BOCA RATON, Fla. — Tom Herman is trading in the Texas tumbleweeds for the South Florida sunshine.
The former head coach at Texas and Houston has been hired as the next head coach at Florida Atlantic.
Herman replaces Willie Taggart, who was fired last weekend after three consecutive five-win seasons.
"We are incredibly excited to welcome Tom Herman to paradise," FAU athletic director Brian White said in a statement. "Throughout the process and the more we talked with coach Herman, the more it became apparent to me that he was the right person to lead our football program. Beyond his knowledge of the game, which is obvious by his success over the years, he also truly cares about the young people in his program. He has coached winning programs everywhere he has been and we believe he can be tremendously successful at FAU as well."
Herman, 47, is 54-22 and a perfect 5-0 in bowl games.
Most recently, he coached the Longhorns to a 32-18 record from 2017-20, including a 22-13 record in Big 12 Conference play.
Herman was 22-4 at Houston, leading the Cougars to a 13-1 campaign in his first season and a 38-24 victory over Florida State in the 2015 Peach Bowl.
His success at Houston helped him land the Texas job after just two seasons.
Herman's best season at Texas came in 2018 as the Longhorns went 10-4, finished second in the Big 12 and beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
However, Texas was never quite able to keep pace with the success of rival Oklahoma, and Herman's 1-4 record against the Sooners led to his dismissal after the 2020 season.
Before taking over at Houston, Herman was Urban Meyer's offensive coordinator at Ohio State, helping the Buckeyes to win a national championship in 2014.
Herman called it an "honor to lead the Florida Atlantic football program" in a statement released by the school.
"All the pieces are in place at FAU for us to be successful," Herman said. "There are already great young men on this team, great facilities, a great location, a great recruiting base and great leadership, all of which are important to building a successful program."