After previously helping usher West Virginia into the Big 12, football coach Dana Holgorsen will be doing the same with UH.SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — University of Houston football coach Dana Holgorsen took a seat next to old pal Mike Gundy during an hours-long session Tuesday afternoon at the Big 12 spring meetings.He has competed against Gundy, the dean of Big 12 football coaches in his 18th season at Oklahoma State, and Iowa State’s Matt Campbell.
That makes Holgorsen an invaluable resource as Houston makes the transition from the American Athletic Conference to the Big 12. The move — which also includes BYU, Cincinnati and Central Florida — is expected in July 2023. That talk is reserved for the recruiting trail, where Holgorsen can now pitch a Power Five address for the Cougars. He mentions the Big 12 when he asks donors to open their wallets. School officials regularly hold closed-door meetings to discuss the logistics of the biggest move for the athletic department since Houston joined the Southwest Conference in the late 1970s.
Yet Holgorsen admits there is still a lot of work to be done. At the top of the list is raising money for a football-only complex to be built on the west side of TDECU Stadium, one of the last pieces of the puzzle to cap off more than a decade of big spending that has brought Houston everything from TDECU Stadium and Fertitta Center to the Guy V. Lewis Development Facility and indoor football facility.