Tulane athletic director Dannen lands his man in Willie Fritz

NEW ORLEANS – As new Tulane athletic director Troy Dannen moved into deeper discussions with Georgia Southern’s Willie Fritz about becoming the Green Wave’s head football coach, both sides relied upon the same ally to get a little more information.

Tulane baseball coach David Pierce is not only Dannen’s new boss, but Fritz’s friend from their time together at Sam Houston State.

Dannen sought out the information that wouldn’t be on Fritz’s resume.

“What doesn’t show up statistically is somebody’s character – how you treat people,” Dannen said Tuesday following the introduction of Fritz as the Green Wave’s 40th head football coach.

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So he asked Pierce just that. “I wanted to know … about his reputation,” Dannen said. “When we build it, I want to make sure it’s built right. (Fritz has) always done it right.”

Pierce offered Fritz the same advice he was given upon arriving here 18 months ago.

“When you’ve been in Huntsville, Texas, and Statesboro, Georgia, it could become a culture shock coming into here,” said Pierce, who guided the Green Wave baseball team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years last spring. “The advice that I took is that if you love the city, it will love you back.”

New Orleans will certainly love Fritz back if he puts a winner on the field in Yulman Stadium – something he’s very familiar with doing.

“Here’s what he can sell – the fact that 16 of the last 17 years, he’s had a winning season,” Dannen said. “We have had one (winning season) out of the last 13.”

Dannen, who said he has followed Fritz’s career since he left Sam Houston in early 2014 to head to Georgia Southern, got an interesting bit of feedback from other head coaches.

“They love him as a person,” Dannen said, “(but) they do not want to play him. That’s a good combination.”

Dannen, who along with deputy athletic director Barbara Burke spent much of last week in New York vetting and meeting with candidates, was pleased with the level of interest the job attracted.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the interest,” Dannen said. “I felt that we needed a sitting head coach or a coordinator that had a lot of experience. This is not a learn-to-be-a-head-coach-on-the-job type of thing.

“I don’t underestimate the power of being in the American. If we’re in (Conference) USA, Willie’s not going to talk to us. There are six power football leagues; there are five autonomy leagues. This was a very attractive job to a lot of people.”

In a whirlwind first week on the job, Dannen was particularly appreciative of the time spent prior to last Tuesday’s National Football Foundation Hall of Fame dinner with a New Orleans legend – Archie Manning.

“Archie and I sat down at the Waldorf-Astoria for an hour,” Dannen said. “I was like a kid in a candy store. He cares so much about the city, and to my surprise, about Tulane. He talked about what he thought and what I was looking for.”

Manning had presented Fritz with a national coach of the year award three years ago and spoke well of the coach and his family.

“You look for affirmation from the people you really trust,” Dannen said. “Archie’s affirmation told me I was headed in the right direction.”

There will be plenty of time to break down what offense Tulane will run under Fritz, what recruits will come and who will be on Fritz’s staff.

For now, though, with a new AD and coach in place and joined at the hip, the immediate course is set Uptown.

“I want to make this a destination job,” Fritz said. “Troy told me his vision, and I share his vision.”

Added Dannen: “I had to find somebody that I wanted to be a partner with and somebody who wanted me to be their partner. We can read the history, but we didn’t live the history. It’s a really good place for the two of us to be in.”

Head Football Coach Willie Fritz

Opening Statement…
“Roll Wave, alright!

This is truly a great day for myself and my family. I’d like to thank President Fitts, Troy Dannen, Barbara Burke and the entire Tulane family for welcoming us to the great city of New Orleans. I am very excited for the opportunity to lead the Tulane football program and be a part of such a prestigious academic institution. I believe Tulane has positioned itself in one of the top conferences in the nation. There are many great teams in The American Conference, and I believe Tulane is a sleeping giant.

New Orleans and the surrounding areas and states are a hotbed for high school football. I look forward to the challenge of building Tulane into a consistent winner. We have a lot of work to do, but I like what I’ve seen. We have the support from the administration, but most importantly, we have many talented student-athletes on this team, and we are going to work with each and every one of them to become the best possible football player and person they can become.

I have been very fortunate to be associated with and coach winning football programs all my life. I know what it takes to compete for conference championships and national titles, and I intend to bring those winning ways to the Green Wave.

We are all in this together. From the players to the administration to the loyal fans. I am confident that my staff and I can bring back the glory days of Tulane football. I could not be happier or more excited to be your head football coach.

