Dana Holgorsen Out At Houston After Five Seasons

After winning just 52% of his games (31-28), Dana Holgorsen has been fired from the University of Houston after posting a 4-8 record this season. Holgersen’s Cougars had just two winning seasons during his tenure, including a 12-2 season and an appearance in the AAC Championship Game in 2021. Houston won 11 straight games that season before falling to Cincinnati in the title game.

In their first season as a member of the Big 12 in 2023, the Cougars posted a horrendous 2-7 record.

Holgersen was hired by Houston prior to the 2019 season after an eight-year run at West Virginia, where he posted a 92-69 record. He turned in two 10-win seasons during his time in Morgantown.

A disciple of the Air Raid offense under the later great Mike Leach, Holgorsen had been known for his play-calling prowess at previous stops as OC at Oklahoma State. But this season Houston averaged just 23 points per game, ranking 12th in total offense and scoring offense in the Big 12.

It is being reported that Houston owes Holgorsen north of $14 million in a buyout, with that figure dropping if Holgorsen finds another job.

In the specter, sorry “spirit” of Black Sunday, where the coaching carousel spins off the rails, here are a couple of coaching candidates that I feel could receive a phone call from the Houston AD in the coming weeks:

· Jeff Traylor, UTSA: a well-respected coach with tons of connections in the Texas high school recruiting scene. Traylor has won 73% of his games in four years with the Roadrunners, going 38-14 and winning back-to-back Conference USA titles in 2021-2022.

· Rhett Lashlee, SMU: one of the great young offensive minds in college football, Lashlee has posted a 17-8 record in two seasons with the Mustangs, including a 10-2 record this season and a date with Tulane in the AAC Championship Game.

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