Sorry for the delay guys, I wanted to have this to you guys long before now but I had to make an emergency trip to the animal hospital, which led to cancelling a radio show appearance, being delayed here etc...
So with that said, here's a few news and notes from today's press conference where Herman finally openly spoke and commented on Oklahoma for the first time all camp.
Tom Herman
Opening Statement
“We’re excited to be playing someone other than ourselves for the first time since December 31st, and our kids are really looking forward to being able to play in a real game. The weeks leading up, the first two and a half weeks of training camp, were literally no introduction to Oklahoma. It was all about going against each other and getting better, and when we started to introduce Oklahoma on Monday you could really tell there was a new kind of pep in their step. The kids were excited and their competitive juices were flowing again. They could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. In training camp, those first two and a half weeks, it can be hard to find that light. They pushed through and now we’re excited to play football games.”
On how having higher expectations affects the team
“We’re the same. Disrespected, little American Conference team with a giant chip on their shoulder. The media and everyone might have put us in the top-25, but that’s based off of what last year’s team did, not this year’s, because we haven’t done anything. Since January we have reminded our guys of that with everything from the question mark on the back of their t-shirts to not referring to last year’s team in using ‘we’ or ‘us.’ It’s always in the past, so I have not sensed an ounce of entitlement or any kind of arrogance from this team, because they’ve had it beat into them since January that they haven’t done anything yet. There’s no reason for Oklahoma to respect them because anything that Oklahoma has seen of this program has to do with last year. So we have to go out and earn people’s respect.”
On if he has found the players to step in and fill roles on defense
“Yes, I’m excited. Matt Adams has had a great preseason at middle linebacker. Probably never going to replace (Elandon) Roberts as the face and voice of the team, but Matt’s done a great job from a production standpoint. Then on the backend, again very talented, and possibly even more athletic than the great seniors that left, (Adrian) McDonald, (Trevon) Stewart and (Williams) Jackson, but those guys in (Khalil) Williams, (Brandon) Wilson, (Jeremy) Winchester, and (Howard) Wilson have all played well, and if there had been a test they would have passed it with flying colors. Now obviously you have to go out and do it on Saturday, September 3rd, but all signs point to them doing that.”
On if it’s a challenge to convince the team that the season isn’t about one game
“It’s a challenge, but it was a challenge when we knew it was coming in January, and we prepared our team for this. And as I’ve said many times, if we beat Oklahoma, the commissioner is not going to jog out to the 50 yard line and hand us the American Trophy. We have to wake up the next day, play Lamar that week and then 11 days from the Oklahoma game we have a conference game, Thursday night, short week, against a team that I believe is 10-1 in their last 11 Thursday night games, which just last year they dismantled the University of Miami on a Thursday night. It’ll be good. I’m not going to discount winning a football game, because anytime you win a game it’s good, and anytime you beat a great team it’s even better. Win, lose or draw this game has no bearing on our goals, which is to win The American Conference, because it’s not a conference game."
On his assessment of Oklahoma
“Oh man, how much time you got? They’re the third ranked team in the country for a reason. They obviously lost in the semi-finals last year and went into that position with only one loss, in a rivalry game. Unbelievable offensive firepower. Everybody wants to talk about Baker Mayfield, and rightfully so, a tremendous player that can extend plays with his feet and his brain. But you look at the backfield, and if there’s a better one-two punch in the country you’re going to have to prove it to me. Those two guys are the real deal. Then you look at their wide receivers: they have a guy that’s 6’5. I remember recruiting Mark Andrews. I thought he was the best tight end in the country coming out of high school. He’s 6’5 or 6’6 with unbelievable athleticism. Then you look at the other side of the ball, and they undoubtedly lost some of their more productive players. They had (Eric) Striker who was unbelievable at outside linebacker. Again his is Oklahoma. They have recruited at a very high level, top-5, top-10 class every year, and they are one of the most talented coaching staffs in the country, especially when it comes to defensive football. Much like playing Florida State, they are going to be better from an athletic stand point; top to bottom. It’s going to take our a-game and then some with some purpose driven players to be able to compete.”