Many people start at third base and think they hit a triple. It has taken me a long time to get around the bases before I was able to stand up here and talk to you. I have a lot of people to thank. First, as Troy alluded to, I have the best family in the world in my wife Susan, my oldest daughter Elaine, my son Wesley and my youngest daughter Brooke, who was unable to be here. I would like for them to stand up and be recognized.

I would like to thank all of my former assistants at Blinn College, Central Missouri, Sam Houston State and most recently Georgia Southern. All of them have helped get me to this point.

I’ve got three mentors who have helped me in my coaching career: Ron Randleman, my former college coach; Dick Foster, who I worked for at Coffeyville Community College; and Bob Riley, who taught me how to be an assistant coach many years ago. Those three have made me the coach that I am today.”

“Most of all, I want to thank my former players from Blinn, Central Missouri, Sam Houston State and most recently, the fine student-athletes at Georgia Southern. I love each and every one of them. I look forward to developing those relationships with the current student-athletes at Tulane.

When I first met with Troy and was contemplating coming to Tulane University, I called my old buddy David Pierce. David is our baseball coach at Tulane, and we worked together at Sam Houston State. My wife and I consider David and his wife, Susan, great friends. He told me, ‘Willie, they are hungry to win here at Tulane. There are great people at Tulane. New Orleans is a great place to live.’ So he and Susan also did a great job of recruiting me here.”

I’m just totally excited to be your head football coach.”

On recruiting this area…

“Every place I’ve been, I’ve tried to recruit locally. It’s just always made sense. There are a lot of great players in New Orleans and in the state of Louisiana. Then you start going east a bit into Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida, and then of course, there is the state of Texas as well. I have done some recruiting in the state of Louisiana, and I know about the great football that we play here.”

On his current roster…

“I know a little bit. I’m still learning. I’ve only been here less than 24 hours now, so that is something that I’m going to be studying over the next few days. We just started a dead period in the NCAA where we can’t go off campus, so I’m really going to be studying the roster to see where we are at and see where we need to fill slots, as far as position groups are concerned.”

On his interview process…

“I think whenever you are looking at a new opportunity or a new position, you want them to want you and you want to show them that you are extremely interested. The more Troy and Barbara talked, the more I liked what they were selling. I really do believe that Tulane is a sleeping giant with this beautiful, new stadium and the academic institution that Tulane is. We have a lot to sell here. I really feel comfortable in saying we can build this into a consistent winner and conference champion, and I feel that we are going to do that sooner than later.”

On his offensive philosophy…

“I met with the players a little while ago, and my offensive philosophy was the first question they asked. I’m going to adapt to our personnel. I’ve done that everywhere I’ve been. When I was at Sam Houston State, we played for a few national championships, and I believe we threw for 34 touchdowns in my last year. We were one of the most proficient passing teams in the country. Then I went to Georgia Southern and inherited a team that was an under-center, triple option team so I tried to blend what they did and what I’ve done in the past and we ran a lot more. We led the nation in rushing the last two seasons. We are going to see what our guys can do. That is what spring football is for. I’m not going to try and force something that won’t work.”

On recruiting against big schools…

“I’m glad I got the two years of recruiting under my belt at the Division I level. That’s the big difference between Division I and the I-AA level. Recruiting is much more intensified. We need to recruit more than the state of Louisiana, though. We need to find people who will fit our profile, academically. They need to come in and succeed academically. There isn’t any point in bringing in someone who is going to be here for just a semester or two.”

“Please excuse my voice. I’ve been yelling encouragement this whole last season to my student-athletes, so I’m hoarse. I’ll get better soon. But, we are going to recruit quite a few different states to find guys who fit us football-wise, but also academically. I know there are quite a few good student-athletes in the state of Louisiana.”

On keeping the current commitments…

“One of the tough things is the dead period we are in, where we can’t visit guys and they can’t come to campus. You really have to stay in contact with them through social media and telephone calls. When we are able to go out on Jan. 13, those are the guys I will target from the get-go.”

On The American…

“I would venture to say that when you rank the 10 major conferences at the end of this year, The American might be in the top-five. If they aren’t, then they are very close. At worst, they are sixth. This is an excellent league.”

On his biggest personal learning curve in Division I…

“I’m still looking at the staff and what I’m going to end up doing. That’s one of the fortunate things about this being a dead period. I’ll be able to determine my staff and make the best fit. I’m not sure yet who will be on the staff.”