Tulane will hire Georgia Southern head coach Willie Fritz as its next head coach, sources told FootballScoop Friday. Scott Kushner of The Advocate in New Orleans also reported the move.
Fritz has been a head coach continuously since 1997 and suffered only one losing season -- his first, a 5-6 campaign at Division II Central Missouri. He led the Mules to a 97-47 record in 13 seasons at Central Missouri, then posted a 40-15 mark in four years at Sam Houston State, taking the Bearkats to back-to-back FCS Championship games from 2010-13.
Fritz posted a 17-7 mark over the past two seasons at Georgia Southern, leading the Eagles to a Sun Belt championship in their first season in the conference in 2014, and then in 2015 guiding the program to its first bowl game (the Dec. 23 GoDaddy Bowl vs. Bowling Green).
Overall, Fritz is 154-69 in 19 seasons as a head coach.
Fritz brings to Tulane a diversified attack that has been successfully adapted to various rosters and levels of competition. Fritz used a shotgun rushing attack to propel Sam Houston State to heights previously unseen by the Bearkats, then adopted Georgia Southern's traditional triple option attack to lead FBS in rushing -- by more than 25 yards per game -- each of the past two seasons.
With the right quarterback and receivers, though, Fritz would not hesitate to push the ball down the field.
Whoever the hire ended up being, Tulane's next head coach would look to galvanize a Tulane and New Orleans community galvanized by one winning campaign in the past 13 seasons.
Hiring Fritz is a decisive step in that direction.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.