We go all access with Tom Herman for his first game day as head coach at Florida Atlantic

BOCA RATON — The mood was not light in the Florida Atlantic locker room at halftime of Saturday's season opener. In fact, it was one of frustration and annoyance brought on by a sloppy final three minutes of the Owls' second quarter against Monmouth. Coaches were not showing much patience rehashing mistakes and going over adjustments.

And head coach Tom Herman, halfway through his FAU head coaching debut, was reviewing his notes and making sure a spot was cleared so he could unload on his team.

"I'm standing right here and facing this way so they all can see me," he told his chief of staff, Matt Smidebush, pointing to a spot on a bench.

Then came the talk that sometimes is necessary to make sure 18- to 22-year-olds do not become too full of themselves.

"I don't know what country club you think this is," Herman said, voice raspy from a long day of speeches. "We played well and then started feeling ourselves.

"You want to be a champion? You act like it."

Herman's anger - prompted by a final three minutes in which FAU failed on two short yardage plays before allowing a 27-yard touchdown on fourth-and-6 giving Monmouth life - increased with each sentence.

"We breathed life into them. We had them … and all of a sudden we got distracted. Go back to your training. Light your hair on fire and remind yourself what you are playing for."

Two hours later, Herman - now smiling after a 42-20 win he would never take for granted but was far from satisfied - stood in almost the same spot.

"I just got my first win at FAU," he said. "That's pretty cool."

That was the signal for 100 or so players to unleash the emotion that went into starting the season 1-0 by breaking out into song and dance.

Herman exited the locker room with one more piece of business; his postgame media conference capping a day that started 14 hours earlier at the team hotel.

And through it all - from the team meals, the motivational speeches, the meetings, the game-day planning, the bus ride to the stadium, the Owl Walk - The Palm Beach Post was allowed an all-access peak behind this curtain of Herman's FAU debut, following the coach from breakfast to bedtime (not literally, of course.)

8 a.m.: Starting the day

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The alarm clock was turned off. No coaches meetings to attend before the sun rises. No early morning practice to beat the steamy South Florida weather.

Just Game 1 of the Tom Herman era at Florida Atlantic University. And although that comes with a very full day, at least it's one this 48-year-old can use to catch up on some sleep thanks to a 6 p.m. kickoff.

The team was in the Renaissance Hotel, two miles from the stadium Herman now will roam as head coach. The hotel was quiet early on with most of his players, at least those who did not require game-day treatment, allowed to sleep in until 9:30.

"I sleep on Saturday's of night games like I'm a teenager," said Herman, who stirred around 8 a.m. This is something a man whose wife, Michelle, said is prone to hitting the snooze button on the 5 a.m. alarm, appreciates.

That early-morning tranquility soon would be pierced by loud music, players with war paint or masks covering their faces greeting teammates by smacking them with pillows as they shuffled through the lobby looking every bit like teenagers and 20-somethings being rustled before noon.

Coaches then attempted to land body blocks as players high stepped a mini obstacle course while entering a ballroom just off the hotel's lobby to start the day's schedule.

"It's a way to wake them up, get the blood flowing," Herman said. "Just to get 'em going."

9:45 a.m.: Team Walk

The team walk is something Herman implemented at his two previous head coaching stops in Houston and Texas to start their day. This was especially important for those 11 a.m. kickoffs, commonplace for teams playing in the Central Time Zone.

After players are greeted by those pillow-swinging teammates and adrenaline-fueled coaches, they gather in the ballroom and follow their head coach and position coaches out the back door for one loop around the parking lot.

A quick downpour made this walk as if it were held in one gigantic sauna ... perfect to break an early sweat. Of course, it could have been much worse. It could have come at 6 a.m., which is when Herman would schedule these walks for those early kickoffs.

10 a.m.: Breakfast

Herman's first game-day speech. Before we go any farther you must know something about these Tom Talks: They start with him making sure each player is facing him and they remove their hoods and earphones. They all end with a short prayer.

And in between the language is as colorful as the brightest rainbow you will ever find over South Florida.

"Everybody in this bunker has a job to do," he started before he called players to the buffet by positions. "You have a job. You have a job. You have a job. I have a job. The coaches have a job.

"When we are walking into that stadium, we are walking into a bunker. And sometimes that job is going to be really uncomfortable and really hard to do. And the only way you can do your job to maximum capacity, for 3 1/2 hours, is to love the people you are doing it for."

