University of Houston Athletics
Dana Holgorsen Press Conference
1/3/2019 5:53:00 PM | Football
HOUSTON FOOTBALL
Thursday, January 3, 2019 • Houston
TDECU Stadium Club • TDECU Stadium
CHAIRMAN, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM BOARD OF REGENTS, TILMAN J. FERTITTA
Opening Statement
"First off, I promise you this. This is my last press conference introducing a new head coach. Next time it's going to be introducing a new chairman and nobody will give a damn so we're not doing this anymore. I think it's been a long haul, but I think we have the right head basketball coach. I'm going to talk about the big three for a second, the head basketball coach, and I think we truly have the right head football coach. Like I said we're not doing a search, we're getting one of our own that's not looking for the next job. Bringing in Chris Pezman who has great vision for this University, who I think is going to hopefully not have that many of these in his tenure. Of course great leadership from our Chancellor. This is a great day for Cougar Athletics, were going to worry about ourselves today. We're going to make the right decision and know when to make the right decision. We truly thank Major for stepping in at a special time when we lost our head coach. We won some football games, but we felt like it was time to take it to the next level. We wanted somebody that had the leadership skills to win a lot of games. We're not going to say what we demand anymore, because that's been all over the country the past two years. I think Dana, when you look at what he's accomplished, he's one of the top-20 college coaches. He's one of the great offensive minds, but above everything else he's a leader. He's a truly the right person for this job. We need boosters and everybody else to support this team. If you have a company buy an extra 20 tickets up in the upper level and give them to your employees. The University of Houston is not going to support the athletic department, we need to be like any other serious athletic program and operate on its own. I'm going to do my part. We all know what we can do and need to step up. If you want to win, there's a cost of winning. I challenge myself and everyone in this room to step up and let's do the right thing, because there is nothing like wins and we all know that. Congratulations to Coach Sampson if he's here, to be 14-0 and it's a wonderful experience to go to a Cougar game today in that basketball arena. Not only to enjoy the big three, but to see all of y'all there. Thank y'all very much for showing up today."
On how important it was to have Coach Holgorsen's contract ensure that he stays at Houston for the next few years
"It was a very positive conversation the first time we spoke. Dana knows that we aren't writing contracts at the University of Houston. The lawyers totally outduel the athletic directors with these contracts. Dana made it clear that he didn't want to go anywhere. It wasn't anything to disagree upon, he said 'whatever you want to do I'm willing to do'. The way that his contract goes, we're stuck with him and he's stuck with us. Hopefully he's here for the next 20 years and we build a statue of him out there. Someone better have a whole bunch of money if they want him to leave in the next couple of years."
On the hiring process
"At the University of Houston, we have a colorblind process. When we decide to go after somebody, we go after them and I don't care if they're white, black, Chinese, or Indian."
On meeting Chancellor Khator's expectations
"That's what everybody has to remember is. We don't treat our football program any different than we treat any other athletic programs. What we expect from our students, and what we expect from our alumni and everything we want to accomplish. There's 6,000 colleges in the United States of America, and we're number 171 now. We're Phi Beta Kappa now. Don't think we just have expectations for our football program. It's everything we do, and we do expect to win a lot of football games. We don't want to be 8-4, and that's just the way we are at the University of Houston."
CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM, RENU KHATOR
Opening Statement
"I'm very pleased and excited to welcome Dana Holgorsen as our new head football coach. In order to be here we have gone through a lot in 11 years. I want to thank all of those coaches and athletic directors who have helped build us to this point, where it is absolutely evident. For us to be able to attract a coach of this caliber, expertise and experience of Dana, I can tell you it is more evidence that the University of Houston has arrived. I want to thank everybody else who has done in their own time, their own part in their own way, helped us become who we are. I want to acknowledge the tenacious leadership of Chris Pezman during this process. His pursuit for excellence is not second to anything else. So thank you Chris. I really appreciate what you're doing for us. I also want to thank our Chairman and the Board of Regents. I always like to say that the University of Houston likes to think big, but it's only until you take your idea in front of the chairman that you realize your thinking is small and need to expand your borders. A lot of thanks to Chairman Fertitta for really helping in this process and building the University aesthetically and academically. With the medical school coming, we're really going on strong at this point. I want to thank all of the fans, because without you there is no athletics program.
We could have an excellent athletics program, because that is an asset to the University. A mediocre program is not an asset, it's a liability. I want to have an asset. Our goal has always remained exactly the same, and remains exactly the same today. We are building a nationally relevant program. In order to be a nationally relevant program, whether its football or basketball, or an athletics program as a whole. We want to be nationally relevant and there are certain elements. The first one is having a winning program. You can't be relevant if you're not winning. So yes, my expectations are to win games. Number two, you can define it anyway you want to define it, but not giving up. You can define it any way you want to define it, but I'm not backing down on that. I asked Coach Holgorsen if he was nervous about any of my expectations, and he didn't even blink. That's a good sign. The second thing that's really important is for the athletic program to be in sync with the university and its goals. The University's primary goal has been student success, and that is our core mission and why we are a university. That being said, it is my mission to see that our student-athletes succeed not only on the field, but in the classroom, as well as in life.
