DALLAS — In the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, as it sunk in that Ohio State was going to win the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship Monday night, Tom Herman hustled down from the press box where he spends each and every game calling plays and reading defenses to celebrate with the Buckeyes one last time.
He briskly walked across the sideline while wiping sweat away from his face with a small towel and toward the team's bench, where coaches and players cheered and hugged before pouring onto the field when the clock struck zero and the confetti rained from the sky.
For Herman, who has hired by Houston to be its next head coach last month, it was the final chapter of one book and the beginning of another. The moment was perhaps best defined by how, amidst the celebration, he took off his white Ohio State cap for a red Cougars one.
It was a reminder how Herman, the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach who played such an integral role making Ohio State's offense one of the nation's best, leaves behind a program still reveling in the splendor of winning a title.
"It would’ve been bittersweet had the outcome of this game been different but the fact that we were able to do what we did with who we did it with and watch these kids with the smiles on their faces, it just fortifies my drive to get bring championships to the University of Houston," Herman said after the game.
It's also a reminder of how the Buckeyes will have to choose between Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones to be their starting quarterback next season without his guidance.
Shortly after postgame interviews in Ohio State's locker room, Herman hurried back to the team's hotel at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas before driving to his new place of employment in the morning.
"I’ll get up at some point today and drive down to Houston and go shake everybody’s hand and get up Wednesday, get organized for recruiting and hit the road on Thursday," he said.
And for Herman, who helped navigate Ohio State through three different quarterbacks in a once-tumultuous campaign en route to its first national title in 12 seasons, there is a certain amount of momentum he brings with him to southeast Texas.
"It’ll be fun to be able to come down there, obviously, this is an achievement that Ohio state has accomplished," he said, "but to be a part of it and hopefully bring a little bit of the recipe of how to win championships to the University of Houston should be pretty exciting."
Back in Columbus, now without his services for almost a week, head coach Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes have moved forward without Herman. Meyer hired Tim Beck, formerly Nebraska's offensive coordinator for the last four years, as his new quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator.
But an unusual quarterback quandary remains. And Herman, who helped mold the likes of Miller, Barrett and Jones, is no longer with Ohio State to offer guidance.
"I’ll be watching from afar," Herman said.
After all, it's a developing story that'll be hard to miss.
