College Football Coach Hire Grades: Houston

Houston Cougars: Willie Fritz

Why the job was open: As Houston’s president once put it, “we’ll fire coaches for going 8-4.” Houston swung for the fences with their hire of Dana Holgersen and it did not work out. Outside of a strong 2021 season he did not surpass that 8-4 mark and Houston opted to part ways with him.

Coach Profile: Willie Fritz played ball for the Pittsburgh State Gorillas, normally I do a picture of the coach at their current school but I found this photo of Fritz at Pittsburgh State and just could not pass it up. He successfully coached at all levels including high school and DII. He eventually got to the FCS level with Sam Houston State and found immediate success, leading the Bearkats to back to back championship appearances. In 2014 he took over Georgia Southern as the program was transitioning to FBS, leading them to a 9-3 season with an undefeated conference record and conference championship. In 2015 they were bowl eligible, taking advantage and winning in their program’s first bowl appearance. Then Fritz made the bold move to take over a struggling Tulane program in hopes of reviving it. It took a few years of work, but eventually he got them to a bowl game and their first bowl in over a decade. That became a consistent occurrence until 2021 when a hurricane hit the area prior to the season, despite this they nearly upset Oklahoma in the opener, but that close loss became a trend for the season as Tulane lost every close game on their way to a 2-10 record. Their fortunes turned in 2022, the close losses became close wins, Tulane hit the rankings multiple times and won the AAC championship over UCF. It hit a fever pitch for the Green Wave with an incredible Cotton Bowl win over USC. They followed it up with an 11-2 season and a conference championship loss.

Why he will succeed: Houston has long been considered a sleeping giant program, they already had resources but it seemed like they could hit a new level once they got into a bigger conference. They’ve done that part, being in the Big 12. Now they seem to have the right coach in place. Willie Fritz has won everywhere he’s been, sometimes almost instantly. His slowest built was at Tulane but it may have also been one of the most impressive, before he got there Tulane was a program struggling in football and now it’s the premier football program in their conference.

What obstacles are in the way of success: There’s pressure to win and win quickly, no time for a slow build this time around. Fritz probably has one mulligan year and then it’s time to start competing for Big 12 championships. How will he manage those expectations? For all the levels Fritz has coached at, a conference like the Big 12 isn’t one of them, it’s an entirely new experience at this level and a different set of recruits he’s after.

Grade: A – Honestly I don’t know why this hire isn’t being talked about more. It’s one of the best hires of the cycle. A proven winner joining a sleeping giant program is a scary combo, the future of Houston Cougars football is great!