Former Texas and Houston coach Tom Herman is the new head coach at Florida Atlantic, the school announced Thursday.
Herman has a 54-22 record in six seasons at Houston (2015-16) and Texas (2017-20).
“It is an honor to have the opportunity to lead the Florida Atlantic football program,” Herman said in a news release. “… All the pieces are in place at FAU for us to be successful. There are already great young men on this team, great facilities, a great location, a great recruiting base and great leadership, all of which are important to building a successful program.”
Herman, 47, led Houston to a 13-1 record and a victory over Florida State in the 2015 Peach Bowl in his first of two seasons with the Cougars. He later went 32-18 over four seasons at Texas with a 4-0 record in bowl games.
But the Longhorns let him go after a 7-3 season in 2020 in favor of hiring Steve Sarkisian.
Athletic director Brian White was thrilled to get Herman to run the program in Boca Raton, Fla.
“We are incredibly excited to welcome Tom Herman to Paradise,” White said in the news release. “Throughout the process and the more we talked with Coach Herman, the more it became apparent to me that he was the right person to lead our football program. Beyond his knowledge of the game, which is obvious by his success over the years, he also truly cares about the young people in his program.
“He has coached winning programs everywhere he has been and we believe he can be tremendously successful at FAU as well.”
Herman replaces Willie Taggart, who was fired after a 5-7 record this season. The Owls went 15-18 during Taggart’s three seasons.
Herman spent the 2021 season as an offensive analyst for the Chicago Bears. He did not coach in 2022, instead calling games for CBS Sports.
FAU moves from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference next season.
