Willie Fritz, the back-to-back American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year who boasts 31 years of collegiate head coaching experience, was named the 16th head coach in University of Houston football history on Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023. The 2024 season will be his first with the Cougars and 32nd overall. Fritz, who ranks fifth nationally among active FBS head coaches with 208 Division I victories, led Tulane to consecutive American Athletic Conference Championship games. The Green Wave’s 23 wins since the start of the 2022 season rank fourth nationally while the program’s 15 conference wins are fifth in the country in that timeframe.

Fritz, a two-time National Coach of the Vear, accepted the position as Tulane’s head coach in 2016 and has since built a winning culture for the team. Coach Fritz made program history when he led the team to three straight bowl games between 2018 and 2020, marking Fritz’s eighth bowl game as a head coach. Fritz has also helped Tulane players reestablish their role in the NFL with 19 of his players seeing action in the NFL, eight of those being selected in the draft. With 29 years of experience as a head coach, Fritz has created success for teams through his adaptability and drive to win, which is proven in his total of 237 wins throughout his career, and six championship game appearances.

Before his time at Tulane, Fritz spent two seasons as the head coach of Georgia Southern from 2014 to 2015 where he led the team to a combined record of 17-7, a 2014 Sun Belt Conference title, and the school’s first-ever NCAA postseason bowl game. Georgia Southern concluded the 2015 regular season with an 8-4 overall record including a mark of 6-2 in conference play. Fritz led the Eagles to a 9-3 overall record and a perfect mark of 8-0 in conference play during his first season at Georgia Southern in 2014 and was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year. Georgia Southern was the first team in NCAA history to post an undefeated conference season in its first season at the Division I FBS level. Prior to Georgia Southern, Fritz served as head coach at Sam Houston State from 2010 to 2013 where he led the Bearkats to back-to-back Southland Conference titles, NCAA Division I Championship game appearances in 2011 and 2012, and a third straight NCAA playoff berth in 2013. In 2011 and 2012, Sam Houston State posted the two highest single-season win totals in program history with marks of 14-1 (2011) and 11-4 (2012). Prior to his head coaching tenure at Sam Houston State, Fritz revitalized Central Missouri and guided the Mules to 11 winning seasons in 13 years.

One of the crucial components of Fritz’s success is his ability to recruit players with potential and coach them on how to turn their potential into results. During his career Fritz has had 22 players selected in the NFL Draft and 27 undrafted free agents selected to teams. Following the 2020 regular season, Tulane had eight student-athletes recognized by The American- the most since the Green Wave joined the league in 2014. Additionally, the eight all-conference players were the most since the Green Wave put 10 on the All-Conference USA team in 1997. In 2019, Tulane had four players receive All-American Athletic Conference honors for the third straight season and in 2018, four Tulane players earned all-conference honors from The American, while eight players earned all-league recognition from Phil Steele College Football Magazine. During his time at Sam Houston State, more than 50 players earned All-Southland Conference honors under Fritz.