UH COACH RETURNS TO HIS ROOTS TO SPEAK IN BRENHAM

Houston Cougar Head Football Coach Willie Fritz returned to his old stomping grounds on Tuesday.

Fritz, who won two National Championships at Blinn College in 1995 and 1996, was invited back to Brenham for the Barnhill Center’s Summer Speaker Series.

Blinn was Coach Fritz's first ever head coaching job. His career has since included stops at Central Missouri, Sam Houston State, Tulane, and he is now in his third year at Houston.

Former Blinn College Board of Trustee member and current Brenham Mayor Atwood Kenjura introduced Coach Fritz to a packed house inside Morriss Hall.

During his speech, Fritz shared memories about his time at Blinn including getting hired, his early days with the program, recruiting, disciplining players, and meeting some of the legendary figures in the school's history such as Leroy Dreyer, Dr. James Atkinson, and Walter Schwartz.

After his presentation, he also took time for questions from the audience. Among the questions, Fritz was asked his opinion on the ruling on the Brendon Sorsby situation at Texas Tech.

Later, Coach Fritz was asked about his thoughts on the Protect College Sports Act legislation that was recently introduced by Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA).

Fritz said that there were things that he liked in the bill, but that he would like to see Congress get more input from respected football coaches, he used Nick Saban and Mack Brown as examples, to help make it better.

Coach Fritz went on to say that he likes the idea of reducing the transfer portal from 2 to 1, and only allowing players to use it one time. If they use it a second time, they have to sit out a year.

Fritz was accompanied by his wife of 39 years, Susan. He also revealed they recently snuck into Brenham last summer for "Hot Nights, Cool Tunes." They enjoyed it so much that they are planning on a return trip, and bringing their whole family.

The speaking engagement featuring Coach Fritz was sponsored by the Howard Kruse Family.