This was the first of six times Herman would address his team before leaving the stadium that night. Each one had the same theme that doing your job is not about you but about the team, and loving the person next to you.

"We've proven to each other how much fun we can have kicking somebody's ass in the name of somebody else," Herman told the team later in the day before boarding the bus to the stadium. "Because we love somebody else, because we want to see the smiles on their faces, we want to see them succeed more than we want to succeed."

10:30 a.m.: Walk-throughs

This starts about a three-hour window for walk-throughs and some down time.

Walk-throughs, a staple of many sports, are simply a way for the players to have one last dress rehearsal of the game plan. Sometimes they are held in empty stadiums. Other times in hotel ballrooms and parking lots.

On this day, the offense and defense meet in separate ballrooms.

For Herman, it was time to relax back in the room. His routine: Do a crossword puzzle, review the game plan and try to catch a nap.

"For a night game, you want to relax but it's really hard knowing what you got in a few hours," he said.

Even if it's something you have been doing for 23 years as a coach.

"I'm way more relaxed," he said comparing game day now to early in his career. "But everybody gets nervous. I'll be really, really nervous the closer the game gets. Having the experience of having done this, not just at now my third program, but now my seventh year of Game 1s, it never gets routine but there is a lot less nervous energy right now than years past."

2:20 p.m.: Pregame meal

"Lock in on me," Herman said before a lunch buffet of chicken, fish, vegetables and pasta.

He starts by thanking his players for adjusting to the changes that come with a new staff. Herman spent two years at Houston, four at Texas, a year each as an offensive analyst for the Chicago Bears and in the television booth before replacing Willie Taggert, who was fired after three consecutive five-win seasons at FAU.

"Now is the time to lock in," he continued. "If you are talking at your team table, that's fine. Keep your volume to a minimum, please."

Herman then gave them two reminders:

1. "Come out swinging. When the ball gets kicked off don't tip-toe around, (don't) feel your way around … who are these guys, are they any good, what's their game plan? Just go. You come out swinging and you let them know what they signed up for."

2. "Have fun. The way we train is not fun. It's not supposed to be. Saturdays are fun. Winning is fun. The fun is in the winning, the fun is not in the training. It's not supposed to be. It's not how championships are built. The fun is tonight at 10 p.m. when we're singing the fight song in the locker room. Go. Have. Fun."

The room was quiet, more subdued than breakfast. For Herman, it was time to sit around and reminisce with staff and perhaps give us a hint of one future request for AD Brian White.

"They should have Hawaiian shirts," for game day, he said, something FAU centric with palm trees, beach and ocean scenes. Something depicting the program's "Winning in Paradise" theme.

Herman has had 10 coaching jobs in nine different locations. I once asked where's the most exotic place he's lived? "Here, without a doubt," he said.

Now, he just wants to look the part.

3:40 p.m.: Bus to stadium

This was preceded by a short motivational video that included clips from training camp and UFC fights and The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" providing the motivation. That leads to the memorable scene from "The Town" when Ben Affleck's character tells Jeremy Renner's character he needs some help but he can't ask any questions and he can't ever talk about it. Renner's character agrees with no questions asked, and they pay a very unfriendly visit to a couple of drug dealers.

The message of why that clip is revealed soon.

"The talking is done," Herman said. "I've said enough. Your coaches have said enough. The leaders on this team have said enough. Now it's showtime."

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Two buses are loaded for the ride to the stadium, a drive that takes them north of the stadium so they can enter via FAU Boulevard and park on University Drive for the Owl Walk.

Upon arrival, the team is greeted by cheerleaders, the band and fans. Herman allows his captains to exit the bus first before he moves to the front of the line as they walk the path into the stadium and locker room.

Once in the stadium, every player, coach and staff member taps the Howard Schnellenberger statue. Once in the doorway to the locker room, Herman stops and greets every player with a hug. And tells each he loves them.

"I used to kiss them on the cheek," Herman said afterward. "I come from an Italian family. I still kiss my uncles when I see them. These young men have people that love them ... they're handing over their sons and saying, 'take care of them.' And I promise them - I'm going to love you like I love my own sons.

"What we do is very gladiatorial. We put on armor and we perform a very violent act for four hours for the entertainment of the masses. We put our health and safety on the line. I just figure if that was my son walking into that arena, I would want to hug him, tell him how proud I am of him, tell him that I love him and wish him luck."

