With a simple tweet, Tom Herman brings his coaching career full circle.
To all the GAs out there grinding away, keep working hard. Dreams can come true. #GreatToBeHome #HookEm pic.twitter.com/7CQynzpU11
— Coach Tom Herman (@CoachTomHerman) December 7, 2016
After his rookie position coaching gig at Texas Lutheran, Herman spent two seasons as a graduate assistant in Austin in 1999 and 2000. Now he’s back and the title on the business card looks a little different.
Among his illustrious duties back then were things like hanging out with Ricky Williams during a parade:
Tom Herman's assignment as a graduate assistant with Texas in Jan. 1999 was to sit on Ricky Williams float during parade in Austin pic.twitter.com/A7UwLEa67A
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) November 26, 2016
His wife, Michelle, also tweeted some memories of Tom during his initial stint in Austin:
The GA mafia #livingthedream #1999 @CoachTomHerman @OscarGiles95 @Coach_Horny & Tony Ceder pic.twitter.com/Nt8b1xYNp1
— Michelle Herman (@belletjh) December 4, 2016
Back to where the dream began #HookEm @CoachTomHerman pic.twitter.com/OGupok8LpK
— Michelle Herman (@belletjh) November 27, 2016
The life of a GA is rarely pretty, but Herman learned a lot from his time in Austin. He never forgot those roots, either. He wasn’t above doing similar yeoman’s work even when he got the head job at Houston.
I went to Home Depot, bought a bunch of scrapers and spent a night peeling the tiles back. I was fully prepared to spend my own money to put a floor down. It was for my guys and for recruiting. I peeled up the floor myself because if somebody was going to be angry about it, I didn't want anyone else to get in trouble but me. It actually didn't take me that long, like three or four hours. I stacked the tiles up in the locker room. In a few weeks, we ended up with new floors.
Now Herman has arguably the most high-profile job in college football. With the grinding spirit of a GA, he should be fine in Austin.