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 "U of H". The UH football program is a member of the Big 12 Conference. Since the 2014 season, the Cougars have played their home games on campus at TDECU Stadium, which was built on the site formerly occupied by Robertson Stadium, where they played home games from 1941 to 1950 and from 1994 to 2012. Over the history of the program, the Cougars have won 11 conference championships and have had several players elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, including a Heisman Trophy winner.
History
Early history (1946–1961) In 1941, Johnny Goyen, then sports editor for The Cougar, and Jack Valenti, president of the sophomore class, began a petition for an official intercollegiate football team at the university. The next year, the two called a student body meeting to organize another petition. This petition's purpose was to challenge Rice Institute (later known as Rice University) to a football game. The Rice Owls were an established program, having played since 1919 as a member of the Southwest Conference. In August 1945, the University of Houston announced that the school would field a football team for the first time. Following the announcement, the Lone Star Conference, spearheaded by Theron J. Fouts of North Texas and Puny Wilson of Sam Houston State, extended an invitation for Houston to join on October 25, 1945.
In September 1946, the team became a reality after Harry Fouke, UH's first athletic director, hired successful high school coach Jewell Wallace, and tryouts were held. One hundred thirty students showed up, only ten of whom had actually played college football before. Many of the married students lived on-campus at a makeshift village for World War II veterans, while some others lived in the university's recreation center in bunks for naval recruits training at UH during the war. Prior to joining the Cougars, Wallace served as head coach for San Angelo High School. During the spring training for the first team, Goyen and Valenti's petition was finally answered, as Coach Wallace arranged a small practice game between Rice and Houston. The meeting was to be at Rice. When the team arrived at the field in their practice uniforms, they realized that the game was much more serious. Officials were there, and the stadium was full of spectators. The game ended with Rice demolishing the Houston Cougars. The game had an attendance of 11,000. It wouldn't be until 1971 that the Cougars and Owls competed again.
Playing in Houston Public School Stadium as a part of the Lone Star Conference on September 21, 1946, the Cougars played their first official game against Southwestern Louisiana Institute (later known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) using the Split-T offensive strategy. Although Charlie Manichia, the Cougars' starting quarterback, scored the first touchdown of the game (and in Cougar history), the team lost to SLI 13–7. The next game, the Cougars played against West Texas State Teachers College (later known as West Texas A&M University), and won their first game 14–12. The Cougars finished up their first season with a 4–6–0 record. Wallace continued as head coach for the Cougars until the end of the 1947 season, when Clyde Lee took over.
Clyde Lee, a University of Tulsa assistant coach, became Houston's second head coach in February 1948. To replace the remainder of Wallace's team that didn't return, Lee turned to junior colleges for the majority of his recruiting. At this time, the University of Houston, along with Texas Tech University, attempted to join the established Southwest Conference, but were rejected. In response, several universities from the Lone Star Conference formed the Gulf Coast Conference. This marked the Cougars' first time playing as an NCAA University division team (later known as simply Division I), and the first time Houston offered athletics scholarships. Also during this time, Lee set up formal housing facilities for students. The 1949 season was prefaced with an act of vandalism from Houston fans on the campus of The College of William & Mary. William & Mary was the opening game of the season between both schools.
In 1951, the Cougars began playing in the Missouri Valley Conference, moved into Houston Stadium, and made it to their first bowl game. The 1952 season proved to be a breakout one for the Cougars, and the team claimed the conference title. In addition to being ranked No. 19 in the nation by UPI (the first time the Cougars were nationally ranked), 1952 also marked the first meetings between UH and Texas A&M University, University of Arkansas, and Ole Miss. J.D. Kimmel, a former player for the Army Cadets, became Houston's first All-American when the Associated Press chose him for the 1952 team. The year after, UH met with the University of Texas at Austin for the first time in football. Such events proved that the team was growing quickly. However, in 1954, Lee retired from coaching after a 37–32–2 overall record. Lee was credited with having transitioned the Cougars from a small-time team to a legitimate collegiate force in football.
After a 45-day search for a head coach replacement, Bill Meek, a successful head coach from Kansas State University, signed a contract with the Cougars and was appointed as Houston's head coach on January 19, 1955. The Cougars' 1955 opening game against the University of Montana marked a 54–12 victory, the first opening victory since 1948. It was during this season that UH attempted to gain a membership to the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Ole Miss, UH's sponsor to the conference, had played the Cougars in their ninth game of the season, and although the Cougars lost, Ole Miss felt the team was worthwhile. The SEC decided to wait a year to determine whether UH would be a member of the conference. The 1956 season was thus an important one for the team. The Cougars won the Missouri Valley Conference title for the second time, and tied with the Southwest Conference's nationally ranked Texas A&M Aggies during their meeting. However, UH lost to both SEC scheduled teams during the season. Both Southwest Conference and Southeastern Conference bids by the Cougars were once again rejected. During the next season, Meek left UH for Southern Methodist University.