Finally, I want to make sure that we have a clean and compliant program. We do not want any issues, and we're always looking for leaders who can assure us of that. I think we've found that in Coach Holgorsen. We're very happy and excited for this journey together. We know we'll be able to do great things, because this is Houston. The things you can do in Houston, you cannot do in many other places. I know that, and that's why I'm here. Houston provides such an opportunity. We have all of the tools here. Our commitment is here, and our investment is here. Let's go win some games Coach!"
On potential conference realignment
"I'm very proud to be able to chair the American Athletic Conference at a time that our TV contract is up. We are in the middle of negotiations, we've proven as a league that we are not a non-power conference, so to speak. That's why our promotions include the P6. We have proven that we are at least a five-and-a-half, if not anything else. We have won games against Power Five conference schools. I think we have value, we will look at our value and hope that the market will recognize that. All of our schools are really good. We beat Florida State in the Peach Bowl, we haven't forgotten that. There's been enormous success as a conference. As coach said, you've got to have that goal to dominate your conference, win your championship, and then after that the doors are wide open for us."
On Houston's turnover at the Head Football Coach position
"You can't keep people who don't want to be here. I'd rather them not be here. You need to put your heart and soul into your job. I'm here because of what Houston offers and I'm sure that there are people who think the same way. The legacy you leave is more important than how high you can fly, and I hope that Dana is one of those people who see the same way."
DIRECTOR OF INTERCOLLIGIATE ATHLETICS, CHRIS PEZMAN
Opening Statement
"This is always a unique process that you have to go through when trying to find a coach of Coach Holgorsen's caliber. It comes with a lot of effort from a lot of different people, so I'd like to recognize a couple of them. First, I'd like to thank our current student-athletes in the room. Some of our players had the opportunity to meet briefly with Coach Holgorsen today, so I want to thank them for being here today. I'd also like to thank our current coaches with our other sports. UH Men's Basketball Head Coach Kelvin Sampson couldn't be here today, because he had practice, but we want to recognize him. What he and his guys are doing this season is exactly what we want to emulate here. I told Coach Holgorsen that's a model of what we aspire to follow. In that program, those kids play hard and they play gritty. They may not always be the most talented in the room, but they're going to play their butts off, and you can see the results of that type of commitment. Another aspect of Coach Sampson's model we want to hone in on is the amount of time that he's been given to develop his program. Being given that amount of time is partly how we got to where we are with Coach Holgorsen today. I'd also like to thank our current and former Regents for being here as well as some of our partners in campus administration. Dona H. Cornell, our general counsel, is an invaluable resource for us and has been a huge help in navigating this entire process. Raymond Bartlett, our Assistant CFO, has also been extremely helpful in this process.
"Last but not least, I want to show my appreciation for Chairman Fertitta and Chancellor Khator. One of the biggest things we've talked about and that you've heard me say previously is the excellence in our alignment that we have within our campus right now. It doesn't just resonate within athletics; it resonates within the entire campus. You see it in everything that's happening right now; from achieving tier one status and developing the housing projects on campus to the medical school. Those are things that we keep talking about. The significance of those projects and the amount of time that they've happened in is unprecedented. It's a great opportunity for us to be here. It wasn't a hard sell. For Dana, I think it had been almost ten years since you'd been back on campus, so driving around I'm sure I sounded like a broken record saying that everything was new. You look around and see what's been done with athletics and what has been done in the last six years. We have a new football stadium and a new practice facility, which is great, but it's not just in our football program. People don't know that we just added a banked track inside the Athletics/Alumni Center this past week and we're one of only 10 schools that has that. That is representative of our top tier track program that we have. Those are the steps we're taking, and that's where we're going to continue to strive to be the very best that we can be, and that's a high level of excellence. With that, I'd like to introduce Dana Holgorsen as our official Head Coach."
On the hiring process
"We interviewed a spectrum of candidates of all diversity, so it was not just one person and one moment. It was a spectrum that we spoke with. I don't know where you got that perception, and we aren't going to actively talk about who we interviewed, because we don't want to affect their current employment situation, but we spoke to a number of people."
HOUSTON HEAD COACH DANA HOLGORSEN
Opening Statement
"It's great to be home. This is a warm welcome, and I certainly appreciate each and every person that came out today. This means a lot to me, and this means a lot to the U of Houston and our athletic department and our football department as well. I also have a few people I'd like to thank.
