Tom Herman (Former Head Coach FAU Owls)

[HorticullyBuck]

Can't stop the fighting Tom Herman's

 

[MD Buckeye]

CBS Houston - Coach Herman Takes Issue with John Lopez

Wow.

 

[matcar]

Cat fight.

 

[LostLassie]

Umm...I think he should have stayed out of this. Not sure going a few rounds with these guys did him any good--not whether he won the debate with them, but just that immersing himself in their environment accomplished nothing positive.

 

[Tanner]

Football coaches are a trip, man

 

[Dryden]

To provide some backstory on this ...

John Lopez is a former Houston Chron writer turned sports talk radio host that does a morning show on 610AM in Houston. Houston is a big market and has multiple stations providing sports programming, of them 610 is a marginal player despite being a CBS affiliate. Lopez is an A&M grad and rarely discusses UH sports, and when he has he has been less than complimentary. As mentioned by Herman in the interview, Lopez never once attend a UH practice or presser this season, and he's only invited Herman on-air once. As a journalist, Lopez is a hack that hides behind 'sources.' Along with his article stating Herman, another coach, and Kyle Allen all met at "an undisclosed location" in Houston, Lopez was the one that penned the Herman-to-Georgia piece. This is not his first spat with a UH coach. In 2009 or 2010 he was ripped on-air by Kevin Sumlin after reporting Sumlin was leaving Houston to take the Arizona St job (which wasn't even open). Sumlin never appeared on 610 again.

The co-host, Nick Wright, is a douche bag of the highest order that graduated from Syracuse and got his start in radio in Kansas City. He makes no claims of even being a journo, he's a 31 year entertainer that is hell bent on working his way up to the big time. He's a wannabe shock jock that has his eye on the warm chairs of the Skip Baylesses and Colin Cowherds of the world, and he spends more time on social media than most 15 year old girls. Wright also has not attended a UH practice or press conference this season.

So anyway, Lopez wrote the article claiming Herman and Allen had some clandestine meeting in Houston with another unidentified coach or staff member present. This article was published on Dec 13 on the 610 Web site. Houston Chron contributor Joseph Duarte debunked this a short time later stating that Herman and Allen had mutual interest and knew each other prior from Herman's time at OSU when Allen was a target, but they had not actually had a meeting since Allen announced his decision to leave A&M. It was unclear at that time whether Allen was still enrolled at A&M, but it was known that the recruiting dead period had not started when the meeting was alleged by Lopez.

This sat for over three weeks until Allen enrolled at UH this week, at which point Herman could finally, officially, debunk the story. Herman released a statement saying the meeting did not happen, while both Allen and even his mother stated in interviews with Bruce Feldman that Allen had been home in Arizona the entire time. Herman and Duarte appear to have a mutual respect for one-another. Duarte gets good scoops, has ready access to Herman, and has thus far not been critical -- in fairness, he's had no reason to be. Lopez and Wright think Duarte is Herman's puppet.

Lopez continued to stand by his story in the face of Herman saying it wasn't true, and ultimately released his resume as his defense (which is what idiots usually do when they have no defense). Nick Wright, who essentially has no involvement in this dispute between Herman and Lopez other than being Lopez's co-host on their morning show, then took to Twitter to attack Duarte and Herman's credibility, frequently alluding to Herman being a dirty coach who is trying to hide an NCAA violation after being caught red handed meeting Kyle Allen, because hey ... all coaches are dirty, rotten liars.

Nick Wright further said yesterday that he would defend his partner Lopez's reporting, even if it was proven inaccurate. Seriously, the dude is just an absolute fucking tool.

From the content of the interview and the aftermath, it appears to me Herman and his SID did some research on Nick before going on-air. Herman wanted to have a discussion with Lopez regarding inaccuracies in his report and hoping to get an apology and retraction, while Nick decided to continually talk over Herman and argue semantics. This is why Herman was particularly frustrated to the point of being condescending and insulting every time Nick spoke.

