Willie Fritz, Houston: Meet The 2024 New Head Coaches
2024 New College Football Head Coaches
Willie Fritz, Houston
Dec 6, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars football head coach Willie Fritz is interviewed during the game against the Rice Owls at Fertitta Center.
© Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Previous Life: A superstar - and Hall of Fame - JUCO head coach, he worked his way up at several jobs before latching on at Coffeyville CC and later at Blinn JC, going 39-5 with the Buccaneers including a 24-0 run with two national titles in 1995 and 1996. … A longtime coach at Central Missouri, he won 97 games and a conference title in 13 seasons though the 2000s. … He left for Sam Houston State, going 40-15 with two national title appearance and a third FCS Playoff run in his four years. … In two seasons at Georgia Southern he went 17-7 with a 2014 Sun Belt Championship. … It took a while to build up Tulane, struggling for two seasons before going to bowls in five of his last six seasons. The Green Wave won 23 games over the last two years.
Top Line of the Resumé: Besides being in the NJCAA Hall of Fame and the two JUCO national titles at Blinn, he took Tulane to a 12-win 2022 season with a win over USC in the Cotton Bowl.
Realistic Year One Expectations: Get to six wins. It’s not going to be easy in an improved overall Big 12 - the sure-thing victories in conference play aren’t obvious - but after failing to win more than four games in three of the last five seasons, get to six and a bowl will be a good first run.
Realistic Expectations Over The Next Five Years: The new Big 12 isn’t THAT good. Remember, it took a little while for TCU to get up to speed, and for Utah to rise up and rock when it joined the Pac-12 - it takes a little bit. Be a regular in the bowl mix and challenge for the Big 12 title starting in 2025.
What Will Happen? Fritz will be 64 when the season starts - be shocked if this isn’t his destination gig. The program is still transitioning from Group of Five life to Power 4 expectations and talent depth, but give that two years and combine it with Fritz’s coaching ability, and Houston will be an interesting X factor.
