re: Someone sell me on Herman.

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PHOENIX -- If Alabama does a better job slowing down Clemson's fast-paced, high-scoring offense in Monday night's College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T, the Crimson Tide can thank Houston coach Tom Herman for his help.

A year ago, then-No. 1 Alabama's defense was shredded by eventual national champion Ohio State's high-tempo offense in a 42-35 loss in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Allstate Sugar Bowl. With Herman directing OSU's offense, the Buckeyes piled up 537 total yards in quarterback Cardale Jones' second career start.

The Buckeyes then routed Oregon 42-20 in the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship. A few days after the Buckeyes upset the Crimson Tide, Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart called Herman and talked to him for about two hours. Smart asked Herman how the Buckeyes were able to move the ball so effectively and what tendencies and deficiencies he noticed while scouting the Crimson Tide on film. Smart asked Herman what the Alabama defense might do in the future to become more adept at defending fast-tempo offenses.
"That's what you do as coaches," Smart said. "If you can't look at yourself in the mirror and say, 'I got my butt beat,' you're not going to get better."




Shortly after Herman was named Houston's coach, Alabama coach Nick Saban invited him and a few of his assistants to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to spend a day with the Crimson Tide's coaches. Herman told Saban and the others that the Buckeyes tried to play at a faster tempo at the start of the game to wear down Alabama's mammoth defensive linemen. The Buckeyes rarely huddled in the first half, as to not allow the Crimson Tide to substitute on defense. He said OSU also tried to get its offensive playmakers in space to make Alabama's linebackers and safeties run from sideline to sideline to make plays in the open field.

"He talked about going fast early to wear down our big guys," Smart said. "They were going sideline to sideline, throwing the bubble [screens] and wide screens to get people running sideline to sideline. At the end, they kind of stuck it in our hearts. They ran the ball down our throats at the end because we'd played so many snaps."

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