Inside the Mind Of Willie Fritz — Why Houston’s 2nd Year Coach Is Certain the Remade Roster and New Starting QB Conner Weigman Fit His Winning Formula

Sitting at a table, talking about his program, University of Houston head coach Willie Fritz perks up when two brothers, who look about 10 and 8, approach with a football. “Looks like he’s going to be a football player,” Fritz says to the older kid. “You too?” When the kid nods, Fritz quickly shoots back, “Good. What position? Wide receiver.”

The brothers’ dad offers, “He wants to play here Coach.”

“I should still be coaching,” Fritz says. “I’ll still be coaching here.”

“Well that will mean you’ve done some good things,” the dad offers. “That’s right,” Fritz answers quickly. The UH fan dad walks away with an even bigger smile than his boys. If the 65-year-old Fritz is still coaching when that 10-year-old is in college, Houston football will be in a very good place.

Coaches don’t last a decade somewhere without building a legacy. Without winning at a signifiant level. Not in this modern era of college athletics. Willie Fritz sure sounds confident he’s going to do that at this university that’s long rewarded dreamers in The Third Ward. Heading into his second season at Houston, Fritz believes he has a team that better fits his vision of how football should be played.

“You want to find guys who fit in with how I like to run a program,” Fritz tells PaperCity. “It’s very, very important. I want to be around good people. I think we took major strides in getting the guys who are going to let us run a program the way I feel like it should be run.”

New starting quarterback Conner Weigman (the Texas A&M transfer with plenty to prove), beast-mode tight end Tanner Koziol (a Ball State transfer UH beat the Big Ten to land) and pass-catching back Dean Connors (who moved over from Rice) are the headline-grabbing offensive additions. But Fritz may be even more excited by Houston’s revamped offensive line and the impact it will have on an offense that was shut out twice and scored 14 points or less in six other games last season.

“That was a position we needed to get better at and I really feel like we have,” Fritz says. “We’ve got some legitimate competition. And I think we’ve got the size and more importantly the movement. One of the guys is over 2,000 (snaps in college experience). I think (guard/center Michael) Wykoff  is over 2,000 (snaps). That’s a bunch.”

The 6-foot-6 325-pound Wykoff started a combined 24 games in his stints at Texas A&M and Cal. Baylor transfer Alvin Ebosele (a 6-foot-6, 312-pounder) started 14 games for UH’s Big 12 rival. The 6-foot-9, 305 pound Dalton Merryman started six games for Texas Tech last season. Now, they will all start for Houston.

“We sought out that experience,” Fritz says. “We added it up and I think we’ve got 4,000 snaps total (in college),” Merryman says. “If you put all of ours together. We have a lot of experience.”

This is a group that’s been bonded, one that largely feels like it has plenty to prove to a man.

“I’d say 98 percent of our team has something to prove this year,” Dalton Merryman tells PaperCity. “Actually 100. Because of last season. We’ve all got something to prove this year. And that’s a personal standpoint or team standpoint.”

“You want to find guys who fit in with how I like to run a program. It’s very, very important. I want to be around good people. I think we took major strides in getting the guys who are going to let us run a program the way I feel like it should be run.” — UH head coach Willie Fritz

Willie Fritz doesn’t come across like he’s trying to prove anything. UH’s head man is easy to peg as the Misters Rogers of football coaches, just a mild-mannered good guy who wants everybody to be happy. The son of an athletic director, Willie Fritz got schooled early on the whole being more important than any individual. That still shapes him today. But that’s not all he’s about.

Willie Fritz, The Old School Connector

You’ll find Fritz attending scores of other UH athletic games. And encouraging his football players to do the same, sometimes making a women’s basketball game or volleyball match a team outing.

“(My dad) would take me to all the sports,” Fritz says. “Then I was at smaller athletic departments and the coaches are all your friends. . . That’s what I like about what UH has accomplished, done, whatever you want to call it. Everybody gets along in the athletic department. . .

“I don’t have any hobbies. So on my days off I go to their games. Everybody sees me at Kelvin (Sampson’s) games. But I try to go to the other ones too.”

Fritz is about to start his 33rd season as a college head coach. He has some definite ideas about what produces winning, what makes teams come together.

“To be a good teammate,” Fritz tells PaperCity. “To work on being a good teammate. To play football the right way. I think that’s the most undertaught thing. We work on that all the time. It’s an important part of the game. There’s a right way — in my opinion — to do things. Try and get ’em, let’s encourage our teammate not try to. . . Pump the tires of your teammate, not deflate your opponent.

“This group’s been good about it.”

Heading into his second season at Houston, the first season he’s had the benefits of a full offseason of preparation, Willie Fritz clearly feels he now has the type of players he’s always won with it. These Cougars are really his Cougars now. Of course, having a proven starting quarterback always helps.

“Conner Weigman’s been our starting quarterback,” Fritz says.

Throughout his one-on-one conversation with PaperCity, Fritz’s belief in this roster comes through again and again. These are his kind of players. Of that much, he’s sure. It’s enough to make a man talk about being around for a decade.