Willie Fritz Reveals Plan For Star Houston Freshmen Keisean Henderson & Paris Melvin
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Houston’s head football coach Willie Fritz has made it a point to heavily recruit at the high school level since he took over the program in 2024.
Fritz was able to piece together Houston’s highest-rated recruiting class in history with the 2026 class, which is loaded with local talent.
Freshman quarterback Keisean Henderson and freshman athlete Paris Melvin Jr. are the top signs from the class, and Fritz had a lot to say about their future contributions this season.
Willie Fritz Discusses Future Plans For Keisean Henderson & Paris Melvin Jr.
Fritz has some exciting plans for his talented freshman duo, and both athletes will be given a shot to show out in 2026.
First up is Henderson, a former 5-star recruit and he also ranked as the No. 1 high school quarterback in the entire country.
While Fritz confirmed that Weigman would be the starting quarterback this season at Big 12 Media Days, he had a lot of exciting statements about Henderson’s plan going forward.
”Everybody is asking if we are going to have a package for Keisean,” Fritz said. “We are throwing the whole package at him, he’s got to learn how to do everything. It is very rare that you go through a season with only one quarterback, we are really blessed that we have two outstanding quarterbacks with Conner Weigman and Keisean Henderson.”
With Henderson learning under a quarterback who is now in his fifth collegiate season and coming off a year where he passed for 2,705 yard and 25 touchdowns and also utilized his legs by rushing for 700 yards and 11 touchdowns, he has a perfect mentor and he will have his chance to grow as a player in game situations this season.
Melvin Jr. will also have his chance to breakout, and he came into the program as a 4-star recruit and ranked as the No. 6 athlete nationally.
”Now Paris, we played him a little bit at running back in February and March, and then in the spring we got him playing on the defensive side of the ball and working as a returner,” Fritz said. “We are going to slip him in a little bit here in the fall at playing some running back as well. When we recruited him, we felt like he could be a three way player, not just a two way player, but he has done a really good job and he will definitely play for us on the defensive side of the ball also.”
Fritz made it crystal clear on Monday afternoon that his two star freshmen will make not just an impact in 2026, but they are two cornerstones for the future of Houston’s football program.
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Ashton Grissom is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He is currently a senior at the University of Houston and majoring in Sports Media Production with a minor in Marketing and Spanish. He also works for two student organizations: The Cougar and CoogTV. You can find Grissom on his Instagram (@ashtonagrissom8) or Twitter (@ashtongrissom8).