"I'd like to start with Chancellor Khator. About ten years ago, I met Chancellor Khator, but I was just a little, young offensive coordinator who was only concerned with scoring points. Obviously, my vision now has changed, and it's exciting to work with someone who has lofty visions for the University. I've followed what's been going on here for the last 11 years.
"Chairman Fertitta needs no introduction across the world, let alone this campus, but what he's done for the University of Houston and the city of Houston has been awesome. I just loved this city and university so much. Obviously, things worked okay, but I always came back. I came back two, three, four or five times a year. I enjoyed what this wonderful city has to offer. You're a big part of why this city is what it is.
"Athletics Director Chris Pezman has done an outstanding job in a short time here. I appreciated our conversations we had over the past few days about what your vision is as far as for what the Athletics department needs as well. We are in great hands.
"I appreciate everybody for being here. The support that you all have given the University of Houston is awesome. It's been great to be able to follow it. I've never lost touch with the fact that this place gave me something special for two years. I'm glad to be back. I did have that conversation with a couple of the boosters and alumni here when I left. I said, "Bye, I will be back. At some point, I will be back". To me, this is a wonderful time to be back.
"I've enjoyed my eight years at West Virginia, WVU. That was a special eight years for me. We built that thing up from what was the Big East eight years ago and transitioned into the Big 12 seven years ago. I've had a lot of success over the last seven years winning games, running a clean program and making sure we get our athletes graduated. I do want to thank West Virginia University, the state of West Virginia, and all of the student athletes that did such an outstanding job as young men and becoming great citizens after that.
"That is my vision for the University of Houston and our football program; to do the same thing. To run a clean program and bring in student athletes that not only represent the University on the field the right way by winning games, but also doing a great job in the classroom and in the community as well. That's very important to me.
"My family is very important to me. They have been with me through-and-through. All three of my children, Logan, Carlin and McLean, have been in this stadium watching a lot of games. They're excited about being able to come back. They're excited to be back in the state of Texas and the city of Houston. They mean a lot to me. My son Logan is in the back. He's going to be enrolling here in two weeks. He's a midterm-graduate, so he's excited. He's going to be a student here in about ten days when school starts back up. My brother Brett, who's a coach at Katy High School, is excited about being here. My nephew Clayton is in the back here as well. He played a game here wearing the Memphis colors a few years ago. My family is important. My mom and dad have always been with me throughout thick and thin. They're going to stay back home to sell my house. Someone needs to buy my house, and they're going to make sure that happens. After that they're going to relocate here. They're excited about the move as well.
"Make no mistake about it: we are here to win championships. I've met about a dozen of the young men already. I've also had several conversations with this quarterback (D'Eriq King) that is pretty good. I'm excited to continue having these conversations with him. They're outstanding young men, student athletes and representatives of the University of Houston, and the city of Houston as well. I look forward to continue building relationships with those guys.
"I also look forward to start hiring staff. You see a couple of the guys that are here. Obviously one face is very familiar to everybody. We'll start bringing a first-class, top-notch staff that can not only recruit in this great state and city the proper way, but bring the vision to win championships as well.
"There is so much to look forward to. The future is extremely bright. I am honored and excited to be here. This is not a stepping stone. I've been there and done all that. I'm excited about making this place great. Go Coogs."
On what kind of championships he plans to win at the University of Houston
"We are a member of the American Athletic Conference. My goal, which is the only thing that I can affect, is to be able to win a football championship. A conference championship. That's the goal. I don't care where you're at. I don't care what conference you're in. That is everybody's goal. I'm excited to be here just based on the potential of what this great University has going with the leadership that it has. The facilities are getting there. We still have a lot of work to do, but I believe we can bring a first-class, top-notch program and student-athletes that want to be part of this to win championships. That's what I'm after."
On what it is about the city and of Houston that he calls home
"Well, seeing that our chairman owns all these restaurants, the food. Food and entertainment. I know what questions are coming, but just as far as what I look for and what this job has is the opportunity to win. There is an opportunity to win championships. Quality of life is very important, because not only does that affect me, but it also affects my family. It affects the coaches and the coaches' families. It affects the student-athletes, which has a direct tie to recruiting. You have something that you can recruit to. Therefore, I have an opportunity to be great here. That's why I love this University and this city."
On his biggest challenge coming to Houston
"Well, it's no different than what I just did. I took over a program nine years ago that won nine (games). To me that's positive, because guys know how to win, student athletes know how to win, fanbases know how to win, rally, and show their support, and that makes it all the more attractive and exciting. This is a program that understands what the expectations are, and I don't want to be somewhere where the expectations aren't high. I want to be somewhere where the expectations are high."
