When Houston football decided to hire Major Applewhite as its head coach in 2016, the hope was that he could continue the momentum of the Tom Herman era.

Even though he was the head coach for just two seasons, Herman changed everything in Houston. The Cougars invested heavily in facilities and created an assistant salary pool that matched almost any Group of Five team in America. He went 6-0 against AP Top 25 teams, 2-0 against top 10 teams and won the Peach Bowl over Florida State.

For a few shining moments, it even seemed like Herman’s efforts might be enough to get Houston into a Power Five conference. Unfortunately, Texas was too attractive an opportunity to pass up. U of H administrators saw Applewhite, the offensive coordinator under Herman, as the next best thing.

Two years might not have been enough of a chance to see whether Applewhite was up to the task. He was fired after a 15-10 record in two seasons as head coach, and is the first coach in the state since Dave Roberts in 1998 at Baylor to be fired before coaching a single game in his third season. But regardless, the two seasons were undoubtedly a disappointment.

Applewhite lost games to Tulsa and Tulane in his first season while starting three different quarterbacks. The Cougars won three of their last four after switching to D’Eriq King, but still lost a bad game against the Green Wave and dropped the bowl to Fresno State.

Things got off to a good start in 2018, as the Cougars went 7-1 to open the year. However, Houston eventually struggled down the stretch and lost three of four to close to regular season. If the Cougars won just one more game, they would have played for the AAC conference championship against UCF. A pointless altercation with All-American defensive tackle Ed Oliver over a jacket made more headlines than his coaching.

Losing 70-14 in a miserable bowl performance against Army was the last straw. Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles leaving for the same position at Florida State only sealed the deal.

Keep in mind, Applewhite took a backseat offensively when Herman was on campus. He let Briles handle the offense in 2018. Neither is a particularly strong endorsement of Applewhite’s pure coaching credentials. Houston Chronicle beat writer Joseph Duarte put it best: “There is absolutely no buzz around the Houston football program.”

Houston fancies itself as a UCF or Boise State-type program. Competing for a New Year’s Six bid should be the norm. The resources are there to do it. The investment has been there. The results, since Herman left, have not been.

Herman was the offensive coordinator at Ohio State, and he led the Buckeyes to their only national championship under Urban Meyer. He was one of the hottest young coordinators in college football, and an inspired hire at Houston.

Applewhite’s hiring was far less inspired. He oversaw the downfall of Texas football after taking over as co-offensive coordinator in 2011. He came to Houston under Herman, but worked under a head coach that had plenty of hands in this offense. Applewhite wasn’t even the best coordinator at Houston; defensive coordinator Todd Orlando was the star on the staff.

Houston president Renu Khator famously said that coaches get fired at the University of Houston for going 8-4. With another difficult schedule in 2019 and with two coordinator hires to make, there’s little reason to believe Applewhite would have redeemed himself next season.

So now what? Obviously, Houston has targeted West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen as the next leader of the program. He has familiarity with the area after working at both Houston and Texas Tech. But still, drawing a Power Five coach to a Group of Five school won’t necessarily be easy – or cheap. Holgorsen also only has one season over 8-4 since joining the Big 12 in 2012.

Brett McMurphy is also reporting that Kliff Kingsbury could be a candidate for the job. Kingsbury coached for six years at Texas Tech, and never reached 8-4. The aforementioned Orlando might be an intriguing option too, but it’s unclear whether that’s splashy enough for Houston megabooster Tilman Fertitta.

Houston can – and should – be one of the best Group of Five teams in America. All the resources are there to do it, and it’s happened in the last five years. 

However, four of five Power Five teams in the state made a bowl in 2018. With a new hire at Texas Tech, all seem to be in good positions. North Texas has the best recruiting class in Conference USA. SMU is building momentum in Dallas. Texas State even made a young, inspiring hire. The task won't be easy. 

Houston's athletic department has to slog through the mess it created with Applewhite's firing and find a path forward. By its own standards, success better come soon.