be the highest of any Group of Five head coach, surpassing the $2.2 million of Cincinnati’s Tommy Tuberville. It would also put Herman in the upper half of Power Five conferences like the ACC (fourth), Big Ten (sixth) and Pac-12 (third).
The thing is, if a Power Five program really wants him, that $3 million opening retention salvo from UH would be of little issue to most of them. The question would then become, what’s Herman’s price, if there is indeed one.
