University of Houston football coach Tom Herman created a tidal wave of interest in his program when his 13-1 Cougars won the American Athletic Conference, then convincingly defeated 2014 national champion Florida State, 38-24, in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Dec. 31 to finish No. 8 in the final AP poll.
Now, he has followed that up by signing a blockbuster top-30 recruiting class that includes defensive tackle Ed Oliver, a top-five prospect nationally.
The H-Town Takeover is no longer a vision. It has become a reality.
“We made history,” Herman said Wednesday. “We signed the highest-ranked non-Power 5 recruiting class in the history of college football. Do recruiting rankings matter? In my opinion, if you’re going to keep score at something we’re going to try and win the damn thing.”
By all accounts, the Cougars did an amazing job - not only with the signing class. but in keeping Houston’s own talent in Houston.
While Houston was generally regarded as the American Athletic Conference’s winner on National Signing Day, the other 10 programs that announced their classes (Navy announces its class July 1 as part of the academy’s induction ceremonies). Depending on which source you consider, USF, UCF, Memphis, Temple and SMU could stake a claim to having The American’s No. 2-ranked signing class.
USF and UCF were successful in mining the talent-rich state of Florida. Memphis focused on adding length and speed with its group. Temple opened eyes with its class, which included highly regarded players from Philadelphia, eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. SMU’s entire signing class hails from the state of Texas as second-year head coach Chad Morris – a longtime high school coach in the Lone Star State – succeeded in keeping the Metroplex’s top talent home.
Tulsa, which has as much skill position talent as any team in The American, used its class to augment its offensive and defensive lines. Cincinnati unveiled a new approach as the Bearcats set no limits on the quality or geography of its targets. First-year coach Scottie Montgomery used his deep in-state connections to deliver a solid class to East Carolina, while Willie Fritz stepped outside the New Orleans area to bring a talented group to Tulane. UConn added to its young and talented roster with some of the top players in the Northeast to go with individuals from the hotbeds in Texas, Florida and the mid-Atlantic region.
Houston’s 23-player class includes three players in the ESPN 300 – highlighted by Oliver, who went to Houston Westfield, receiver Courtney Lark from Bellaire and quarterback D’Eriq King from Manvel – and seven players ranked in the top 10 nationally at their positions: Texas A&M transfer Kyle Allen, the No. 1 quarterback in 2014; running back Duke Catalon, a transfer from Texas who was the No. 10 running back in 2014; defensive back J.J. Dallas, the No. 9 junior college cornerback from Blinn JC; offensive lineman Keenan Murphy, the No. 5 center from Crosby; offensive lineman Na'Ty Rodgers, the No. 4 junior college tackle from Iowa Western Community College; and defensive back Terrell Williams, the No. 9 junior college safety from Northwest Oklahoma A&M. Twelve members of the class are from the Houston area and 19 are from the state of Texas.
The 6-2, 290-pound Oliver attracted the most attention nationally on signing day.
He was ranked No. 4 nationally by ESPN, was the No. 1 defensive tackle in the state and the Defensive MVP of the Under Armour All-America game. Oliver chose Houston over offers from Alabama, LSU, Texas and Texas A&M. Oliver initially committed to Houston in May of 2015, but many recruiting analysts were skeptical that his verbal would hold.
But they underestimated his personal relationship with older brother Marcus, who is a starting offensive tackle for the Cougars, and his former high school coach Corby Meekins, who had been a respected figure on the Houston high school scene for 25 years before joining Herman's staff as a tight ends coach and recruiter the previous January.
Herman's ultimate goal is to put a fence around Houston in recruiting, much the same way that Howard Schnellenberger did when he kick-started the Miami program in the early 80s. To that end, Herman hired eight assistants with Texas roots and his philosophy is already taking shape.
“We're going toe-to-toe with the bluebloods,” Herman said. “But the main piece of the puzzle is keeping the out-of-state, out-of-region schools from our backyard.”
Oliver, who recorded 20 tackles for loss, nine sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception as a senior, is expected to play immediately and add the physicality Herman is looking for in his program. Oliver described himself as the most under-recruited prospect in the country because he had no interest in talking with recruiters on the phone. “I just want to play football,” he said.
And he wanted to play for Houston. When Westfield held a press conference to announce its signings, Oliver wore a black pullover with a bright red UH logo. “It feels a lot bigger than any SEC school right now.”
Oliver quickly became a magnet for other talented prospects in this area, including King, who was actually committed to TCU until December. “I was picturing myself playing in that offense,” King told reporters. “Greg Ward Jr. is a great quarterback, and I think I play similar to him. So I committed on Christmas Eve.”
King credits Oliver for committing early and create instant credibility for the program in a state that has more good prospects this year than anywhere in the country. “Ed started the whole “H-Town Takeover” and he is one of the best in the country,” King said. “So us being teammates and the other commits, it's going to be a great deal for UH.”
Houston is challenging the perceptions of how recruiting is supposed to work in this era of college football. This is a program on the move and Herman wanted to make the day special for his new players. So he had a star-studded cast of rappers and local athletes like D.J. Hayden, Case Keenum, Dallas Keuchel, Slim Thug, Paul Wall, Andre Ware, J.J. Watt and Z-Ro welcoming the new players with personalized shoutouts on social media.
“One of the unique things, and maybe the thing I’m most proud of with this class, is of all the high school players that signed with us today, all but one of them committed before we had ever played a football game as a staff,” Herman said. “Why did they do that? The answer again is relationships, because they have tremendous relationships with their recruiting coaches.”
Aside from Oliver, Kyle Allen is probably the most intriguing member of the class. The 6-3, 210-pound quarterback from Scottsdale, Arizona, was listed as the best quarterback prospect in the country by virtually every recruiting service and was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American game. Allen signed with Texas A&M and started 14 games for the Aggies in two seasons, throwing for 2,210 yards with 17 touchdowns last year but left before the bowl game when speculation began to spread that the Aggies were adding fifth-year senior Trevor Knight from Oklahoma.
Allen will have to sit this year and will be eligible in 2017.
The 6-5, 290-pound Rodgers, on the other hand, should become a star from Day 1. He originally signed with South Carolina and redshirted as a freshman before switching to Iowa Western Junior College, where he led his team to two conference titles.
Herman was able to address all of the Cougars' needs in this class. He brought in a deep receiver class with ESPN 300 and former TCU verbal Courtney Lark, who was named to USA Today's All America Texas football second team after catching 68 passes for 1,222 yards and 18 TDs; and three-stars Keith Corbin from Beaumont, Texas, and Marquez Stevenson of Shreveport, Louisiana, who is considered the sleeper in the class.
One of the bigger selling points Herman used to snag his players was that fact that they are in the American Athletic Conference.
“The way the system is set up now, the College Football Playoff committee will give the highest ranked non-Power 5 team an automatic bid to a New Year’s Bowl,” Herman said. “Our conference has separated itself from the other Group of 5 conferences. Baring some miracle season from some other team in some other conference, if you win the American Athletic Conference, you’re going to a New Year’s Six bowl game, you’re going to go to the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Orange Bowl. We’re talking about some of the grandest most historic bowl games in all of college football, you’re going to play the best of the best, and you’re going to beat the best of the best.
“The path to winning a bunch of championships is as easy in Houston as any other part of the country.”