The University of Houston announced on Sunday they have fired coach Dana Holgorsen after five seasons Holgorsen’s departure comes after the Cougars lost 27-13 to UCF on Saturday in their season finale, as well as losing five of their last six games to finish 4-8 this season in the program’s first year in the Big 12.

Houston vice president of athletics Chris Pezman said in a statement: “Over the course of his five seasons with the Cougars, Dana made strides in our football program in many ways and laid the groundwork for our transition to the Big 12 Conference. Ultimately, the results on the field fell below our standards of excellence. We are grateful to Dana for his efforts and commitment to our student-athletes and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”

After Saturday’s loss, Holgorsen was asked if he was certain about his future with the program; he stated he had a “four-year contract” remaining with the program, but added: “Contracts mean something. If they don’t want me to be the football coach, they have not expressed that to me. I want to be the football coach here.”

The 52-year-old Holgorsen posted a 31-28 record during his tenure, coming to Houston in 2019 after eight seasons as head coach at West Virginia. In his first two seasons leading the Cougars, he finished 7-13. However, in ’21, he registered 12-2, and signed a six-year contract extension following that season.

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