Willie Fritz 'Very Impressed' With New Houston Cougars Transfer Additions
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On Monday, Head Coach Willie Fritz answered questions from the media ahead of their season opener against Stephen F. Austin this coming Thursday. The press conference, which was streamed live on YouTube, spanned about half an hour with Coach Fritz answering questions about his own team, as well as the Lumberjacks, in preparation for Thursday's game.
One of the more common themes in the presser was Houston's utilization of the transfer portal in the offseason. With over 25 transfer portal acquisitions, many of them with at least a season of college football experience, it's apparent that the coaching staff placed a heavy emphasis on finding guys that understand what it takes to compete at this level.
Beyond the addition of quarterback Conner Weigman, the Cougars completely revamped their offensive line by bringing in experienced starters such as Alvin Ebosele from Baylor, Dalton Merryman from Texas Tech, and Matthew Wykoff from Cal. On the defensive side of the ball, Blake Thompson, Eddie Walls, Will James, and Jordan Allen are all transfer players who could make a significant impact on the team in 2025.
What Fritz Had to Say About the Roster Overhaul
Fritz had high praise for the team in general early on in the presser, saying that the Cougars have more depth at each position compared to last year. He added that it's a positive thing to have competition at multiple positions during fall camp.
When Fritz was asked specifically about the transfer portal class, he talked about the difference it makes for both the coaching staff and team when you have the ability to research and get to know incoming transfers.
"I think they really get along well," Fritz said. "We had more time to really vet these guys you know. When I first got here, I just didn't really have time to vet them much."
"This time around, we were able to ask people that we knew on staffs, might be high school coaches too, you know how this guy practices, how he is off the field. I think we really did a good job of getting a good group of people."
When Fritz was asked about Southern Miss transfer Will James and LSU transfer Jordan Allen, the head coach alluded to the fact that experience was a big emphasis for the coaching staff when looking at the portal in the offseason.
"I've been very impressed with them," Fritz said. "We added some really good guys on the back end, and we needed to. We didn't do a good job of adding freshmen last year in the secondary, so we had to go out and get some guys."
"Some of these guys have got multiple years, but all of them have got a bunch of experience."
At Southern Miss, James totaled 35 tackles with 7 pass deflections. Allen totaled 12 tackles at LSU in the 2024-25 season with a pass breakup and a pass deflection.
The offensive line was another point of emphasis for Coach Fritz and his coaching staff, with five new faces on the depth chart. When Fritz was asked about what led to those decisions, he answered by saying that
"We needed some guys," Fritz said. "We felt last year that it was not a position of strength for us, so we needed to get better on the offensive line. You know we've got Demetrius Hunter who started all 12 ballgames last year, returning at center, David Ndukwe who played a lot at tackle last year."
When asked about the new additions to the receiver room, Fritz said that he's confident that guys like Amare Thomas and Harvey Broussard III are going to only help the Cougars this season.
"We got Stephon Johnson, who has played a ton of football at the University of Houston," Fritz said. "Mekhi Mews played a bunch for us last season. Koby Young, I am excited about him. He got hurt after week two of last season, and I think he is going to have an outstanding year, but both Amare and Harvey are going to add to that room."
Last year, Johnson led the team with 402 yards receiving on 32 catches. Thomas, last year with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, had 670 receiving yards on 62 catches and 8 touchdowns. At the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Broussard totaled 31 receptions and 486 yards with 3 touchdowns before transferring to Houston.
