The 2014 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year Willie Fritz made an immediate splash in not only his first year at the helm of the Georgia Southern Football program but the school’s first season in the Sun Belt Conference and at the FBS level of competition.
Fritz led the team to a perfect 8-0 league record and was presented the conference trophy by the league’s Commissioner Karl Benson after a 22-16 win over ULM on Nov. 29, 2014 at Allen E. Paulson Stadium.
Fritz had the Eagles’ bowl eligible with a 9-3 overall record at the season’s end but the school’s waiver claim to allow Georgia Southern to play in a bowl despite being in the second year of the NCAA’s transition period was denied.
Fritz led the Eagles to a pair of firsts in school history. The Eagles won their first game in the FBS era 83-9 over Savannah State in the home opener (9/6). GS also posted their first win over an FBS team in the FBS era and the first Sun Belt Conference win on Sept. 20 at South Alabama (28-6).
The team played on ESPNU twice on Thursday night and won both contests (Appalachian State, 34-14 and Troy, 42-10). Fritz also led the Eagles into the first meeting with budding in-state rival Georgia State at the Georgia Dome and came away with a 69-31 victory.
In non-conference play the Eagles nearly defeated N.C. State (24-23) and Georgia Tech (42-38). They lost the two games against power 5 conference teams by a combined five points and had leads in both in the final two minutes.
The Eagles dominated both sides of the ball and led the Sun Belt in scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense and rushing offense.
Fritz was announced as the ninth Head Coach of Georgia Southern Football in the modern era by Director of Athletics Tom Kleinlein at Bishop Field House on January 10, 2014.
A proven winner with more than 30 years of coaching experience, Fritz joined the Eagles from Sam Houston State, where he led the team to back-to-back Southland Conference titles, NCAA FCS championship appearances in 2011 and 2012, and a third-straight playoff berth in 2013.
In 22 years as a head coach, Fritz owns a 72.5 winning percentage with a record of 185-70-1 and more than a few trophies for his accomplishments at the national, regional and conference levels.
“As we are preparing to make the transition to FBS, it was important to me to identify and evaluate candidates who would come to Georgia Southern, embrace what we are about, understand what we’re about, put his own stamp on the institution’s football program and lead us into the Sun Belt Conference with relentless expectation,” Kleinlein said at the press announcement. “Coach Fritz has won at a lot of different levels. Not only does he win, but he comes in and changes the culture, academically and socially, and he’s made young people better men when they’ve left their institutions.”
The Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year at the FCS level in 2012, Fritz was recognized nationally in 2011 as the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coach of the Year. Honored as the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2012, Fritz was selected by the media and his peers in the Southland Conference as the league’s Coach of the Year in 2011 after his team went a perfect 7-0 in conference play.
In 2011 and 2012, Sam Houston State posted the two highest single-season win totals in program history with marks of 14-1 (2011) and 11-4 (2012) and Bearkat players were showered with accolades. More than 50 earned All-Southland Conference honors under Fritz in the last four years, not including additional “Player of the Year,” “Offensive Player of the Year,” “Defensive Player of the Year,” and “Newcomer of the Year” awards. All-America status from national coaching and media outlets were bestowed on 11 Sam Houston State players during his tenure.
“Georgia Southern hit a home run hiring Willie Fritz,” said Dennis Hickey, longtime NFL executive and current general manager of the Miami Dolphins. “I have known Coach Fritz for over 20 years having played for him, coached with him, and scouted his players for the NFL.
“Willie is a special coach and person with a unique gift for developing and bringing out the best in young men both on and off the field. He has a track record of developing NFL-ready players at every level that he has coached. He is a “winner” who has always done it the right way and has a proven track record of success at every level at which he has coached. I’m excited to see him continue that success at such a proud program as Georgia Southern.”
Fritz comes to Georgia Southern after four years as the head coach of the Bearkats and his most recent of three total tours in Huntsville. His resume includes a wealth of experience across the board, notably as a coach with an innate ability to connect with his players, demand accountability and build winning programs.
After a highly successful tenure at Blinn College, averaging nearly 10 wins a season during his four years there, Fritz left to revitalize a Central Missouri program and guided it to 11 winning seasons. The NCAA Division II program’s ledger included two 10-win seasons with the 2001 Mule squad earning its first postseason trip in more than 30 years. In 2002, Central Missouri made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs and was the Mid-America Athletic Association (MIAA) co-champion a year later. A 97-47 mark in 13 seasons ranks Fritz as the winningest coach in the program’s 118-year history. He was the only coach to ever win seven or more games in eight consecutive seasons and his victory total ranked him 15th among active Division II coaches at the time.
In addition to his impressive 67.4 winning percentage with the Mules, Fritz coached his student-athletes to achieve their potential both on the field and in the classroom. More than 150 Mules were recognized with All-MIAA honors with 41 first-team selections and 24 All-Americans. Under Fritz, Central Missouri recorded a graduation rate of 84 percent with 144 MIAA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll recipients, 14 Academic All-Region and three Academic All-Americans.
Serving as a graduate assistant for the Bearkat program during the 1984 and 1985 seasons, Fritz earned a master’s degree in kinesiology while Sam Houston State posted a 16-6 record and won the 1985 Gulf Star Conference championship. He returned to Huntsville in 1991 after spending two years at Coffeyville College in Kansas under legendary Coach Dick Foster, earning a promotion to defensive coordinator after one year. He stayed another two years to work for Coach Skip Foster and the Red Ravens.
Coach Ron Randleman brought Fritz back to the state of Texas and Sam Houston State as secondary and special teams coach in 1991, instilling an attitude of excellence on special teams that would last more than a decade. The Bearkats’ “block party” racked up 80 blocked punts, field goals and extra points beginning with Fritz in 1991 and lasting through 2004. In Fritz’s first year as a full-time assistant coach at Sam Houston State in 1991, the Bearkats won the Southland Conference. That league title and eight-win season launched SHSU to the program’s second-ever appearance in the NCAA playoffs.
“Willie was like a coach on the field for me as a four-year starter at Pittsburg State,” Coach Randleman said. “I just think the world of him and am proud that he was on my coaching staff not once, but twice. He has a tremendous work ethic, he played hard, and he coaches the same way. Willie has a great rapport with his players and they respect him.”
Fritz would leave Huntsville again, this time for an opportunity to be the head coach at Blinn College, where he would turn around a program that had only five wins in its previous three seasons. From 1993-96, Fritz and the Buccaneers would rack up 39 victories against only five losses with a tie and claim two national junior college championships. He was inducted into the NJCAA Football Hall of Fame for the environment of success he created at Blinn.
One of seven children, Fritz is the son of the late Harry Fritz, who coached the Central Missouri football team in 1952 before continuing his career as the Executive Director at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in Kansas City. The elder Fritz also served at several colleges and universities in administration as an athletics director.
Fritz played on two conference title teams and was a four-starter at defensive back for Coach Randleman at Pittsburg State and remained at his alma mater as a student assistant coach for his alma mater in 1982. Early coaching stops included a year at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School (Kansas) in 1983 and Willis High School (Texas) in 1986, with his return to Sam Houston State for graduate school in between those years.
Fritz and his wife Susan have three children, Wesley, Lainie and Brooke. Wesley is a the Director of Player Personnel for the football program, and Lainie is a Sports Anchor at WCBD News 2 in Charleston, S.C. and Brooke begins 2015 as a freshman honors student at the University of Georgia.
