The landman profession isn’t a new concept in Fort Worth, but it has definitely gained traction since becoming the namesake for Taylor Sheridan’s popular West Texas oil drama.
And, now, a new class at Texas Christian University’s Neely School of Business may inspire a student or two to become a landman themselves.
This semester, 30 students are enrolled in an eight-week seminar inspired by “Landman.” The school doesn’t offer an energy major, but it does have an energy business minor, so a mix of majors are taking the class.
The course title, “Land Management and Land Administration,” may be the first clue that the class material won’t be as flashy as the — literally — explosive and fast-paced TV show.
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The course content is newer for a number of the students, including Wesley Corliss, a Massachusetts native who first moved to Texas when he was in the U.S. Air Force.
“It’s very different than the show,” the sophomore finance major laughed.
“A lot of contract law, a lot of property law, tracing deeds through history … Maybe contract law doesn’t make for very interesting television, but [the class] has been interesting.”
Texas Christian University students take notes during a course called “Land Management and Land Administration,” on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. The eight-week seminar is inspired by Taylor Sheridan’s “Landman” TV show.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
Professor Tom Seng agreed the content may not be “exhilarating” but said students are getting a real deal crash course in what it’s like to be the person negotiating land rights on behalf of energy companies.
“You watch the series, it’s super exciting, it’s crazy, it’s Hollywood,” said Seng, an assistant professor of professional practice and energy finance. “Then we bring them down to earth in a big way, presenting serious material.”
‘It’s the real world thing’
The textbook-of-sorts for the course is the exam prep-guide, American Association of Professional Landmen, created for its certification program. Seng said they’d be able to cover about eight of the guide’s 17 chapters, which is exactly what someone studying to become a registered or certified professional landman would study.
“It’s the real world thing,” Seng said.
Seng said TCU being featured in the ultra-popular “Landman” was a catalyst for creating the course, among other elements — like Sheridan graduating from Paschal High School adjacent to the university, and AAPL being headquartered in Fort Worth.
Wesley Corliss, a Texas Christian University sophomore, finance major and energy business minor, takes notes during a course called “Land Management and Land Administration,” on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. The eight-week seminar is inspired by Taylor Sheridan’s “Landman” TV show.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
He’d previously thought of creating a similar class, but now the time felt right.
“If that series was called ‘Oil Man,’ we would not have this class,” Seng said. “The fact that Sheridan decided it’s ‘Landman,’ we can leverage that and explain here’s the Hollywood portrayal of a landman and this is a real profession and this is what they do.”
Plus, the perk of being at TCU — and having a professor with decades of experience in the natural gas industry — means access to experts and professionals who can visit class.
Guests lecturers have visited each class, like Buford Pollett, associate professor of energy law and commerce at the University of Tulsa, on Tuesday.
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Pollett, who tuned in virtually, lectured on oil and gas leases but also what leases may look like for wind and solar energy.
“It’s been a big deal for AAPL to embrace land in more general terms than just oil and gas,” Seng said. He noted that Pollett helped the trade group craft standardized language for leases tied to wind and solar to add to its portfolio of standardized mineral and surface leases.
In addition to exposing students to another potential career path in energy, Seng said it’s important they know the lead “Landman” character, played by Billy Bob Thornton, is “really a throwback,” especially with the expansion of renewable energy.
“This is not just your grandfather’s profession,” Seng said, adding that there are still very much field landmen, like Tommy, who are the first contacts with landowners and mineral owners, but also the white-collar landman in the office doing behind-the-scenes research, making deals and trading properties.
Nancy McCaskell, certified professional landman and AAPL president when “Landman” debuted in Nov. 2024, was one of the first guest lecturers.
She credits the show with increasing the awareness around what landmen do.
Texas Christian University professor Tom Seng listens to a remote guest speaker during a course called “Land Management and Land Administration,” on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. The eight-week seminar is inspired by Taylor Sheridan’s “Landman” TV show.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
“It’s the first time in my career that I don’t have to start from ground zero when I’m telling people what it is that I do,” McCaskell said. “Whether it’s right or wrong, they’ve got an idea about something and that’s a great place to start.”
McCaskell, who became a landman in the ‘80s, watched energy expand from a majority of companies drilling vertical wells to now horizontal wells, geothermal wells, wind, solar and “everything in between,” she said.
“What Tom [Seng] is doing at TCU is really important, because he’s not really getting down into the nitty gritty of what we do every day,” McCaskell said. “They’re getting a good survey and a good overview of what’s involved in land work.”
Cort Comer, a senior supply chain major from Fort Worth, is one of the students who already began doing land work before he signed up for the class.
He said he likes the history involved with the profession and how you can make money as a landowner.
Comer said, despite already having been introduced to the field, he’s still learning and has enjoyed access to the guest speakers.
“It’s more in-depth,” he said. “And, it is encouraging me to continue in land work.”
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This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.