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Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman is a busy man these days. Herman has spent the last four weeks getting the Ohio State Buckeyes offense and third-string quarterback Cardale Jones ready to face Alabama’s defense in the Sugar Bowl.
As if that isn’t enough on his plate, Herman is wearing another hat: the University of Houston’s head coaching gig. Last month, Herman accepted a job to take over Houston’s program, spending a few days there prior to Christmas before returning to prepare for the Sugar Bowl.
Herman has maintained that the dual roles won’t hurt the Buckeyes as they get ready to face the No. 1 team in the country.
“As coaches, you get so locked into the immediacy and the task at hand that this season and getting the guys ready,” Herman told the Orlando Sentinel early this week.
If anything, Herman’s foot out the door may help him and the Buckeyes avoid a bit of a distraction. Ohio State has one of the best problems a team could be faced with: too many capable quarterbacks.
After Jones put up an impressive performance in Ohio State’s 59-0 Big Ten title game victory over Wisconsin, the question of who will start next year for the Buckeyes became a three-pronged issue. Braxton Miller, considered a Heisman contender before the season, suffered a shoulder injury in summer preseason that cost him 2014. In his place, freshman J.T. Barrett emerged as a star, finishing fifth in Heisman voting himself before his season ended with a nasty leg injury against Michigan. Now, Jones is the third quarterback to take the reins, and he’s looked as good as any in a game and a half.
“I literally have given it zero thought because we don’t have to,” the 39-year-old Herman said to the Sentinel.
That’s allowed to Herman to focus solely on the Sugar Bowl. He doesn’t even have to worry too much about recruiting at Houston at this point, as college football is in the midst of a recruiting dead period.
However, in checking out Brian Hamilton’s Sports Illustrated feature on Herman, it’s easy to see that the Broyles Award winner is stretched thin. As Hamilton put it, Houston expects Herman to be logging as much time as possible so that he’s not starting from scratch when he starts his duties full time.
So far, reports indicate Herman has been up to the task managing his dueling roles. Going up against an Alabama defense that’s had a month to prepare is never an easy task, especially with an inexperienced quarterback, but Herman seems to be as capable of handling it as anyone.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
