Tom Herman and his staff came in at Houston and immediately went to work to change the culture, and the results were significant. The Coogs went from 8-5 in 2014 under Tony Levine and his staff to 13-1 under Herman and his crew, which included a resounding Peach Bowl win over Florida State.
Now the challenge is raising the bar even higher.
Asked yesterday whether it has been harder for Herman to come in build a winning program, change the culture and drum up support, or to keep the team driven reach an even higher standard Herman responded:
"The bar is so high, and our internal expectations of the culture around here, not just with the football program but the whole athletic department, student body, and city of Houston, let's just say that we've created a monster, and you've got to feed the monster."
Herman shares that he reminds guys all the time that he and his staff aren't going to pat guys on the back after a job well done a whole lot.
"I tell guys all the time that we don't give very many pats on the back in this program. Our players especially, they get five pats on the back - after their four bowl wins, and then when they graduate, and that's about it. Other than that we're going to keep pushing them.
Houston opens up Saturday with Oklahoma with kickoff scheduled for 12 EST on ABC. If the Coogs can knock off the top 5 ranked Sooners, an extra pat on the back may be due.
Hear Herman's comments in the video.
https://youtu.be/5sZumihzze4?t=22m49s