Houston parted ways with Dana Holgorsen on Sunday after five seasons as the Cougars’ head coach.
The move comes one day after the Cougars dropped a 27-13 decision to UCF in Orlando, Fla. Houston finished with a 4-8 record overall and 2-7 conference mark in their Big 12 debut season.
The Houston Chronicle reported UTSA’s Jeff Traylor, Tulane coach Willie Fritz, former TCU coach Gary Patterson, and former Texas Tech and Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury are among the candidates to replace Holgorsen.
Holgorsen posted a 12-13 record since the Cougars appeared in the American Athletic Conference championship game in 2021. Overall, he owned a 31-28 mark during his time with Houston and a 61-41 record during his eight previous seasons with West Virginia.
“Over the course of his five seasons with the Cougars, Dana made strides in our football program in many ways and laid the groundwork for our transition to the Big 12 Conference,” said Chris Pezman, Houston vice president of athletics. “Ultimately, the results on the field fell below our standards of excellence. We are grateful to Dana for his efforts and commitment to our student-athletes and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”
Holgorsen will be owed close to $14.5 million by the school on a contract that was extended after the AAC championship game. He is owed $4.4 million in 2024, $4.5 million in 2025, $2.76 million in 2026 and $2.82 million in 2027, per the Chronicle.
Per Houston, assistant Corby Meekins will serve as the program’s interim head coach.
