I know this generates no interest here. Willie Fritz is very boring but there are some legitimately interesting things he has done when you dig deeper than W/L's and really look at the resume.
Just based on this deeper look of what is happening down at Tulane, I think Willie is on the verge of really elevating that program. Once Norvell leaves Memphis, things might really take off for the Green Wave.
1) While at Tulane, he has lost 27 games and 24 of them have been to team with winning records. The division they play in AAC West is the strongest Group of Five division and right now Sagarin considers it to be stronger than either division of the AAC. Their 6-6 record included 4 games against sagarin top 30 teams which is twice as many as Missouri had this year.
2) Tulane's sagarin rating by year for Fritz:
2016 - 109
2017 - 91
2018 - 86
2019 - 62
3) Tulane's average sagarin rating by year for the past 13 years prior to Fritz arrival was 133. Keep in mind there are only 130 FBS teams so to maintain an average rating below that is just incredible. Their highest rating in that time was 91 and that was the only time they ranked above 109. They were probably the single worst FBS program when he got there and he has CLEARLY elevated them.
4) Recruiting has also improved dramatically since Fritz arrived at Tulane. Prior to him arriving there, most years they were outside of the top 100 with a few peaks here and there never going above 80th. His classes have ranked as follows:
2016 - 85
2017 - 90
2018 - 65
2019 - 92
2020 - 56
That's consistently solid for a team like Tulane. This year they are fourth in the league in terms of recruiting and his class is ranked higher than Norvell, Monken, Rhule, Healy, McElwain, etc... some of those guys still have many scholarships to fill but Tulane has 11 three stars so that's a great class in their terms.
Willie's resume would actually be MUCH MUCH better if he never coached at CMSU. He is never going to get the Mizzou job and that's probably the primary reason why. Kim Anderson completely poisoned the water for Willie.2) Tulane's sagarin rating by year for Fritz:
2016 - 109
2017 - 91
2018 - 86
2019 - 62
3) Tulane's average sagarin rating by year for the past 13 years prior to Fritz arrival was 133. Keep in mind there are only 130 FBS teams so to maintain an average rating below that is just incredible. Their highest rating in that time was 91 and that was the only time they ranked above 109. They were probably the single worst FBS program when he got there and he has CLEARLY elevated them.
4) Recruiting has also improved dramatically since Fritz arrived at Tulane. Prior to him arriving there, most years they were outside of the top 100 with a few peaks here and there never going above 80th. His classes have ranked as follows:
2016 - 85
2017 - 90
2018 - 65
2019 - 92
2020 - 56
That's consistently solid for a team like Tulane. This year they are fourth in the league in terms of recruiting and his class is ranked higher than Norvell, Monken, Rhule, Healy, McElwain, etc... some of those guys still have many scholarships to fill but Tulane has 11 three stars so that's a great class in their terms.
Just based on this deeper look of what is happening down at Tulane, I think Willie is on the verge of really elevating that program. Once Norvell leaves Memphis, things might really take off for the Green Wave.
