A week ago we wrote about Tom Herman's efforts to build a fence around the city of Houston. A nice first step? A seven-minute mission-statement video, which was debuted at Saturday's spring game. Produced by Sculpting with Time Productions, the camera work, writing and music give the video an NFL Films vibe, like the warm-up period to a Houston spring practice is the most important moment in the history of American football.
And that's the entire idea Herman and his program are trying to create, to create a sense of urgency around Cougars football.
"The University of Houston is one of the best academic institutions in the country, and then you couple that with the ability to play football at this level and I can't think of a better opportunity for anybody," Herman says. "On our jersey it doesn't say the University of Houston, it just says Houston. And that's not by accident. We want to represent this university but we also have the fourth-biggest city in the country to represent."
The video ends with a monologue with an unseen narrator, preaching a message very similar to what James Franklin first said when he got to Vanderbilt: "Our pride, our honor, our fire built this house, and we will defend it at all costs. The stage has been set. Become part of history, we're writing it."