On his view from moving from the Big 12 to the American Athletic Conference
"I really don't think a lot about it if I'm being honest with you. My job is to make wherever I'm at the best I can make it. Let's not forget, I did transition a team that was a Power 5 school, which back eight or nine years ago, you didn't even talk about that way. We were in the Big East which doesn't even exist now from a football perspective. My goal eight years ago was to win football games and we won 10 games that year and beat Clemson 70-33 in the Orange Bowl. To me, just do the best job you can where you're at, try to make the current situation better and you try to improve it every year. We do, obviously, understand that we need to position ourselves to be as attractive as we possibly can. I don't think anybody knows what's going to happen with conference realignment or how things will go with the College Football Playoff change. There's going to be all kinds of things happening, and our job is to make us as attractive as we possibly can, not only in our current conference, but what the future will hold as well. I don't think anybody will disagree with the fact that nobody knows what's going to happen."
On his relationship with Oliver Luck
"Oliver Luck is a great Houstonian. I met him running around these practice fields with the Houston Dynamo when he was running that organization. He's got great vision for a lot of things. I was fortunate to go work for him at West Virginia University and he was a part of the transition (from the Big East to the Big 12), so there's some similarities what happened eight or nine years ago and where we're currently at now. He's been great for the city of Houston, great for West Virginia, great for the NCAA, and I hear he's at this league paying him a whole lot of money right now."
On what makes Houston being a long-term destination for him rather than West Virginia
"I could argue that it (West Virginia) wasn't. I was there eight years and that's a long time. If any coach approaches nearly a decade at the same school in today's day-and-age it's pretty impressive. I've shown commitment. I understand what I'm getting into, I understand that there's been three coaches in six years, and that needs to change. Why would I want to make things worse? It makes no sense. I understand what this University needs, what this Athletic Department needs, and what this football program needs. I've done it before and I plan on doing it again.
On what he thinks of being labeled an "offensive genius"
"I don't read anything. I try to put my head down and do my work. That's what I think, I don't listen to any of the talk shows. I know that Mr. Granato thinks I listen to him all of the time, but I don't. I just put my head down and go to work. I love football, I love offense, it's my passion. I don't want to do anything else. I have the opportunity to continue to do that here."
On the College Football Playoff system
"It's not up to me and they don't care what I think, I can assure you that. It's popular. We were in that discussion pretty much all year long at my previous stop. When it didn't work out, there was quite a bit of disappointment. I worry about the future of bowl games. We're talking about the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl that used to be the greatest thing in the world to be able to go to. I worry about the bowl system when it's come to that because I experienced it this year. I do think something is going to happen. I just don't know when. It's the same conversation as conference realignment. Something is going to happen. I don't know what it's going to be. Our job is to make the University of Houston as attractive of an institution and an athletic department as we can.
On how important the resources were to hire staff
"It was critical. I can assure you I'm better at running a football program now than I was eight years ago, but running a football program is like running a large organization. You have to hire a lot of people to be able to build a program the right way. You have to have money to be able to do it. I feel really good about the assistant coaches that I have contacted and talked to already. We're bringing in big time football coaches that have been at big time places and understand what it takes to be to treat the student-athletes the right way.
On being able to recruit in Texas
"It's important because this state means a lot to me. The high school football in this state is the best in the country. Being on the east coast, I recruited from other states and other areas more so than when I was here the first time. Nobody does it better than the state of Texas. With the resources, with the way they pay the coaches, the facilities, the practice time, nobody does it better. It's the best state and city to be able to recruit because of how things work like that. I'm excited about that, and I can't wait to reconnect with a lot of the high school football coaches, especially here in Houston. Louisiana is a good neighbor too. The high school football in Louisiana is really good as well. That's going to be important to us. Get on I-10 go one direction and the other direction as well, and recruit as many high school players as we possibly can."
On meeting President Renu Khator's expectations
"I don't want to go anywhere that doesn't have expectations like that. Not only are her expectations like that with the football program, but they are across the entire campus. It is with basketball, with the new medical school that's coming in, getting the academics to Tier One status. She has lofty expectations for everything she touches on this university. I'm ready to roll."
On the timing of the coaching move
"Things happen fast. I was coaching hard in a bowl game, went back to my hotel room and hibernated for 48 hours. My phone started ringing, and things escalated pretty quickly. It was the opportunity to come back home, the opportunity to be able to come to the University of Houston and be able to be in the city of Houston.
On working with Tilman Fertitta in this process
"Tilman has been great for the city of Houston. We've crossed paths a few times in the last 10 years. When you do the things that he's done, that didn't really play a huge factor what so ever. I was excited about his leadership with the University of Houston as Chairman. With the leadership of Renu Khator, that is really important to me. You want to be surrounded by rock stars. (Tilman and Renu) have done a great job. I lived a long ways away and I've understood what they mean to this city and University. I want to be a part of that, and I'm excited to be a part of that."
