http://espn.go.com/college-football...n-cougars-college-football-playoff-contenders
Tom Herman has Houston thinking playoff in Year 2
Heather Dinich
ESPN Staff Writer
HOUSTON -- In order for Houston coach Tom Herman to get his players to buy in, he first had to lock them out.
Too many were showing up late for workouts, wearing the wrong attire and missing class.
"We decided, 'Eff it,'" he said.
The new staff chained the locker room door shut.
"This is for the Houston Cougars," Herman told his 2015 team. "None of you are Houston Cougars. I'll see you on the practice field at 4:45 in the morning. Those of you that make it through this hell week --
if you make it through this hell week -- then we'll let you use the locker room again."
One year later, in only his second season as a head coach anywhere, Herman has opened the door to a once unthinkable opportunity at Houston -- the College Football Playoff. Carrying a blueprint from some of the sport's most respected coaches, Herman and his Texas-centric staff have infiltrated the high schools in the state and used a tough-love approach to squeeze the most out of the talent they inherited. His down-to-earth personality coupled with his prolific offenses have allowed Herman to quickly flip the program into a league champ and national contender.
"What Tom did -- and I see this in high school -- the first population of kids you gotta capture are the ones returning the next year who are going to be seniors or upperclassmen," said Tim Teykl, head coach of B.F. Terry High School since 1992 and a past president of the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association. "He didn't want to lose anybody. And yet he pushed them to the point of not only wanting to quit ... he took them to hell and back in the offseason. He did that. Those were the guys who helped him win. Look at the guys who got drafted. They weren't even blips on the screen."
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