Houston coach Willie Fritz revamps offense with new coordinator and QB

HOUSTON (AP) — Coach Willie Fritz spent this offseason upgrading his offense after Houston had one of the worst units in the nation last year.

The Cougars ranked second-to-last in scoring offense by managing just 14 points per game, were 128th in total offense with 288.1 yards and 126th in passing offense with 152.7 yards as they finished 4-8.

The biggest changes Fritz made entering Year 2 in Houston were adding former Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman and hiring Slade Nagle to replace offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay, who was fired before last year’s season finale. Nagle spent last season as an assistant at LSU.

Before that, Nagle spent several seasons working with Fritz at Tulane, where the Green Wave won 23 games combined in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Fritz is thrilled to be reunited with Nagle and loves how he interacts with the offense.

“Obviously when you hire someone you want them to have the same philosophy as you have,” Fritz said. “I know Slade very, very well. He… really does an excellent job of leading and coaching all the positions, which I think is unique. I also think his experience at LSU is going to help us. They were one of the leading passing teams in the nation. I see some concepts that he’s using that are a little different than what we have done at Tulane. But he also understands the importance of being balanced.”

Fritz is also eager to see Weigman operate Nagle’s offense after the Houston native spent the last three seasons with the Aggies. Weigman played just 15 games at Texas A&M after suffering a season-ending foot injury in his fourth game in 2023 and dealing with a shoulder injury before being benched in October of last season.

“He’s been everything that I hoped he’d be,” Fritz said. “He’s a great young man, great leadership abilities … he’s just been aces. We’re just very, very fortunate to have him in our football program, interacts with everybody, just a real old-fashioned type of quarterback.”

Weigman threw for 2,694 yards with 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions in his career at A&M.

Roster competition

Fritz believes the Cougars will be improved this season because they’ve built much more depth in the program.

“We’ve got a lot of legitimate competition positionally,” he said. “Last year we didn’t have a lot of depth, we didn’t have a whole lot of competition. One guy was going to start for us no matter what. Now we’re going to have to use our first two or three games to figure out exactly who’s going to be playing and how much they’re going to be playing.”

New defensive coordinator

The Cougars not only have a new offensive coordinator but also a new face running the defense in Austin Armstrong. He was hired to replace Shiel Wood, who left Houston for the same job at Texas Tech.

Armstrong spent the last two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Florida and was the youngest in his position in the Southeastern Conference when he got that job at just 31.

Returning receivers

Weigman will have a couple of senior receivers in Mekhi Mews and Stephon Johnson as he takes over Houston’s offense.

Johnson led the team last season with 32 receptions for 402 yards. Mews ranked third with 29 receptions and 253 yards. Mews is also the team’s kick and punt returner and had a 75-yard punt return for a score last season.

The schedule

The Cougars open the season Aug. 28 by hosting Stephen F. Austin before visiting crosstown rival Rice in Week 2. They open Big 12 play at home Sept. 12 against Colorado before an early off week. They return to play Sept. 26 with a visit to Oregon State before hosting No. 23 Texas Tech on Oct. 4. A big test comes Oct. 25 with a visit to 11th-ranked Arizona State and they’ll close the regular season with a trip to Baylor.

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