HOUSTON – Chris Pezman doesn’t need to imagine what it’ll be like to watch Houston face old Southwest Conference rivals in the 2023 version of the Big 12 because he was there the last time the Cougars were on the big stage. Pezman, like a modern-day Davy Crockett, wasn’t born in Texas but got here as soon as he could for one reason – football. 

Pezman, now the Vice President for Athletics, was born in California, making his way to the Lone Star State, and the Houston area, late in his prep career. He stayed to walk-on for the Cougars in the late 80s and was on the team with Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware, helping the program go 10-1 and 1990. Pezman, a linebacker, won the Wilson Whitley “Fighting Heart” Award in 1992 when he was a team captain. 

“I’m like a kid in a candy store,” Pezman said about his excitement in the fall. “It was fun as a player to face Texas and Texas A&M and other regional rivals that our school and fan base had a history against. I remember beating Texas A&M in 1990. It has been hard to replicate that without our natural rivals.” 

Sanctions imposed in 1989 began to take hold in the 90s, limiting the number of scholarships the program could use in football. The Cougars would only enjoy three winning seasons from 1991 to 2004. 

The real blow came in 1994 when four schools from the Southwest Conference – Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor – merged with members of the Big Eight Conference to form the Big 12. Houston, alongside peers such as TCU, SMU, and Rice, were not invited. The SWC officially disbanded after 1995, condemning the Coogs to a stint in college football purgatory that ends on July 1, 2023, when they officially become members of the Big 12.

And while that might be all in the past, the impact is not completely in the rear-view mirror. When Pezman arrived five years ago the operating budget for Houston athletics was roughly $50 million. This fall, Houston’s budget will be $96 million. The average Big 12 program, once Texas and Oklahoma are removed and off to the SEC, is somewhere between $110 and $120 million. 

“That difference is support staff, marketing, development, communications, graphics. The worker bees,” Pezman said. “The other schools have had decades of adding a person or two each year, and we’re needing to play catch up in real time.” 

Houston expects to close the gap and be self-sufficient by year three when full revenue sharing kicks in for the new members of the Big 12. The team is up to 25,000 season tickets sold for the 2023 season, which features home games against old rivals such as Texas and TCU. The Cougars have already raised $60 million for a new football operation building that breaks ground the day after the season ends. 

A new hurdle for athletic departments on the fundraising trail is NIL. The players now get a cut. Pezman says the athletic department consults with each individual donor to find out if that money should be earmarked for a capital project, a major gift project, or if that is better suited for NIL. Houston plans to closely monitor the new Texas rule allowing state universities to skirt NCAA guidelines for NIL collection and “draft off of” programs such as Texas A&M and Texas that plan to allow donors perks for NIL contributions. 

For most of college football history, playing in a big market was a disadvantage. We can count on one hand the number of consistently successful big-city programs in college football. The Cougars struggled to find a lane, especially in conferences without old-school regional rivalries, in a city with multiple professional teams and a multitude of other activities. NIL, and the transfer portal, offers a new outlook for big market teams. Houston can go outside of its alumni network for funds. Just ask Mattress Mack and a few local personal injury attorneys. 

More businesses mean more potential NIL partners which means, in theory, better players. Add in the fact that former stars from the Houston area can transfer back home and compete yearly for a spot in the expanded playoff, and the Cougars are entering the Big 12 at the perfect time. 

“We might not have the star power of Los Angeles or Miami, but we have access to corporations who are looking for these kids,” Pezman said. “Not just for money while playing, but for job opportunities after college.” 

To bring the football program into this new era, Pezman and the brass at Houston handed the keys to Dana Holgorsen – the brash, Red Bull drinking former mentee of the late, great Mike Leach. Holgorsen, who led West Virginia into the Big 12 during his tenure as head coach in Morgantown, says he’s added over 60 players to the roster in the last two cycles that are “Big 12 caliber players who we weren’t getting before the move was announced.” 

The Cougars won at least eight games in 10 of the previous 13 seasons before Holgorsen’s arrival in 2019. After a shaky start in his first two seasons, including a three-win campaign in the Covid-shortened 2020 campaign, Holgorsen righted the ship and led Houston to a 12-win 2022 that included a bowl win over Auburn. Even a disappointing 2022 season resulted in eight wins. 

But what is success in 2023? The Cougars are hoping to be realistic, even if that’s not the nature of college football expectations. Holgorsen’s expectations are to reach a bowl game and be competitive against their new conference mates. Pezman agrees…sort of. 

“I want to get to a bowl game. I don’t want to be 6-6, but I’d like to be sitting here at 8-4, 7-5,” he said. “It’d be proof of concept. We need to be building towards competing in the top third by year three. I think that’s practical. We need to show well.”