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Houston Cougars head coach Willie Fritz looks on during the fourth quarter against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Why The New Houston Cougars' Coordinators Are Already Impressive Willie Fritz

Originally posted on Houston Cougars on SI
By Ylver Deleon-Rios | Last updated Sep 2, 2025 10:01 AM ET

The Houston Cougars began their 2025 season exactly how the coaching staff and the Cougars fanbase would have hoped, with a convincing 27-0 victory over the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks in their opening game of the season last Thursday.

A lot about the Cougars' upcoming season was different after many transfers both in and out of the program, and a brand-new core of coordinators in all three phases of the game. Offensive coordinator Slayde Nagle, defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong, and special teams coordinator Chris Couch are entering their first year in the program. At a media availability earlier this week, Willie Fritz praised the trio for their coaching jobs in Houston's victory over the Lumberjacks.

"I thought they [Nagle and Armstrong] did an excellent job," Fritz said. "We talked yesterday for about 20 minutes about how we can improve our press box to sidelines communication. Also got a new special teams coordinator with Chris Couch, so we want to improve our communication, how we do things on the sideline, but I thought all three of them did an excellent job for a game one."

Two of the New coordinators have a history with Fritz

Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Nagle, who takes over as the offensive coordinator for the Cougars, has worked the longest with Houston's head coach after spending eight years with Fritz at Tulane. As Nagle served as the tight ends coach for the majority of his time in Louisiana from 2016-2022, and in 2023, the position coach was promoted to be the Green Wave's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

In his lone season as the offensive coordinator for Tulane, the offense coached by Nagle scored 20 plus points in 11 of 12 regular season contests and eclipsed 30 points on six occasions as part of an 11-win regular season and perfect 8-0 mark in American Athletic Conference play. Tulane's quarterback Michael Pratt was named American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year after ranking 15th nationally in passing efficiency (158.9), 22nd in points responsible for per game (14.7), and 23rd in yards per pass attempt (8.50).

After spending the 2024 season with the LSU Tigers as their special teams coordinator and tight ends coach, Nagle reunites with Fritz.

Couch, the cougars' new special teams coordinator, has also spent multiple years coaching under Fritz, as he has a total of seven years of experience with Houston's head coach. Spending five years from 2016 to 2020 as the special teams coordinator at Tulane and then two seasons at Georgia Southern, while Fritz was the head coach of the Eagles, serving one year as a graduate assistant and the next as the team's special teams coordinator.

He arrived in Houston after spending the past three seasons with the Florida Gators as their GameChanger coordinator, where his role focused on special teams. Now Couch returns to the same sideline as Fritz for the third stint in his coaching career.

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

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