Tulane is willing to pay up to $4.5 million per year to keep head coach Willie Fritz, sources tell FootballScoop.
Fritz is a candidate for the open position at Houston. Many within college football view him as Houston's top choice for the job entering the weekend. Our John Brice released this update on Houston's top candidates last night.
IRS documents obtained by WVUE-TV revealed Tulane paid Fritz $2.79 million in 2022. He is already the highest-paid American coach according to the USA Today coaches salary database; a $4.5 million salary would place him toward the middle of the pack in the Big 12.
Houston paid Dana Holgorsen $4.3 million in 2023.
The 22nd-ranked Green Wave host SMU on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, ABC) in the American Championship. A Tulane win sends the Wave to a New Year's Six bowl for the second consecutive season; Fritz's team began the 2023 calendar year by stunning USC in the Cotton Bowl.
After going 31-43 in his first six seasons in New Orleans, including 2-10 in 2021, Fritz is 21-3 since the beginning of last season. Tulane carries an 11-game American winning streak into Saturday's title game.
Fritz, 63, has 208 career wins as a head coach, dating back to Central Missouri in 1997. A full-throated pursuit of a national championship is the last box to check in his College Football Hall of Fame career.
However, one could argue Fritz has a clearer path to a title at Tulane than he would at Houston. As the field expands from four to 12 next season, the highest-rated 'Group of 5' champion will be in the field as of now (no format has been set beyond the 2025 season) and, with SMU leaving for the ACC, Fritz could continue building upon the perch he's constructed at Tulane.
Houston, meanwhile, went 2-7 in its first season of Big 12 membership. Holgorsen warned of how much investment Houston needs to do to be competitive in its new league.
Fritz came extremely close to taking the Georgia Tech job last November before ultimately returning to Tulane.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.