The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston. The team is commonly referred to as "Houston" or "UH" (spoken as "U of H"). Houston has been a member of the Big 12 Conference since 2023. Since the beginning of the 2024 season, the Cougars have been coached by Willie Fritz, the program's 16th head coach. The team played its first season in 1946 and has since won or tied for 11 conference championships and six division championships. The Cougars have played in 30 post-season bowl games with a record of 13–16–1.[1][2] [3][4] [5][6]
| Year | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jewell Wallace (Lone Star Conference) (1946–1947) | |||||||||
| 1946 | Houston | 4–6 | 1–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1947 | Houston | 3–8 | 0–6 | 7th | |||||
| Clyde Lee (Lone Star Conference) (1948) | |||||||||
| 1948 | Houston | 5–6 | 3–3 | 4th | |||||
| Clyde Lee (Gulf Coast Conference) (1949) | |||||||||
| 1949 | Houston | 5–4–1 | 1–2 | 3rd | |||||
| Clyde Lee (Independent) (1950) | |||||||||
| 1950 | Houston | 4–6 | |||||||
| Clyde Lee (Missouri Valley Conference) (1951–1954) | |||||||||
| 1951 | Houston | 6–5 | 2–2 | 4th | W Salad | ||||
| 1952 | Houston | 8–2 | 3–0 | 1st | 19 | ||||
| 1953 | Houston | 4–4–1 | 1–2 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1954 | Houston | 5–5 | 3–1 | 2nd | |||||
| Bill Meek (Missouri Valley Conference) (1955–1956) | |||||||||
| 1955 | Houston | 6–4 | 2–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1956 | Houston | 7–2–1 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| Hal Lahar (Missouri Valley Conference) (1957–1959) | |||||||||
| 1957 | Houston | 5–4–1 | 3–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1958 | Houston | 5–4 | 2–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1959 | Houston | 3–7 | 3–1 | T–1st | |||||
| Hal Lahar (Independent) (1960–1961) | |||||||||
| 1960 | Houston | 6–4 | |||||||
| 1961 | Houston | 5–4–1 | |||||||
| Bill Yeoman (Independent) (1962–1975) | |||||||||
| 1962 | Houston | 7–4 | W Tangerine | ||||||
| 1963 | Houston | 2–8 | |||||||
| 1964 | Houston | 2–6–1 | |||||||
| 1965 | Houston | 4–5–1 | |||||||
| 1966 | Houston | 8–2 | 17 | ||||||
| 1967 | Houston | 7–3 | Ineligible[n 1] | 19 | |||||
| 1968 | Houston | 6–2–2 | Ineligible[n 2] | 20 | 18 | ||||
| 1969 | Houston | 9–2 | W Astro-Bluebonnet | 16 | 12 | ||||
| 1970 | Houston | 8–3 | 13 | 19 | |||||
| 1971 | Houston | 9–3 | L Astro-Bluebonnet | 14 | 17 | ||||
| 1972 | Houston | 6–4–1 | |||||||
| 1973 | Houston | 11–1 | W Astro-Bluebonnet | 13 | 9 | ||||
| 1974 | Houston | 8–3–1 | T Astro-Bluebonnet | 11 | 19 | ||||
| 1975 | Houston | 2–8 | |||||||
| Bill Yeoman (Southwest Conference) (1976–1986) | |||||||||
| 1976 | Houston | 10–2 | 7–1 | T–1st | W Cotton | 4 | 4 | ||
| 1977 | Houston | 6–5 | 4–4 | T–4th | Ineligible[n 3] | ||||
| 1978 | Houston | 9–3 | 7–1 | 1st | L Cotton | 11 | 10 | ||
| 1979 | Houston | 11–1 | 7–1 | T–1st | W Cotton | 5 | 5 | ||
| 1980 | Houston | 7–5 | 5–3 | T–2nd | W Garden State | ||||
| 1981 | Houston | 7–4–1 | 5–2–1 | 3rd | L Sun | ||||
| 1982 | Houston | 5–5–1 | 4–3–1 | 4th | |||||
| 1983 | Houston | 4–7 | 3–5 | 7th | |||||
| 1984 | Houston | 7–5 | 6–2 | T–1st | L Cotton | ||||
