CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
By Dick Weiss
HOUSTON -- It's been a football season to remember in The American. Three teams -- Houston, Temple and Navy – are ranked in the College Football Playoff poll. The winner of Saturday's noon ET nationally televised conference championship game between Houston and Temple at UH's new 40,000-seat TDECU Stadium, is likely headed to a New Year's Six game at either the Fiesta or the Peach Bowls. Eight of the conference’s 12 teams have been penciled in to participate in bowl games.
When the optimistic Mike Aresco first took over as commissioner of the American three years ago, he had a vision this could happen someday, once conference raiding stopped and stability became a factor.
But he had no idea the league would come together in just three years.
Dec 4, 2015 at 7:08pm PST
Coaching jobs in this league and others, don't have to become stepping stones for the best coaches to automatically move on to higher-paying positions any more. Chris Petersen stayed at Boise State for eight years -- seven of which came after the Broncos' historic Fiesta Bowl win in 2007 -- before moving to Washington. Gary Patterson also settled in at TCU for 12 years while the Horned Frogs bounced around the WAC, Conference USA and Mountain West before ultimately settling in the Big 12.
Tom Herman of Houston, Matt Rhule of Temple and Justin Fuente of Memphis all became hot commodities this season. Fuente left to become the new head coach at Virginia Tech. But the athletic administrations at both Houston and Temple are taking steps to keep Herman and Rhule -- the two outstanding young coaches in this game-- happy.
Herman, who came to Houston last season from Ohio State where he played a critical role as the quarterbacks coach on a Big Ten team that won the national championship, just approved an amendment to his contract that will pay him $2.8 million dollars, double the salary he was making when he arrived.
However, the existing contract includes two provisions that trigger increases in Herman's annual compensation for the remaining years of Herman's deal: He gets a $100,000 increase if the team wins a conference championship and a $100,000 increase if the team participates in any of the CFP's New Year's Six games. The new contract includes a $2.5 million buyout if Herman leaves before Feb. 28, 2017. The buyout can be reduced by 25 percent if the board of regents doesn't approve construction of an indoor practice facility by Sept. 1, 2016.
“The head football coach at the University of Houston is a destination position and not a stepping stone, and a successful coach like Coach Herman's can build and maintain a nationally relevant, championship program in the city of Houston,” said Hunter Yurachek, the school's vice president for athletics.
Temple will likely give Rhule, a one-time Al Golden assistant who came home to Temple from the NFL’s New York Giants and rebuilt the program from the ashes in just three years and is making $1.4 million, a well-deserved raise and provide raises for his assistants. There is also talk of an on-campus stadium. The fact that Rhule, who has worked at Temple a total of 10 years as an assistant and head coach, and his family have embraced the city and are excited about the future of long stagnant Temple football helps, too.
There is something to be said for winning and job security.
“I don’t ever promise anything,” said Rhule. “The Edmonton Eskimos could call me and maybe that’s the right thing for me and my family, but my family loves Temple and we love Philadelphia. And I’ll just tell you this, I plan on being here and I plan on being here for a long time because I am honored and privileged to coach these kids and they’re great kids.
“My team knows how I feel about them and I want to be their coach, be their coach not just this week but next year as well.”
Nothing lasts forever. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Both Herman and Rhule have experienced the power that successful college football program can bring to a city when pro franchises are struggling.
Temple, which is 9-2 and has been ranked in the polls for the first time since 1979, has been the feel good sports story in Philadelphia this year, where the Phillies lost 100 games, the Eagles are 4-7, the 76ers are 1-20 and none of the four professional teams have been involved in a playoff game for the past year and a half. Houston, which is 11-1 and is ranked 19th in the CFP, has had the same kind of effect in a town with its “H-Town Takeover where the Texans disappeared off the grid.
Herman worked his magic last year at Ohio State with three different quarterbacks to lead the Buckeyes to wins over Alabama and Oregon in the first College Football Playoff. This year, he has transformed dual threat quarterback Greg Ward Jr. into a monster. Ward has thrown for 2,502 yards and 16 touchdowns and added 893 yards rushing with 17 more touchdowns on the ground for a high-powered offense that is averaging 42 points per game and scored 52 points in a West Division showdown against Navy here last weekend.
Temple will try to slow Houston down with an aggressive defense that is led by senior linebacker Tyler Matakevich, who is the FBS career leader in tackles and is a finalist for the Nagurski, Bednarik and Lott Trophies. Senior defensive back Tavon Young leads a very strong secondary that has more interceptions than touchdowns allowed (16-11). The defensive line, keyed by seniors Nate D. Smith, Matt Ioannidis and Hershey Walton, has contributed 32 sacks and are in the top 10 nationally in tackles for loss.
Both teams earned this opportunity and the game should provide a great infomercial for The American, which has become an attractive destination for promising high powered young offensive coordinators like Herman, Chad Morris of SMU, Phillip Montgomery of Tulsa, Willie Taggert of USF, UCF's newly hired Scott Frost (formerly the Oregon offensive coordinator), and former Arizona State offensive coordinator Mike Norvell, who just took the Memphis job.
Combine them with Rhule, Bob Diaco of UConn and Ken Niumatatalolo of Navy, and almost every league game is a competitive challenge.
ABC recognized that this fall by putting five games involving American games -- Temple-Notre Dame, East Carolina-Virginia Tech, Ole Miss-Memphis, Navy-Houston and the conference title game-- on nationally. Next week's traditional Army-Navy Classic in Philadelphia will be televised nationally on CBS.
These are good times, indeed, for the The American.