On if these are the types of games that help to boost you into the national spotlight
“At the end of the day, until Baylor lost a late season game they were in the playoffs because they were undefeated, and I think winning trumps anything. Is it good to go test your skills against the best in the country? Absolutely. But to say that I want to play two top-25 teams, nonconference, in one season. Then play our team’s schedule, which last year had four top-25 teams, that’s a meat grinder. It’s exciting for the city of Houston, especially being able to play at NRG. It’s exciting for our fans who have, year-in and year-out been there. I’m not sure it’s the best way to get where you want to be on a national level.”
On if these types of games are necessary because of perception of schedules
“I refuse to talk about us specifically, but if a team from the American Conference beats the No. 3 team in the country and then later in the year beats another top-25 team in the country and goes undefeated in the American Conference, and they don’t get in then that’s a problem. They need to blow it up and start over. Last year, losing to the Connecticut may have been the best thing to happen to that team, because it gave us the fire we needed for that late season run against Navy, Temple and Florida State. It would have been a very interesting conversation if last year’s team had beat Connecticut and finished undefeated, going 4- 0 against top 25 teams. The only other school in country to have done that was Stanford. History is what it is, but I can’t imagine a team; if it’s us, Boise State, or Temple or anybody. You play a top-5 team and beat them and then beat a top-15 or 20 team and then go undefeated in your conference, and they don’t make the playoffs, then we need to go back to the drawing board.”
On playing against a team with a rich football tradition like Oklahoma
“That’s more for the fans and alumni than it is for us. Tradition and all that stuff, I mean we’re dealing with 18-22 year old kids. Baylor as an example, they don’t remember when Baylor couldn’t win a conference game. They remember Baylor with Robert Griffin and Josh Gordon. That’s their memory of Baylor, and the same is true for Oklahoma. So for us internally and in the program, it doesn’t hold much weight. Last I checked we had 174 NFL draft picks and several Southwest Conference Championships. There’s some pretty good history and tradition here at the University of Houston.”
So with that said, here's a few news and notes from today's press conference where Herman finally openly spoke and commented on Oklahoma for the first time all camp.
Tom Herman
Opening Statement
“We’re excited to be playing someone other than ourselves for the first time since December 31st, and our kids are really looking forward to being able to play in a real game. The weeks leading up, the first two and a half weeks of training camp, were literally no introduction to Oklahoma. It was all about going against each other and getting better, and when we started to introduce Oklahoma on Monday you could really tell there was a new kind of pep in their step. The kids were excited and their competitive juices were flowing again. They could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. In training camp, those first two and a half weeks, it can be hard to find that light. They pushed through and now we’re excited to play football games.”
On how having higher expectations affects the team
“We’re the same. Disrespected, little American Conference team with a giant chip on their shoulder. The media and everyone might have put us in the top-25, but that’s based off of what last year’s team did, not this year’s, because we haven’t done anything. Since January we have reminded our guys of that with everything from the question mark on the back of their t-shirts to not referring to last year’s team in using ‘we’ or ‘us.’ It’s always in the past, so I have not sensed an ounce of entitlement or any kind of arrogance from this team, because they’ve had it beat into them since January that they haven’t done anything yet. There’s no reason for Oklahoma to respect them because anything that Oklahoma has seen of this program has to do with last year. So we have to go out and earn people’s respect.”
On if he has found the players to step in and fill roles on defense
“Yes, I’m excited. Matt Adams has had a great preseason at middle linebacker. Probably never going to replace (Elandon) Roberts as the face and voice of the team, but Matt’s done a great job from a production standpoint. Then on the backend, again very talented, and possibly even more athletic than the great seniors that left, (Adrian) McDonald, (Trevon) Stewart and (Williams) Jackson, but those guys in (Khalil) Williams, (Brandon) Wilson, (Jeremy) Winchester, and (Howard) Wilson have all played well, and if there had been a test they would have passed it with flying colors. Now obviously you have to go out and do it on Saturday, September 3rd, but all signs point to them doing that.”
