This List of Houston Cougars head football coaches includes those coaches who have led the Houston Cougars football team that represents the University of Houston in the sport of American football. The Houston Cougars currently compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and have been members of the Big 12 Conference since the 2023 season. Eighteen men have served as the Cougars' head coach, including two who served as interim head coaches, since the Cougars began play in the fall of 1946. [1] Willie Fritz was named head coach on December 3, 2023.
| General | Overall | Conference | Postseason [A 1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Order of coaches [A 2] | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties [A 3] | C% | Conference winning percentage | ||
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage [A 4] | ||||
Note: Through 2023 season.
| No. | Name | Term | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DCs [A 6] | CCs | NCs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jewell Wallace | 1946–1947 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0.333 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0.091 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Clyde Lee | 1948–1954 | 71 | 37 | 32 | 2 | 0.535 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 0.565 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Bill Meek | 1955–1956 | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 0.675 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0.750 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Hal Lahar | 1957–1961 | 49 | 24 | 23 | 2 | 0.510 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0.727 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | Bill Yeoman † | 1962–1986 | 276 | 160 | 108 | 8 | 0.594 | 51 | 35 | 2 | 0.591 | 6 | 4 | 1 | — | 4 | 0 |
| 6 | Jack Pardee † | 1987–1989 | 34 | 22 | 11 | 1 | 0.662 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 0.595 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | John Jenkins | 1990–1992 | 33 | 18 | 15 | 0 | 0.545 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 0.522 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Kim Helton | 1993–1999 | 78 | 24 | 53 | 1 | 0.314 | 15 | 28 | 1 | 0.352 | 0 | 1 | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | Dana Dimel | 2000–2002 | 34 | 8 | 26 | — | 0.235 | 5 | 17 | — | 0.227 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Art Briles | 2003–2007 | 62 | 34 | 28 | — | 0.548 | 24 | 16 | — | 0.600 | 0 | 3 | — | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Int | Chris Thurmond [A 7] | 2007 | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | .000 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Kevin Sumlin | 2008–2011 | 52 | 35 | 17 | — | 0.673 | 24 | 8 | — | 0.750 | 1 | 1 | — | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Tony Levine [A 8] | 2011–2014 | 38 | 21 | 17 | — | 0.553 | 14 | 10 | — | 0.583 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Int | David Gibbs | 2014 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Tom Herman [7] | 2015–2016 | 26 | 22 | 4 | — | 0.846 | 12 | 4 | — | 0.750 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | Major Applewhite [A 9] | 2016–2018 | 26 | 15 | 11 | — | 0.577 | 10 | 6 | — | 0.625 | 0 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Dana Holgorsen | 2019–2023 | 59 | 31 | 28 | — | 0.525 | 20 | 19 | — | 0.513 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Willie Fritz | 2024–present | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | – | 0 | 0 | — | – | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 881 | 472 | 394 | 15 | 0.544 | 13 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 0 | ||||||
Remark: Not included in the above listing is Todd Orlando, who was designated interim head coach for a brief period in 2016 but did not coach any games.
Arthur Ray Briles is an American football coach who is currently the head coach for the Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League. Briles was the head coach of the Houston Cougars from 2002 to 2007 and the Baylor Bears from 2008 to 2015. His college coaching career ended with his dismissal from the team in 2015 as a result of the Baylor University sexual assault scandal. He is the author of Beating Goliath: My Story of Football and Faith (2014). He is the subject of a biography written by Nick Eatman titled Looking Up: My Journey to Hell (2013).
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