Dec 27, 2023; Annapolis, MD, USA; Tulane Green Wave head coach interim Slade Nagle walks down the sidelines during the third quarter against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Houston's New Coordinator Set For an Exciting 2025 Season

Originally posted on Houston Cougars on SI
By Ashton Grissom | Last updated Aug 24, 2025 8:14 PM ET

After the 2024 season, Houston football hired a new coordinator, Slade Nagle, replacing the previous offensive coordinator, Kevin Barbay, who was fired in November.

Nagle was hired on Dec. 5, 2024, and left his previous job with the LSU Tigers.

“It didn’t take a whole lot of convincing,” Nagle said. “I was fortunate to work for coach [Willie Fritz] for eight years at Tulane, and I have the utmost respect for him.”

Nagle's Coaching Journey

Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Fritz and Nagle were apart in just the 2024 season before reuniting at the University of Houston.

“For me to get the opportunity to come back and work for him was a no-brainer,” Nagle said.

Nagle is recognized as a standout offensive mind in college football, particularly due to his success at Tulane.

From 2019 to 2023, Tulane ranked No. 22 nationally in points scored over that span and No. 12 in rushing yards.

With Nagle as the offensive coordinator in 2023, Tulane scored 20 or more points in 11 out of 12 of their regular-season games and surpassed 30 points in six of those games.

Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

To cap off a stellar season, the Green Wave defeated former star quarterback Caleb Williams and USC 46-45 in the Cotton Bowl.

Nagle led a historic comeback, scoring 16 points in the final four minutes of the game to defeat the Trojans and pick up Tulane’s highest-ranked bowl win in program history.

After the 2023-2024 season, Nagle became LSU’s special teams coordinator and tight ends coach.

Nagle had several reasons why the LSU job was so appealing to him. At the time, his father, John Nagle, was in his final year of coaching football in Louisiana and set to retire after the season.

He also had the opportunity to coach at the school where his dad played, where he was a three-year letterwinner from 1969 to 1971.

The final reason was the opportunity to experience coaching in the SEC and at a historic university like LSU.

“At the time, that was important for my wife and I to be able to spend a year and do that and enjoy it,” Nagle said.

The 20-year coaching veteran now joins a Houston Cougars team that averaged only 14 points a game last season.

UH reloaded in the offseason with 30 transfers and a talented 2025 high school class, giving Nagle plenty of talent to work with in the 2025-2026 season.

“I think I really wanted to get back to calling plays and running an offense," Nagle said. "The familiarity with working for coach Fritz and knowing how he does things and what he wants and expects makes it a little bit easier transition and it is a situation that is promising and can have some success."

This article first appeared on Houston Cougars on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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