---

This is the original Tom Herman statement, released after Allen committed:

“I would like to commend the members of the media who have accurately reported the mutual interest between our program and Kyle throughout this process. I am big on accountability within our program as we teach our young men to do the right thing, and I would hope members of the media would practice accountability as well. A completely inaccurate local report surfaced on Dec. 13 that Kyle and I had met in Houston, a report that could have been damaging to both our program and Kyle, and our accountability and truthfulness in speaking with others. In a world where too many are jumping at the chance to say they were first, I hope we all take time to ensure our reports are accurate.”​

This is the John Lopez statement, where he uses the Marty Brennaman "I'll still be here when you're long gone" tactic:

In my time covering sports in Houston, you are the 10th Houston Cougars head football coach that I’ve covered. You also are the best, in my opinion. I’m a huge fan of yours. My son is a proud Houston Cougar and I regularly go to games — as a fan.

Thus, while I can appreciate your note about the details of how Kyle Allen became a Coog, your characterization of me as, “jumping at the chance” to be first or lacking accountability is, frankly, inaccurate and lacking the accountability in which you take so much pride.

For decades, I have covered college football literally from coast-to-coast. I have been to 30-plus major bowl games, multiple national championship games, and have built deep, credible relationships with coaches and administrators across the country. I have had a Heisman Trophy vote for 30-years and live for the college game more than any other. I would encourage you to ask around. People like Mack Brown, Les Miles, Steve Spurrier, Art Briles, Kevin Sumlin, Pete Carroll and Barry Switzer.

What I’m getting to is this: I have no interest in being first, or making a name for myself by bending the rules of accountability.​

---

In any event, after that train wreck of semantics where Tom argued the definition of "meet" is integral to the accuracy of the story while Nick insisted it wasn't, Michelle Herman wound up the big winner yesterday:

 

[Dryden]

Umm...I think he should have stayed out of this. Not sure going a few rounds with these guys did him any good--not whether he won the debate with them, but just that immersing himself in their environment accomplished nothing positive.

He should not have let Nick get under his skin, but it'll pay dividends. In the long run, nobody gives a flip if he blew up at a local, morning drive time AM radio host. He was THE story in Houston all day yesterday, and the Texans are in the freakin' playoffs while Jeff Bagwell narrowly missed Hall of Fame election. Herman will be the story in Texas today. He's been interviewed by darn near every station in DFW, Houston, and Austin. By and large, he has the city on his side.

Houston Press mostly defends him:

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/uhs-tom-herman-clashes-with-radio-hosts-on-air-8051364

Of course, facts do matter. As Duarte and Berman reported, following up with their sources, there was no meeting in Houston that day. Kyle Allen debunked the report, stating he was in Arizona. Even Lopez seems to backtrack during the interview with Herman, implying that there was instead a phone conversation, which is not what he initially reported. And still Wright claims there’s nothing wrong with the story because it doesn’t matter if you’re hit by a red car or an orange car — yes, this exchange actually happened, and yes it’s just as mind-numblingly stupid as it sounds because, as any lawyer will tell you, the color the damn car that hits you absolutely matters.
​

And Herman was the talk of much larger carrier (and ESPN affiliate) 97.5FM, the Blitz:

http://www.podcastarena.com/theblitz/

Discussed about 6m into hour 1 of yesterdays show, where the guys pretty much rip into the AM show hosts.

 

[buckeyesin07]

He should not have let Nick get under his skin, but it'll pay dividends. In the long run, nobody gives a flip if he blew up at a local, morning drive time AM radio host. He was THE story in Houston all day yesterday, and the Texans are in the freakin' playoffs while Jeff Bagwell narrowly missed Hall of Fame election. Herman will be the story in Texas today. He's been interviewed by darn near every station in DFW, Houston, and Austin. By and large, he has the city on his side.

