Willie Fritz leaving Tulane for Houston head coaching job

Willie Fritz has been officially announced as the new head coach at Houston. Fritz has spent the last eight years at the helm at Tulane, going 54-47 overall but an impressive 23-4 in the last two seasons.

“I am truly humbled and honored to join the University of Houston family and to be a part of the strong athletics tradition at UH,” said Fritz. “There is no ceiling for success, with the incredible fan support, excellent facilities, talented young men and a collective desire to compete for championships. We will build a program that all Coogs can be proud of and I cannot wait to see the results.”

Fritz, 63, led the Green Wave to three victories in seven games against Houston during his tenure when the two programs were AAC foes.

Prior to Tulane, Fritz had a successful stint as head coach at Georgia Southern, winning the Sun Belt in 2014 and going 17-7 over two seasons. He also led FCS Sam Houston State for four seasons, reaching the National Championship game twice with an overall record of 40-15, and for 13 years at D-II Central Missouri. His first head coaching job was at Blinn College (TX), where he won back-to-back NCJAA National Championships in 1995 and 1996.

“No one in the country has been better at leading and developing student-athletes than Willie Fritz,” said UH AD Chris Pezman. “Over his more than three-decades of head coaching experience, he has guided several football programs to historic success. We’re excited to welcome Willie, his wife, Susan, and their entire family, to Cougar Nation and look forward to putting our full support behind Coach Fritz as we look to take the next steps in the Big 12 Conference.”

Houston just finished its first year of Big 12 play, going 4-8 (2-7), and last month parted ways with former head coach Dana Holgorsen after five seasons with the program.

credit to Houston Athletics for the image