Thursday, January 3, 2019 • Houston
TDECU Stadium Club • TDECU Stadium
CHAIRMAN, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM BOARD OF REGENTS, TILMAN J. FERTITTA
Opening Statement
"First off, I promise you this. This is my last press conference introducing a new head coach. Next time it's going to be introducing a new chairman and nobody will give a damn so we're not doing this anymore. I think it's been a long haul, but I think we have the right head basketball coach. I'm going to talk about the big three for a second, the head basketball coach, and I think we truly have the right head football coach. Like I said we're not doing a search, we're getting one of our own that's not looking for the next job. Bringing in Chris Pezman who has great vision for this University, who I think is going to hopefully not have that many of these in his tenure. Of course great leadership from our Chancellor. This is a great day for Cougar Athletics, were going to worry about ourselves today. We're going to make the right decision and know when to make the right decision. We truly thank Major for stepping in at a special time when we lost our head coach. We won some football games, but we felt like it was time to take it to the next level. We wanted somebody that had the leadership skills to win a lot of games. We're not going to say what we demand anymore, because that's been all over the country the past two years. I think Dana, when you look at what he's accomplished, he's one of the top-20 college coaches. He's one of the great offensive minds, but above everything else he's a leader. He's a truly the right person for this job. We need boosters and everybody else to support this team. If you have a company buy an extra 20 tickets up in the upper level and give them to your employees. The University of Houston is not going to support the athletic department, we need to be like any other serious athletic program and operate on its own. I'm going to do my part. We all know what we can do and need to step up. If you want to win, there's a cost of winning. I challenge myself and everyone in this room to step up and let's do the right thing, because there is nothing like wins and we all know that. Congratulations to Coach Sampson if he's here, to be 14-0 and it's a wonderful experience to go to a Cougar game today in that basketball arena. Not only to enjoy the big three, but to see all of y'all there. Thank y'all very much for showing up today."
On how important it was to have Coach Holgorsen's contract ensure that he stays at Houston for the next few years
"It was a very positive conversation the first time we spoke. Dana knows that we aren't writing contracts at the University of Houston. The lawyers totally outduel the athletic directors with these contracts. Dana made it clear that he didn't want to go anywhere. It wasn't anything to disagree upon, he said 'whatever you want to do I'm willing to do'. The way that his contract goes, we're stuck with him and he's stuck with us. Hopefully he's here for the next 20 years and we build a statue of him out there. Someone better have a whole bunch of money if they want him to leave in the next couple of years."
On the hiring process
"At the University of Houston, we have a colorblind process. When we decide to go after somebody, we go after them and I don't care if they're white, black, Chinese, or Indian."
On meeting Chancellor Khator's expectations
"That's what everybody has to remember is. We don't treat our football program any different than we treat any other athletic programs. What we expect from our students, and what we expect from our alumni and everything we want to accomplish. There's 6,000 colleges in the United States of America, and we're number 171 now. We're Phi Beta Kappa now. Don't think we just have expectations for our football program. It's everything we do, and we do expect to win a lot of football games. We don't want to be 8-4, and that's just the way we are at the University of Houston."
CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM, RENU KHATOR
Opening Statement
"I'm very pleased and excited to welcome Dana Holgorsen as our new head football coach. In order to be here we have gone through a lot in 11 years. I want to thank all of those coaches and athletic directors who have helped build us to this point, where it is absolutely evident. For us to be able to attract a coach of this caliber, expertise and experience of Dana, I can tell you it is more evidence that the University of Houston has arrived. I want to thank everybody else who has done in their own time, their own part in their own way, helped us become who we are. I want to acknowledge the tenacious leadership of Chris Pezman during this process. His pursuit for excellence is not second to anything else. So thank you Chris. I really appreciate what you're doing for us. I also want to thank our Chairman and the Board of Regents. I always like to say that the University of Houston likes to think big, but it's only until you take your idea in front of the chairman that you realize your thinking is small and need to expand your borders. A lot of thanks to Chairman Fertitta for really helping in this process and building the University aesthetically and academically. With the medical school coming, we're really going on strong at this point. I want to thank all of the fans, because without you there is no athletics program.
We could have an excellent athletics program, because that is an asset to the University. A mediocre program is not an asset, it's a liability. I want to have an asset. Our goal has always remained exactly the same, and remains exactly the same today. We are building a nationally relevant program. In order to be a nationally relevant program, whether its football or basketball, or an athletics program as a whole. We want to be nationally relevant and there are certain elements. The first one is having a winning program. You can't be relevant if you're not winning. So yes, my expectations are to win games. Number two, you can define it anyway you want to define it, but not giving up. You can define it any way you want to define it, but I'm not backing down on that. I asked Coach Holgorsen if he was nervous about any of my expectations, and he didn't even blink. That's a good sign. The second thing that's really important is for the athletic program to be in sync with the university and its goals. The University's primary goal has been student success, and that is our core mission and why we are a university. That being said, it is my mission to see that our student-athletes succeed not only on the field, but in the classroom, as well as in life.
