Q&A with Coach Willie FritzKatFans.com Exclusive Article
With one full season under his belt as Sam Houston's football Coach, Willie Fritz is ready for the next step, the Southland Championship. With an overall career record of 142-57 over 19 seasons, Coach Fritz is a winner and expects to do so here. Coach Fritz took some time today to talk with KatFans.com and answer the questions of the Bearkat Nation.
Coach Fritz: He's one of the hardest workers on our team, he loves the game of football and does everything he can to get better. You don't have to worry about him being the guy that gets the big head, he's actually worked harder this summer than he did last year and is doing a fantastic job at camp. We're trying to limit his touches a little bit during the preseason, we know what he can do. The big thing we gotta do with Tim (Flanders) is keep him healthy, he probably only played 7 games last season when you add it all up. I think he has the opportunity to be the best running back in FCS football, he's that talented.
Are your expectations higher for Flanders this year than they were last year?
Coach Fritz: We had no idea what he could do last year, he was a pretty good high school player, going to Kansas State, plus the other offers he had there was potential. He was red shirted at Kansas State so we had no look at what he could do. After about three or four weeks we figured out he was pretty darn good and we better get him in the lineup as much as possible.
How is sophomore QB Brian Bell progressing with his arm strength and over all quarterback skills?
Coach Fritz: Brian has also had a great spring and a super summer, he put on about 20 pounds and weighs between 175 and 180. Last year we had to throw him in to the fire, starting nine games as a freshman. He's way ahead of where he was at this point last year. He really has great command of the offense and has made some really great throws, he's playing with great confidence right now.
How does the transfer from Wyoming fit in to the offense with Bell being the established QB? Does he fit in to the Wildcat?
Coach Fritz: He can do both looks. He runs really well, there have been numerous times in camp he's put his toe in the ground and changed directions with a burst of speed. He also throws the ball very well so we can run our total offense with him. He's not exclusively a running or passing quarterback, he can do both. Right now we doesn't know the offense as well as Brian (Bell) does, but we are very happy to have him.
Last year our defensive backs had some tough times. How are they progressing this camp and with their experience from last year do you think we can limit the big plays?
Coach Fritz: The thing that's going to happen with our defensive philosophy is we're gonna crowd the box and do everything we can to not allow you to run the football. Our big goal on the offensive side is to throw the ball more effectively and on the defensive side is to play a lot better pass defense. Other teams are gonna have to throw the ball against us because of how many people we put in the box. We are getting better and better, a lot of those guys (defensive backs) are really third year starters. Shaw, Jenkins, Taylor have played a lot of football for the Kats and did a good job last season. Bookie Sneed and Dax Swanson did a great job on the corners and I really think the secondary's big question is depth. We gotta get some guys to step up and play if a guy gets banged up, someone to step up and start for us. That is what we are trying to develop right now in camp.
How do you feel about D-Line depth and rotation with the transfers coming in? Do you think we will be able to get to the QB without blitz packages?
Coach Fritz: We would like to be able to rush four and play a little bit more zone behind it. Again, our philosophy both run and pass is to out number and overwhelm you. This team has one of the deepest D-Lines that I've been around, I really feel like we've got seven or eight guys who can play and be effective at this level. Four or Five of them have a chance to be dominating players at this level, led inside by JT Cleveland, he's a second team all conference player. We are moving Preston Sanders from a tackle to an end and picked up a couple of transfers in Jarret Brown and Andrew Weaver. Those guys have shown flashes of being explosive players.
With all of the WAC talk out there, whether Sam Houston's in the mix or not, are there any changes in preparing for an FBS game versus an FCS game?
Coach Fritz: No, not really, probably the biggest difference is most of those games are on the road. I've told our kids we are basically playing three FBS teams this year with UTSA, Texas State and New Mexico. We've got a heck of a schedule, a lot of home games, which is good and the game down at Reliant. We are playing four FCS teams that are ranked in the Pre-Season Top 25, UCA, Western Illinois, McNeese and SFA. It's going to be a very challenging schedule, it's probably the toughest schedule Sam has played in along time.
Richmond, Montana, etc. are always on top of the FCS year in and year out. What do you think they do that makes them top programs every year?
Coach Fritz: It all starts off with recruiting, and I've gotten beat very seldom by being out coached. Recruiting is very important at all levels, normally the team with the better players has a better chance of winning. I feel like we have really upped our recruiting from what its been in the past and that's the big thing. Tradition is also big, you combine those two and that's the package we wanna have here.
I feel we are headed in the right direction, we had a good product on the field last year and we are excited about this season.
Coach Fritz: We've got a ways to go, we were 6-5 last year and that's just a smidgen better than average. We've got a long way to go but we got a lot of kids back and we need to come out of the box fast. We are starting the season against a team that went two rounds deep in the playoffs last season, that's gonna be a big ballgame for us.
If Dr. Gibson came to you and said money is no object Coach, what is the one thing you would wish for to take Sam Houston football to the next level?
Coach Fritz: An indoor practice facility would be nice, but we have good facilities now. The financial situation is tough right now in Texas and across the U.S. The thing I've been looking at with our program right now is we wanna be a top flight FCS program. I think sometimes people start looking past their real goals,our goal right now is we wanna win the Southland Conference. We want to be like those teams you talked about a minute ago, Montana, Richmond, SFA over the past few years and McNeese for a long period of time. We've got a ways to go, to be able to accomplish that. We've got things in place right now, I'd love to have better facilities and more budget, but everybody would. I'm not in to excuses, we got enough for us to be successful and we just spent $145,000 on new video equipment, we are piecing it together. We've got enough to be successful, a great location. great campus and a large student body. There is no reason why Sam Houston can't be highly successful.
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