Willie Fritz was officially announced as the 16th head football coach in University of Houston history on Sunday morning. The 63-year-old was tapped by the Cougars to replace Dana Holgerson after eight years at Tulane in what my esteemed colleague Garrett Carr deemed a “home run hire.”
By making the move, he exposed himself as a bold-faced liar.
Fritz was considered to be one of the top candidates for open jobs throughout the country following the 2022 season after the Green Wave went 12-2 en route to a Cotton Bowl win over USC. There was a few days where it was all-but a done deal that he was headed to Georgia Tech.
And then the pendulum swung back the other way. Fritz made a very bold statement.
He said, verbatim, that he and his wife agreed to stay in New Orleans for the remainder of his career, through 2030. Fritz said, confidently, that he planned to retire at Tulane.
It wasn’t a small, subtle hint toward his future. It was a strong declaration.
Well, less than 12 months after making a promise to stay at his current job, Fritz is leaving for a different job. The affirmation to the Green Wave was completely false.
Things change. Circumstances change. Money, and upward career movement, talks.
All of that is true. All of that is fine.
Fritz did not sign any sort of blood oath to stay at Tulane. Coaches pick up their stuff and change jobs overnight all the time. It happens.
However, for Fritz to make a bold guarantee about planning to retire in the Big Easy and then change his tune less than a year later is such a tough look. If there was any possibility that he was going to leave, at any point in time, he never should have made such a firm assurance about staying with the Green Wave through 2030!