Houston Press mostly defends him:

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/uhs-tom-herman-clashes-with-radio-hosts-on-air-8051364

Of course, facts do matter. As Duarte and Berman reported, following up with their sources, there was no meeting in Houston that day. Kyle Allen debunked the report, stating he was in Arizona. Even Lopez seems to backtrack during the interview with Herman, implying that there was instead a phone conversation, which is not what he initially reported. And still Wright claims there’s nothing wrong with the story because it doesn’t matter if you’re hit by a red car or an orange car — yes, this exchange actually happened, and yes it’s just as mind-numblingly stupid as it sounds because, as any lawyer will tell you, the color the damn car that hits you absolutely matters.
​

And Herman was the talk of much larger carrier (and ESPN affiliate) 97.5FM, the Blitz:

http://www.podcastarena.com/theblitz/

Discussed about 6m into hour 1 of yesterdays show, where the guys pretty much rip into the AM show hosts.

I listed to the whole interview, and it seemed pretty stupid and childish to me (on both sides). I'm a huge fan of Herman and simply think he would've been better served not jumping into that clown show (the old saying about why you shouldn't argue with crazy people on the streets and all seems applicable here). While I don't think this will harm Herman in any way long-term, the notion that it'll pay dividends for him doesn't seem to be correct either.

 

[Jagdaddy]

People like Mack Brown, Les Miles, Steve Spurrier, Art Briles, Kevin Sumlin, Pete Carroll and Barry Switzer.

What I’m getting to is this: I have no interest in being first, or making a name for myself by bending the rules of accountability.---​

With character references like that, who needs haters? ​

 

[Tanner]

I listed to the whole interview, and it seemed pretty stupid and childish to me (on both sides). I'm a huge fan of Herman and simply think he would've been better served not jumping into that clown show (the old saying about why you shouldn't argue with crazy people on the streets and all seems applicable here). While I don't think this will harm Herman in any way long-term, the notion that it'll pay dividends for him doesn't seem to be correct either.

Agreed. I'd be surprised if he gets into another public altercation with a member of the media. Kindof like how Urban got into that heated confrontation on the practice field at Florida (with Bianchi? can't remember who it was now) and you haven't seen that since from Urban. I'm sure he realized that even if you're right it's not worth it b/c nobody in the situation is going to come off well. Wouldn't be surprised if Urban sent Herman a friendly "WTF you doing?" text after hearing about this one.

 

[kujirakira]

Along with his article stating Herman, another coach, and Kyle Allen all met at "an undisclosed location" in Houston, Lopez was the one that penned the Herman-to-Georgia piece

Apparently he also alleged a booster was there, which would be an NCAA violation.
And it seems Herman's real beef was that
- Lopez never called to fact-check
- Herman had told another recruit that they were pursuing Allen but stated they hadn't met. That other recruit was nonplussed when they read Lopez' erroneous article.

So what seems like a minor detail to Lopez and his shock-jock sidekick ... turned out to be a major headache to Herman, who feels compelled to make it abundantly clear that he was not lying to the other recruit.

I listed to the whole interview, and it seemed pretty stupid and childish to me (on both sides). I'm a huge fan of Herman and simply think he would've been better served not jumping into that clown show (the old saying about why you shouldn't argue with crazy people on the streets and all seems applicable here). While I don't think this will harm Herman in any way long-term, the notion that it'll pay dividends for him doesn't seem to be correct either.

I generally agree. But we're also not privy to what's going on with the other recruit. None of this is being done for public opinion' sake... it's being done so that recruits can see he wasn't being dishonest.
Does it pay off in that aspect? I don't know. Sometimes you lose battles that still win a war... if he thought it was necessary to protect his integrity in recruiting.
Going on the radio show seems like a bad decision to accomplish that imo.

 

[kujirakira]

I have had a Heisman Trophy vote for 30-years

This honestly explains a lot

 

[Hstead]

I can see where Tom is coming from. The definition of "meeting" to me would mean face to face. I would not consider talking on the phone "meeting". I also do not understand how the "reporter" can sit there and say the story was "accurate" when the details are incorrect. To me that is the definition of inaccurate.

So basically the reporter took information that was given to him from "sources" that was not accurate and ran with it and never fact checked anything and even though the outcome was correct, Allen did end up at UH, details he reported were harmful, but these clowns want to act like there couldn't be any harm as since they got the outcome correct.

Tom may have come off as an angry old man, but he is dead on.

 

[MaxBuck]

Tom may have come off as an angry old man

NTTAWWT

 

[LovelandBuckeye]

NTTAWWT