UH head coach Tom Herman pays for surgery for staffer

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Anthony Clark says he just wants to come to work and do a good job. He's the lead supervisor for housekeeping for all of the University of Houston's sports facilities.

Clark says a strong work ethic runs in his family and he tries to pass that down.

Head football coach Tom Herman recognized Clark's work, enough so to pay for dental surgery that Clark said was badly needed.

Clark was walking down a hall at UH when Herman stopped him.

"He stopped and said 'I want to speak to you' and my first thought was 'what did I do'?" Clark said. "He said, 'I'm going to do something for you.'"

"When he said it, I was in a daze, it was like I was in a dream, like winning the lottery," Clark said. "I see things like this happening to people, but not to me."

Clark had been playing with his son a while back and had been elbowed in the teeth, Clark said. It knocked out more than a few teeth at the time, leaving him without teeth for a time. Clark couldn't afford the surgery, so just went to work without the needed dental repairs.

Until Herman stopped him and changed his life.

"Tom Herman is like an angel," Clark said. "He did it because he thought it was the right thing to do."

Clark says Herman didn't make much of it, and didn't say anything to anyone about it. Clark said he knew Herman didn't do it for publicity.

Clark has been working for UH for three years and is originally from Trinidad, but says this experience has made Houston a home -- and now the place he works is no longer just an employer, but a place to cheer for.

"He made me a Cougar for life," Clark said with a smile.