Hal Lahar was announced as Houston's next head coach on January 18, 1957. Lahar came from Colgate University, where he had served as head coach for five seasons. In college, Lahar had played for the Oklahoma Sooners, where he was a part of the school's first bowl team. Under Lahar, during the 1958 season, the Cougars became a nationally recognized offensive leader, as the team scored a combined 117 points in their first three games. Lahar's offensive strategy was best characterized as Split-T. After winning the Missouri Valley Conference titles again in 1957 and 1959, Lahar left UH in 1961 and headed back to Colgate University.
Bill Yeoman era (1962–1986) Under Hall of Fame coach Bill Yeoman, the Cougars compiled a record of 160–108–8. His 160 victories rank 51st on the NCAA all-time list and make him the winningest coach in Cougar history. He used the Veer offense in 1964, an offense which he pioneered, and quickly helped lead the Cougars to national prominence. Yeoman's Cougars finished the season ranked in the top 5 twice, four times in the Top 10, and ten times in the Top 20. Yeoman is considered one of the all-time greatest college football coaches and led Houston to sustained success over his 25 years as head coach.
In 1964, Yeoman broke the color barrier for major Texas football programs when the University of Houston signed San Antonio's Warren McVea to a scholarship. On September 11, 1965, the Cougars played their first nationally televised game on NBC against Tulsa.
For three straight years Houston led the nation in total offense, averaging 437 yards a game in 1966, 427 in 1967, and 562 in 1968. The 1968 total was an NCAA record at the time. Houston also led the nation in scoring with 42.5 points per game that year, including a 100–6 rattling of Tulsa that set several records for UH: largest point differential in a win (94), most points scored (100), and being the last team in Division I to date to score 100 points in a single game and the last in any NCAA division until Rockford College scored 105 in 2003.
He guided the Cougars to four Southwest Conference Championships—1976, 1978, 1979, and 1984—and a 6–4–1 record in bowl games including Cotton Bowl Classic victories over the Maryland Terrapins in the 1976 season and the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 1979 season. In 1976, Houston's first year as a member of the SWC, Yeoman was named Texas Coach of the Year and runner-up for National Coach of the Year. Yeoman was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. He coached 46 All-Americans and 69 NFL players. In 1978, the NCAA subdivided the Division I into Division I-A and Division I-AA with Houston being a part of the former (now known as Division I FBS).
However, his career was not without controversy. In 1986, allegations surfaced regarding illegal recruiting inducements and extra benefits for his players. Due in part to these revelations, Yeoman was forced to retire at the end of the 1986 season after a 1–10 campaign.
Yeoman is the longest-serving coach in Cougar history, having been with the team from 1962 to 1986. After retiring as head coach, Yeoman remained with the Cougars as a fundraiser, a position he held until his death.
Jack Pardee era (1987–1989)
Following Yeoman's retirement, Houston hired Jack Pardee to be the program's sixth head coach. Pardee was a former NFL All-Pro linebacker who had previously held head coaching positions with the Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins and the USFL's Houston Gamblers. Pardee brought with him the Run & Shoot offense and a young offensive coordinator named John Jenkins. The Run & Shoot offense was a strongly pass-oriented system that called for throwing the ball on most downs and in almost any situation. The Cougars would become one of the top offensive teams in the country during the Run & Shoot years.
In 1987, Pardee's first season, the team struggled in adjusting to the new system but scored a 60–40 home upset of the Texas Longhorns on the way to a 4–6–1 finish. The 1988 season saw great improvement in all aspects of team play with the Cougars posting a 9–3 mark, ultimately finishing 2nd in the Southwest Conference standings. The team played in the Aloha Bowl but fell 24–22 to Washington State. The Cougars' offense was led by quarterback Andre Ware, who had been originally recruited to UH by Bill Yeoman as a Veer-option quarterback. UH finished the 1988 regular season at No. 18 in the AP Poll.
In 1988, the NCAA announced that it would levy sanctions against the Houston football program for numerous major rules violations during the Yeoman era. The university was charged with around 250 violations and was assessed some of the most severe penalties for a program at the time. The program was placed on probation for five years, banned from playing in bowl games for two years, and kicked off live television during the 1989 season. However, the most damaging penalty in the long run was a reduction to 15 scholarships for the 1989 season. Draconian as these penalties were, the NCAA said that they would have been even harsher (including being limited to 20 scholarships for 1990 and 50 paid recruiting visits for 1989) had Yeoman still been coach. The lack of television exposure in 1989 was a setback but ultimately did not dampen the accolades UH would garner in a record-setting season.