Houston football coach Willie Fritz speaks to the team after practice, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Houston, Texas. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
When Houston faces Colorado on Friday, the game will be far more than your average Big 12 opener.
The teams will match up for the first time in 54 years, and they are managed by coaches with far different stories.
One is known for rebuilding programs and turning them into contending teams.
The other is a Hall of Famer who brings NFL experience and a new style of coaching.
Together, they pose an interesting question for college football: what matters more in building a program, coaching experience or experience playing at the highest level?
Willie Fritz
Houston’s coach Willie Fritz has seen it all in his 43 years of coaching and has developed a winning philosophy over that time.
From junior college championships at Blinn to playoff runs at Sam Houston State and complete rebuilds at Georgia Southern and Tulane, Fritz has shown he has what it takes to build programs from the ground up and be successful.
The veteran has racked up over 250 career wins as a head coach, and is most known for his time at Tulane.
Fritz began coaching for Tulane in 2016 and he joined a staff that finished back-to-back seasons with 3-9 records in the previous two seasons.
He coached the Green Wave through the 2023 season, and built the program from a team at the bottom of the AAC into a conference champion in 2022.
Fritz’s best season as a head coach came in the 2022-2023 season, where the Green Wave won 12 games and finished No. 9 in the country.
Tulane finished the season with its highest ranked win in program history with their 46-45 upset victory over No.12 USC in the Cotton Bowl.
Fritz now brings a wealth of experience to Houston, and seeks to build off of the same success he established at his former programs.
Deion Sanders
Colorado’s coach Deion Sanders is far more than a rookie collegiate coach with little experience.
Sanders played 14 seasons in the NFL, was inducted in both the Pro and College Football Hall of Fame, won two Super Bowls, eight Pro Bowl selections and the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1994.
In his career, Sanders played for the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins and the Baltimore Ravens.
He also was a star college football player for the Florida State Seminoles from 1985-1988.
The 6-foot-1 cornerback was a defensive standout and won the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s best defensive back, in 1988.
Because of his outstanding college career, he was selected as the fifth overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft.
He also was a standout baseball player at Florida State, and helped lead the Seminoles to the College World Series in 1986.
Sanders was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 30th round of the 1988 MLB Draft.
He played 11 seasons in the MLB and is the only athlete ever to play in both a Super Bowl and the World Series.
Sanders was one of the greatest athletes of his time, and now he is continuing his love for the sport as a coach.
In 2012, Sanders began his coaching career at the high school level. He first coached for Prime Prep for a season, then switched to Triple A Academy from 2015-2016.
He then took the offensive coordinator position at Trinity Christian, where his son, Shedeur Sanders, was the quarterback from 2017-2020.
The next season, Coach Prime began his college coaching career at Jackson State.
He finished 27-6 in his four seasons at Jackson State and recruited talent that was never done before at the FCS level.
Sanders now is in his third season as the Colorado head coach and has complete turned its program around.
He joined a Colorado team that just finished 1-11 on the season and placed last in the PAC-12 Conference.
Last season, Sanders lead the Buffaloes to a 9-4 season in their first year in the Big 12 Conference, and their best season since 2016.
Coach Prime continues his same coaching style since he began in 2012. He does an outstanding job recruiting and prepares players for the NFL.
Coaching experience vs NFL experience
The contrast between Fritz and Sanders couldn’t be more different. Fritz leans on his decades of coaching experience, teaching players how to win in his system.
However, Sanders uses the name he has built through his playing career to attract and inspire athletes to come to Colorado with hopes to play in the NFL.
But the question is which matters more? Does over 40 years of coaching experience or 14 seasons of football played at the highest level bring a program better fortune?
Friday’s game won’t fully settle that debate, but it will showcase the difference of philosophies and game plans between the longtime head coach and NFL superstar.
sports@thedailycougar.com