Finally, I want to make sure that we have a clean and compliant program. We do not want any issues, and we're always looking for leaders who can assure us of that. I think we've found that in Coach Holgorsen. We're very happy and excited for this journey together. We know we'll be able to do great things, because this is Houston. The things you can do in Houston, you cannot do in many other places. I know that, and that's why I'm here. Houston provides such an opportunity. We have all of the tools here. Our commitment is here, and our investment is here. Let's go win some games Coach!"
On potential conference realignment
"I'm very proud to be able to chair the American Athletic Conference at a time that our TV contract is up. We are in the middle of negotiations, we've proven as a league that we are not a non-power conference, so to speak. That's why our promotions include the P6. We have proven that we are at least a five-and-a-half, if not anything else. We have won games against Power Five conference schools. I think we have value, we will look at our value and hope that the market will recognize that. All of our schools are really good. We beat Florida State in the Peach Bowl, we haven't forgotten that. There's been enormous success as a conference. As coach said, you've got to have that goal to dominate your conference, win your championship, and then after that the doors are wide open for us."
On Houston's turnover at the Head Football Coach position
"You can't keep people who don't want to be here. I'd rather them not be here. You need to put your heart and soul into your job. I'm here because of what Houston offers and I'm sure that there are people who think the same way. The legacy you leave is more important than how high you can fly, and I hope that Dana is one of those people who see the same way."
DIRECTOR OF INTERCOLLIGIATE ATHLETICS, CHRIS PEZMAN
Opening Statement
"This is always a unique process that you have to go through when trying to find a coach of Coach Holgorsen's caliber. It comes with a lot of effort from a lot of different people, so I'd like to recognize a couple of them. First, I'd like to thank our current student-athletes in the room. Some of our players had the opportunity to meet briefly with Coach Holgorsen today, so I want to thank them for being here today. I'd also like to thank our current coaches with our other sports. UH Men's Basketball Head Coach Kelvin Sampson couldn't be here today, because he had practice, but we want to recognize him. What he and his guys are doing this season is exactly what we want to emulate here. I told Coach Holgorsen that's a model of what we aspire to follow. In that program, those kids play hard and they play gritty. They may not always be the most talented in the room, but they're going to play their butts off, and you can see the results of that type of commitment. Another aspect of Coach Sampson's model we want to hone in on is the amount of time that he's been given to develop his program. Being given that amount of time is partly how we got to where we are with Coach Holgorsen today. I'd also like to thank our current and former Regents for being here as well as some of our partners in campus administration. Dona H. Cornell, our general counsel, is an invaluable resource for us and has been a huge help in navigating this entire process. Raymond Bartlett, our Assistant CFO, has also been extremely helpful in this process.
"Last but not least, I want to show my appreciation for Chairman Fertitta and Chancellor Khator. One of the biggest things we've talked about and that you've heard me say previously is the excellence in our alignment that we have within our campus right now. It doesn't just resonate within athletics; it resonates within the entire campus. You see it in everything that's happening right now; from achieving tier one status and developing the housing projects on campus to the medical school. Those are things that we keep talking about. The significance of those projects and the amount of time that they've happened in is unprecedented. It's a great opportunity for us to be here. It wasn't a hard sell. For Dana, I think it had been almost ten years since you'd been back on campus, so driving around I'm sure I sounded like a broken record saying that everything was new. You look around and see what's been done with athletics and what has been done in the last six years. We have a new football stadium and a new practice facility, which is great, but it's not just in our football program. People don't know that we just added a banked track inside the Athletics/Alumni Center this past week and we're one of only 10 schools that has that. That is representative of our top tier track program that we have. Those are the steps we're taking, and that's where we're going to continue to strive to be the very best that we can be, and that's a high level of excellence. With that, I'd like to introduce Dana Holgorsen as our official Head Coach."
On the hiring process
"We interviewed a spectrum of candidates of all diversity, so it was not just one person and one moment. It was a spectrum that we spoke with. I don't know where you got that perception, and we aren't going to actively talk about who we interviewed, because we don't want to affect their current employment situation, but we spoke to a number of people."
HOUSTON HEAD COACH DANA HOLGORSEN
Opening Statement
"It's great to be home. This is a warm welcome, and I certainly appreciate each and every person that came out today. This means a lot to me, and this means a lot to the U of Houston and our athletic department and our football department as well. I also have a few people I'd like to thank.
"I'd like to start with Chancellor Khator. About ten years ago, I met Chancellor Khator, but I was just a little, young offensive coordinator who was only concerned with scoring points. Obviously, my vision now has changed, and it's exciting to work with someone who has lofty visions for the University. I've followed what's been going on here for the last 11 years.
