Houston Cougars Tom Herman Taken Off the Market, Signs Contract Extension

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

One of the hotter names in the coaching carousel spinning around the nation at the end of the 2015 college football regular season was Tom Herman. The Houston Cougars did their best to wrap up their head coach for another season signing him to a contract extension reportedly worth $2.8 million per year.

The former Ohio State Buckeyes offensive coordinator had a great first season with the Cougars guiding Houston to an American Athletic Conference title and a berth in the AAC Championship Game with an overall record of 11-1, 7-1 in conference play.

In a statement released by Herman, the Cougars head coach explained his decision to stay in Houston a little bit longer penning, “My family and I are excited to renew our commitment to the University of Houston Football program. We live in one of the greatest cities, and combined with a Tier One University and with the commitments to our program, it provides a great atmosphere for a championship culture. We are thrilled, and we are completely focused on tomorrow’s American Championship and representing the City of Houston on the national stage once again.”

There was a strong early indication that Herman may end up with Missouri after former Houston athletic director Mack Rhodes left for Columbia to take the same position with the Tigers. Rhodes hired Herman making one of the top transitions in Division-I football for the 2015 season. News broke Thursday night that Missouri had promoted defensive coordinator Barry Odom to head coach replacing retiring coach Gary Pinkel.

Herman’s contract extension is a raise from a base of $1.35 million earned in 2015 with bonus incentives; a $1.45 million increase. His buyout was also increased to $2.5 million through February 2017.

No. 17 Houston takes on No. 20 Temple in the AAC Championship Game Saturday with a kickoff at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Photo credit: chron.com; Tom Herman hoists AAC Championship trophy.