He was an all-conference Wide Receiver at Cal Lutheran. How’s this for love of the game? During his high school and college playing career, Herman had four shoulder surgeries and 13 knee surgeries, at one point doctors growing a piece of his cartilage in a lab to create enough of it to properly patch the joint, according to an ESPN.com story. Herman earned his B.S. degree in business administration from Cal Lutheran in 1997, where he graduated cum laude and was a Presidential Scholarship recipient. Herman received his Masters Degree in Education from Texas.

He and wife Michelle have three children – a girl, Priya; and two sons, Maddock and Maverick. 

Tom's first coaching job was with Texas Lutheran as a Receivers Coach for $5,000.00, even sleeping in the locker room as a graduate assistant at the University of Texas at Austin, but has made a swift ascent up the coaching ladder with Texas State, Sam Houston State, Rice, Iowa and Ohio State University, leaving substantial improvements and reputation behind with every experience.

As Offensive Coordinator, his teams at OHIO State University averaged 44.1 points per game and this past year Ohio State won the Big Ten Championship. 

2014 – RECIPIENT OF THE BROILES AWARD - Every year, 1,500 assistant coaches representing all 117 Division One college football programs vote on their peers in the world of college football, and the five Broyles Award finalists are chosen by the tally of these ballots. From these five, one is chosen and in 2014 it was Tom Herman.

Late in 2014, Tom Herman landed his "dream job"...Head Coach at the University of Houston. In 2015 he proved he's
One of the very best in Houston's Win over Florida State University in Peach Bowl 2015

After Houston's 38-24 win over Florida State in the Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome, Tom Herman is being discussed prominently with the best head coaches in the country regardless of division, because he's earned it. His offense faced a tough test against the fast Seminoles defense. Herman dialed up play after play, including two completions by Ward on 3rd-and-long situations on a critical drive early in the fourth quarter and a perfect quarterback draw from backup Kyle Postma on 3rd-and-7 late in the fourth that went for 29 yards down to the 2-yard line.