"Chairman Fertitta needs no introduction across the world, let alone this campus, but what he's done for the University of Houston and the city of Houston has been awesome. I just loved this city and university so much. Obviously, things worked okay, but I always came back. I came back two, three, four or five times a year. I enjoyed what this wonderful city has to offer. You're a big part of why this city is what it is.
"Athletics Director Chris Pezman has done an outstanding job in a short time here. I appreciated our conversations we had over the past few days about what your vision is as far as for what the Athletics department needs as well. We are in great hands.
"I appreciate everybody for being here. The support that you all have given the University of Houston is awesome. It's been great to be able to follow it. I've never lost touch with the fact that this place gave me something special for two years. I'm glad to be back. I did have that conversation with a couple of the boosters and alumni here when I left. I said, "Bye, I will be back. At some point, I will be back". To me, this is a wonderful time to be back.
"I've enjoyed my eight years at West Virginia, WVU. That was a special eight years for me. We built that thing up from what was the Big East eight years ago and transitioned into the Big 12 seven years ago. I've had a lot of success over the last seven years winning games, running a clean program and making sure we get our athletes graduated. I do want to thank West Virginia University, the state of West Virginia, and all of the student athletes that did such an outstanding job as young men and becoming great citizens after that.
"That is my vision for the University of Houston and our football program; to do the same thing. To run a clean program and bring in student athletes that not only represent the University on the field the right way by winning games, but also doing a great job in the classroom and in the community as well. That's very important to me.
"My family is very important to me. They have been with me through-and-through. All three of my children, Logan, Carlin and McLean, have been in this stadium watching a lot of games. They're excited about being able to come back. They're excited to be back in the state of Texas and the city of Houston. They mean a lot to me. My son Logan is in the back. He's going to be enrolling here in two weeks. He's a midterm-graduate, so he's excited. He's going to be a student here in about ten days when school starts back up. My brother Brett, who's a coach at Katy High School, is excited about being here. My nephew Clayton is in the back here as well. He played a game here wearing the Memphis colors a few years ago. My family is important. My mom and dad have always been with me throughout thick and thin. They're going to stay back home to sell my house. Someone needs to buy my house, and they're going to make sure that happens. After that they're going to relocate here. They're excited about the move as well.
"Make no mistake about it: we are here to win championships. I've met about a dozen of the young men already. I've also had several conversations with this quarterback (D'Eriq King) that is pretty good. I'm excited to continue having these conversations with him. They're outstanding young men, student athletes and representatives of the University of Houston, and the city of Houston as well. I look forward to continue building relationships with those guys.
"I also look forward to start hiring staff. You see a couple of the guys that are here. Obviously one face is very familiar to everybody. We'll start bringing a first-class, top-notch staff that can not only recruit in this great state and city the proper way, but bring the vision to win championships as well.
"There is so much to look forward to. The future is extremely bright. I am honored and excited to be here. This is not a stepping stone. I've been there and done all that. I'm excited about making this place great. Go Coogs."
On what kind of championships he plans to win at the University of Houston
"We are a member of the American Athletic Conference. My goal, which is the only thing that I can affect, is to be able to win a football championship. A conference championship. That's the goal. I don't care where you're at. I don't care what conference you're in. That is everybody's goal. I'm excited to be here just based on the potential of what this great University has going with the leadership that it has. The facilities are getting there. We still have a lot of work to do, but I believe we can bring a first-class, top-notch program and student-athletes that want to be part of this to win championships. That's what I'm after."
On what it is about the city and of Houston that he calls home
"Well, seeing that our chairman owns all these restaurants, the food. Food and entertainment. I know what questions are coming, but just as far as what I look for and what this job has is the opportunity to win. There is an opportunity to win championships. Quality of life is very important, because not only does that affect me, but it also affects my family. It affects the coaches and the coaches' families. It affects the student-athletes, which has a direct tie to recruiting. You have something that you can recruit to. Therefore, I have an opportunity to be great here. That's why I love this University and this city."
On his biggest challenge coming to Houston
"Well, it's no different than what I just did. I took over a program nine years ago that won nine (games). To me that's positive, because guys know how to win, student athletes know how to win, fanbases know how to win, rally, and show their support, and that makes it all the more attractive and exciting. This is a program that understands what the expectations are, and I don't want to be somewhere where the expectations aren't high. I want to be somewhere where the expectations are high."