4:45 p.m.: Pre-game

This is a whirlwind. But first, a shout out for the security team.

After changing in the coaches locker room, Herman heads for FAU Stadium on game day for the first time as head coach.

Not so fast.

Herman is stopped at the gate by a security guard looking for a credential.

"I'm the head coach," Herman says very politely before being allowed in the building.

Later, to no one's surprise, Herman says how much he appreciates someone doing his job. "I respect that," he said.

Soon, Herman returns to the coaches locker room. In case you're wondering, it's one that Herman says is every bit, if not better, than what he had at Texas, a school with an athletic department budget that is nearly five times FAU's of about $40 million. That should come as no surprise since Herman has cited FAU's vastly upgraded facilities as one of the reasons he took the job.He changes into his blue short-sleeve game shirt (sans the palm trees and beach scenes), returns to the stadium, where he gives his new buddy at the door a fist bump, and meets with the officials before heading to the field.

There he greets Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan before keeping an eye on his team's warmups. Herman had never met Callahan so the conversation was more formal, asking how the trip was from West Long Branch, N.J., and if there was any more FAU could have done to help.

But with Callahan, there was more to talk about. The 68-year-old is the only coach in Monmouth history. He's been there 32 years, and now 31 football seasons.

"I like people," Herman said after. "I'm like, 'Man, you started the program, you've been there 31 years. Tell me about that.' "

Herman followed the team into the locker room after warmups, stopping for one last pre-game kiss from Michelle and hugs for his sons, TD, 16; and Maverick, 9. Daughter Priya is a sophomore at the University of Texas.

This is his quick final message to his team:

"This is what you worked for," he said. "They're coming to our house to take something from you. Take the fight to them. Don't evaluate."

Now, the message from that movie clip:

"Just like that video clip we saw, man, you don't ask questions when your brother's in trouble. You come out swinging and then you don't stop until they tap out, or the ref tells you."

Herman then gets a bit emotional:

"And then the last one is, I love you," his voice lowering. "In all seriousness, the last nine months have probably been the best time of my life and I've fallen in love with the team. One, I want to thank you. I want to thank you for the last nine months and for what I know is about to happen out there when that ball gets kicked off. I can't wait to watch you guys play."

6 p.m.: Game time

The game is going to plan early with quarterback Casey Thompson leading an offense that includes playmakers such as running back Larry McCammon and receivers Tony Johnson and LaJohntay Wester. And a defense with Evan Anderson, Jarrett Jerrels and Marlon Krakue causing havoc.

FAU leads 28-7 late in the second quarter, before losing focus.

What should have been a four-score margin at halftime is 14 points. Herman is not happy and lets them know in the locker room.

That all changes. After a quick three-and-out to open the second half, the Owls offense gets back on track. Thompson tosses his fourth and fifth TD passes of the game in the third quarter, the latter to Johnson covering 72 yards, and the lead is 42-14. A Monmouth score midway through the final quarter concludes the scoring.

After a long fourth quarter interrupted by several Monmouth players cramping, Herman goes from postgame handshakes; to joining his family and team by the student section and band to sing the fight song; to a series of interviews before entering the locker room.

Herman calmly calls everybody to the center of the room before shouting:

"Give yourself a hand."

Cheers break out.

Coordinators Charlie Frye (offense), Roc Bellantoni (defense) and Chad Lunsford (special teams) are summoned to hand out superlatives before Herman's final words of the day for his team.

"We're going to celebrate winning," he said. "It's too hard, we put in too much not to. But I think we all know there were some 5-7 moments that crept back in. Those last two possessions of the first half, not very good. We got to close out the game. We let off the gas. We got to fix that.

"That (stuff) is not going to be allowed and that (stuff) you put on there in the fourth quarter and at the end of the second quarter at some point that's going to cost us. We got to learn how to be champions at all times."

"I am proud. I'm extremely proud. I just got my first win at FAU. That's pretty cool."

Herman's one last game-day duty: His postgame press conference. All his messages the team heard were repeated, from every concern to how proud and grateful he is to be 1-0 at FAU.

"There's a level of dissatisfaction in that locker room," he concluded. "That's very healthy. And I like that."

With that, Herman turned to associate athletic director Katrina McCormack.

"Can I go home now?" he asked.

Game 1 of head coaching job No. 3 was in the books.

Tom D'Angelo is the senior sports columnist for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: All access with Tom Herman during first game as FAU Owls football coach