On if it’s a challenge to convince the team that the season isn’t about one game
“It’s a challenge, but it was a challenge when we knew it was coming in January, and we prepared our team for this. And as I’ve said many times, if we beat Oklahoma, the commissioner is not going to jog out to the 50 yard line and hand us the American Trophy. We have to wake up the next day, play Lamar that week and then 11 days from the Oklahoma game we have a conference game, Thursday night, short week, against a team that I believe is 10-1 in their last 11 Thursday night games, which just last year they dismantled the University of Miami on a Thursday night. It’ll be good. I’m not going to discount winning a football game, because anytime you win a game it’s good, and anytime you beat a great team it’s even better. Win, lose or draw this game has no bearing on our goals, which is to win The American Conference, because it’s not a conference game."
On his assessment of Oklahoma
“Oh man, how much time you got? They’re the third ranked team in the country for a reason. They obviously lost in the semi-finals last year and went into that position with only one loss, in a rivalry game. Unbelievable offensive firepower. Everybody wants to talk about Baker Mayfield, and rightfully so, a tremendous player that can extend plays with his feet and his brain. But you look at the backfield, and if there’s a better one-two punch in the country you’re going to have to prove it to me. Those two guys are the real deal. Then you look at their wide receivers: they have a guy that’s 6’5. I remember recruiting Mark Andrews. I thought he was the best tight end in the country coming out of high school. He’s 6’5 or 6’6 with unbelievable athleticism. Then you look at the other side of the ball, and they undoubtedly lost some of their more productive players. They had (Eric) Striker who was unbelievable at outside linebacker. Again his is Oklahoma. They have recruited at a very high level, top-5, top-10 class every year, and they are one of the most talented coaching staffs in the country, especially when it comes to defensive football. Much like playing Florida State, they are going to be better from an athletic stand point; top to bottom. It’s going to take our a-game and then some with some purpose driven players to be able to compete.”
On if these are the types of games that help to boost you into the national spotlight
“At the end of the day, until Baylor lost a late season game they were in the playoffs because they were undefeated, and I think winning trumps anything. Is it good to go test your skills against the best in the country? Absolutely. But to say that I want to play two top-25 teams, nonconference, in one season. Then play our team’s schedule, which last year had four top-25 teams, that’s a meat grinder. It’s exciting for the city of Houston, especially being able to play at NRG. It’s exciting for our fans who have, year-in and year-out been there. I’m not sure it’s the best way to get where you want to be on a national level.”
On if these types of games are necessary because of perception of schedules
“I refuse to talk about us specifically, but if a team from the American Conference beats the No. 3 team in the country and then later in the year beats another top-25 team in the country and goes undefeated in the American Conference, and they don’t get in then that’s a problem. They need to blow it up and start over. Last year, losing to the Connecticut may have been the best thing to happen to that team, because it gave us the fire we needed for that late season run against Navy, Temple and Florida State. It would have been a very interesting conversation if last year’s team had beat Connecticut and finished undefeated, going 4- 0 against top 25 teams. The only other school in country to have done that was Stanford. History is what it is, but I can’t imagine a team; if it’s us, Boise State, or Temple or anybody. You play a top-5 team and beat them and then beat a top-15 or 20 team and then go undefeated in your conference, and they don’t make the playoffs, then we need to go back to the drawing board.”
On playing against a team with a rich football tradition like Oklahoma
“That’s more for the fans and alumni than it is for us. Tradition and all that stuff, I mean we’re dealing with 18-22 year old kids. Baylor as an example, they don’t remember when Baylor couldn’t win a conference game. They remember Baylor with Robert Griffin and Josh Gordon. That’s their memory of Baylor, and the same is true for Oklahoma. So for us internally and in the program, it doesn’t hold much weight. Last I checked we had 174 NFL draft picks and several Southwest Conference Championships. There’s some pretty good history and tradition here at the University of Houston.”