On his view from moving from the Big 12 to the American Athletic Conference
"I really don't think a lot about it if I'm being honest with you. My job is to make wherever I'm at the best I can make it. Let's not forget, I did transition a team that was a Power 5 school, which back eight or nine years ago, you didn't even talk about that way. We were in the Big East which doesn't even exist now from a football perspective. My goal eight years ago was to win football games and we won 10 games that year and beat Clemson 70-33 in the Orange Bowl. To me, just do the best job you can where you're at, try to make the current situation better and you try to improve it every year. We do, obviously, understand that we need to position ourselves to be as attractive as we possibly can. I don't think anybody knows what's going to happen with conference realignment or how things will go with the College Football Playoff change. There's going to be all kinds of things happening, and our job is to make us as attractive as we possibly can, not only in our current conference, but what the future will hold as well. I don't think anybody will disagree with the fact that nobody knows what's going to happen."
On his relationship with Oliver Luck
"Oliver Luck is a great Houstonian. I met him running around these practice fields with the Houston Dynamo when he was running that organization. He's got great vision for a lot of things. I was fortunate to go work for him at West Virginia University and he was a part of the transition (from the Big East to the Big 12), so there's some similarities what happened eight or nine years ago and where we're currently at now. He's been great for the city of Houston, great for West Virginia, great for the NCAA, and I hear he's at this league paying him a whole lot of money right now."
On what makes Houston being a long-term destination for him rather than West Virginia
"I could argue that it (West Virginia) wasn't. I was there eight years and that's a long time. If any coach approaches nearly a decade at the same school in today's day-and-age it's pretty impressive. I've shown commitment. I understand what I'm getting into, I understand that there's been three coaches in six years, and that needs to change. Why would I want to make things worse? It makes no sense. I understand what this University needs, what this Athletic Department needs, and what this football program needs. I've done it before and I plan on doing it again.
On what he thinks of being labeled an "offensive genius"
"I don't read anything. I try to put my head down and do my work. That's what I think, I don't listen to any of the talk shows. I know that Mr. Granato thinks I listen to him all of the time, but I don't. I just put my head down and go to work. I love football, I love offense, it's my passion. I don't want to do anything else. I have the opportunity to continue to do that here."
On the College Football Playoff system
"It's not up to me and they don't care what I think, I can assure you that. It's popular. We were in that discussion pretty much all year long at my previous stop. When it didn't work out, there was quite a bit of disappointment. I worry about the future of bowl games. We're talking about the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl that used to be the greatest thing in the world to be able to go to. I worry about the bowl system when it's come to that because I experienced it this year. I do think something is going to happen. I just don't know when. It's the same conversation as conference realignment. Something is going to happen. I don't know what it's going to be. Our job is to make the University of Houston as attractive of an institution and an athletic department as we can.
On how important the resources were to hire staff
"It was critical. I can assure you I'm better at running a football program now than I was eight years ago, but running a football program is like running a large organization. You have to hire a lot of people to be able to build a program the right way. You have to have money to be able to do it. I feel really good about the assistant coaches that I have contacted and talked to already. We're bringing in big time football coaches that have been at big time places and understand what it takes to be to treat the student-athletes the right way.
On being able to recruit in Texas
"It's important because this state means a lot to me. The high school football in this state is the best in the country. Being on the east coast, I recruited from other states and other areas more so than when I was here the first time. Nobody does it better than the state of Texas. With the resources, with the way they pay the coaches, the facilities, the practice time, nobody does it better. It's the best state and city to be able to recruit because of how things work like that. I'm excited about that, and I can't wait to reconnect with a lot of the high school football coaches, especially here in Houston. Louisiana is a good neighbor too. The high school football in Louisiana is really good as well. That's going to be important to us. Get on I-10 go one direction and the other direction as well, and recruit as many high school players as we possibly can."
On meeting President Renu Khator's expectations
"I don't want to go anywhere that doesn't have expectations like that. Not only are her expectations like that with the football program, but they are across the entire campus. It is with basketball, with the new medical school that's coming in, getting the academics to Tier One status. She has lofty expectations for everything she touches on this university. I'm ready to roll."
On the timing of the coaching move
"Things happen fast. I was coaching hard in a bowl game, went back to my hotel room and hibernated for 48 hours. My phone started ringing, and things escalated pretty quickly. It was the opportunity to come back home, the opportunity to be able to come to the University of Houston and be able to be in the city of Houston.
On working with Tilman Fertitta in this process
"Tilman has been great for the city of Houston. We've crossed paths a few times in the last 10 years. When you do the things that he's done, that didn't really play a huge factor what so ever. I was excited about his leadership with the University of Houston as Chairman. With the leadership of Renu Khator, that is really important to me. You want to be surrounded by rock stars. (Tilman and Renu) have done a great job. I lived a long ways away and I've understood what they mean to this city and University. I want to be a part of that, and I'm excited to be a part of that."
Players Mentioned
QB
/ FootballMedia Availability: Ashton Porter
Monday, April 20
Media Availability: Kentrell Webb
Monday, April 20
Media Availability: Keisean Henderson
Monday, April 20
Media Availability: Conner Weigman
Sunday, April 19