Texas booster praises Tom Herman, sets sights on Major Applewhite
“I think Tom will blow the lid off it. In 10 years, we’ll get an awful lot out of him. *and **after Major Applewhite does the same thing at Houston, then we’ll get him.” -**Red McCombs
10 years? In 10 years McCombs is dead. In 10 years, Houston probably has a different head coach. Heck, Yeoman is the only Cougar coach who lasted more than seven.
So much for Red having UH’s interest at heart. However let’s give him credit for his recognition that a) CMA will be long term, and b) the next 10 years will be Golden Years for UH.
But if he is correct then the sky is the limit for UH. The structure of college football is about to go through a mega-change as the ESPN era comes to an abrupt halt, probably in the next 4 to 5 years. It will parallel the extinction of the dinosaurs and be much more dramatic than the transition from the BCS to the ESPN P5/G5 farce.
Red’s vision is certainly in line with UH’s vision for our own future. That means that UH will be well positioned for this transition. What UH lacks isn’t ability or ambition. In a word, UH lacks resources.
During the entire expansion fiasco UT and its cronies stayed low and gave lip service to supporting us. All the while they were secretly plotting and thinking, “What, are you nuts? Give these guys any resources at all and they will become the dominant team in the Big 12 the way they did in the SWC. You want that? Besides we’re getting ready to make a coaching change and we’ve already targeted their coach. No Big 12 and that coach jumps ship. He’s ours for the taking.” Or something like that. But, if we even play in 2 more NY6 bowl games during the next 4 years we will be nationally viewed as being among the elite in college football.
I have every confidence that when the transition happens, and reminding all of UH’s media footprint, we will be among the chosen few. And since Red did speak out on behalf of UH during the expansion fiasco, I’m going to look on the sunny side and say thanks for believing in UH’s future, even though that was not the point he was making. He, like so many others in Texas have come to see UH as some kind of minor league team with the role of developing Class A head coaches.
What they are acknowledging, without realizing it, is that UH is already a big time player in college football. Two more NY6 games will cement that image nationally, regardless of how Texas programs want to see us.
Given the resources the next round of expansion will bring our way we will, for the first time in 25 years, be on a level saying field. And that will make all the difference in the world. In 4 or 5 years. Wait for it…
Herman’s bombastic personality won’t play so well with UT fans if his team slips even a little bit. Those UT fans want what Alabama has created, and they will settle for nothing less. Remember, “heavy hangs the head that wears the crown”. Meaning, careful what you pray for.
Whole heartedly agree with you. We, the Alumni, also need to focus on promoting the brand. Brand recognition across the nation is key for the next round of expansion/realignment in my opinion. Not just in terms of athletics/football program tradition, history, and potential but also (and just as important) in terms of academics.I know I’m preaching to the choir, but the message needs to spread to all of our fellow alumni outside of this forum.
I like your your reasoning but I am not so sure that Disney will go the quiet way. Disney needs espn and vice versa…did I write vice? I unfortunately see Disney/espn creating a super FBS league. They have the resources to do it even though they will probably consolidate even more.
Cord cutters? Don’t think for a second that Disney won’t go and buy the most profitable out there.
Where does that leave us? It leaves us very little room. We are going to need to win nasty and win nasty often. That is going to be the only way for us to even make an imprint.
cth understood from day one the value of a “shocker” He got his against FSU, OU and Louisville. The real benefits from our point of view are the ratings that we got. We now have PROOF beyond the shadow of a doubt that we are indeed the sleeping giant.
You are 100% right when you mention two more NY6 games. It is pretty simple folks. The P5’s keep excluding us? Then we will have no other resource but to sue. Again and again, Utah did it and they succeeded. HOW COME NO ONE TALKS/WRITES ABOUT UTAH GETTING INTO THE PAC12?
It is almost as if it never happened. Will it come a time when we will have no choice but to sue? It is much closer that we all think.
We have to copy the Utah blue print. That is the only way to regain National status. In this case we have to be the bull in the china shop.