| 1985 | Houston | 4–7 | 3–5 | 6th | |||||
| 1986 | Houston | 1–10 | 0–8 | 9th | |||||
| Jack Pardee (Southwest Conference) (1987–1989) | |||||||||
| 1987 | Houston | 4–6–1 | 2–4–1 | 7th | |||||
| 1988 | Houston | 9–3 | 5–2 | 2nd | L Aloha | 18 | |||
| 1989 | Houston | 9–2 | 6–2 | T–2nd | Ineligible[n 4] | [n 4] | 14 | ||
| John Jenkins (Southwest Conference) (1990–1992) | |||||||||
| 1990 | Houston | 10–1 | 7–1 | 2nd | Ineligible[n 5] | [n 5] | 10 | ||
| 1991 | Houston | 4–7 | 3–5 | 7th | |||||
| 1992 | Houston | 4–7 | 2–5 | 7th | |||||
| Kim Helton (Southwest Conference) (1993–1995) | |||||||||
| 1993 | Houston | 1–9–1 | 1–5–1 | T–7th | |||||
| 1994 | Houston | 1–10 | 1–6 | 6th | |||||
| 1995 | Houston | 2–9 | 2–5 | 5th | |||||
| Kim Helton (Conference USA) (1996–1999) | |||||||||
| 1996 | Houston | 7–5 | 4–1 | T–1st | L Liberty | ||||
| 1997 | Houston | 3–8 | 2–4 | T–4th | |||||
| 1998 | Houston | 3–8 | 2–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 1999 | Houston | 7–4 | 3–3 | 6th | |||||
| Dana Dimel (Conference USA) (2000–2002) | |||||||||
| 2000 | Houston | 3–8 | 2–5 | T–7th | |||||
| 2001 | Houston | 0–11 | 0–7 | 10th | |||||
| 2002 | Houston | 5–7 | 3–5 | 8th | |||||
| Art Briles (Conference USA) (2003–2007) | |||||||||
| 2003 | Houston | 7–6 | 4–4 | T–6th | L Hawai'i | ||||
| 2004 | Houston | 3–8 | 3–5 | T–5th | |||||
| 2005 | Houston | 6–6 | 4–4 | T–3rd (West) | L Fort Worth | ||||
| 2006 | Houston | 10–4 | 7–1 | 1st (West) | L Liberty | ||||
| 2007 | Houston[n 6] | 8–5[n 6] | 6–2 | T–1st (West) | L Texas | ||||
| Kevin Sumlin (Conference USA) (2008–2011) | |||||||||
| 2008 | Houston | 8–5 | 6–2 | 3rd (West) | W Armed Forces | ||||
| 2009 | Houston | 10–4 | 6–2 | T–1st (West) | L Armed Forces | ||||
| 2010 | Houston | 5–7 | 4–4 | 3rd (West) | |||||
| 2011 | Houston[n 7] | 13–1[n 7] | 8–0 | 1st (West) | W TicketCity | 14 | 18 | ||
| Tony Levine (Conference USA) (2012) | |||||||||
| 2012 | Houston | 5–7 | 4–4 | T–3rd (West) | |||||
| Tony Levine (American Athletic Conference) (2013–2014) | |||||||||
| 2013 | Houston | 8–5 | 5–3 | 4th | L BBVA Compass | ||||
| 2014 | Houston[n 8] | 8–5[n 8] | 5–3 | T–4th | W Armed Forces | ||||
| Tom Herman (American Athletic Conference) (2015–2016) | |||||||||
| 2015 | Houston | 13–1 | 7–1 | T–1st (West) | W Peach† | 8 | 8 | ||
| 2016 | Houston[n 9] | 9–4[n 9] | 5–3 | T–3rd (West) | L Las Vegas | ||||
| Major Applewhite (American Athletic Conference) (2017–2018) | |||||||||
| 2017 | Houston | 7–5 | 5–3 | 2nd (West) | L Hawai'i | ||||
| 2018 | Houston | 8–5 | 5–3 | T–1st (West) | L Armed Forces | ||||
| Dana Holgorsen (American Athletic Conference) (2019–2022) | |||||||||
| 2019 | Houston | 4–8 | 2–6 | T–5th (West) | |||||
| 2020 | Houston | 3–5 | 3–3 | 6th | L New Mexico | ||||
| 2021 | Houston | 12–2 | 8–0 | T–1st | W Birmingham | 17 | 17 | ||
| 2022 | Houston | 8–5 | 5–3 | T–4th | W Independence | ||||
| Dana Holgorsen (Big 12 Conference) (2023) | |||||||||
| 2023 | Houston | 4–8 | 2–7 | ||||||
| Willie Fritz (Big 12 Conference) (2024–present) | |||||||||
| 2024 | Houston | 0–0 | 0–0 | ||||||
| Total: | 472–394–15 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
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