Willie Fritz may be entering year three with the Houston Cougars, but his connections from his old stomping grounds are still strong.
On Sunday, two days after the transfer portal opened, Houston landed two former Tulane stars that played under Fritz in New Orleans — running back Makhi Hughes and guard Shadre Hurst. Both Hughes are Hurst were two-time First Team All-American Conference selections with the Green Wave.
The Hughes and Hurst transfers were first reported by Hayes Fawcett of On3 Sports.
Hurst confirmed by reposting the commitment announcement on his Instagram.
Hughes spent three years at Tulane, redshirting in 2022 and serving as the starting running back for the 2023 and 2024 teams that qualified for the American Championship Game. In both years as the feature back, Hughes finished top 10 in the FBS in rushing yards. In 2023 — his first season suiting up — he attained 1,378 yards (9th in FBS) and seven touchdowns, and then in 2024, he increased his output to 1,401 yards (10th in FBS) and 15 rushing touchdowns (tied for 18th in FBS).
He left Tulane as the program’s sixth all-time leading rusher and transferred to Oregon, where he found himself buried on the depth chart behind Noah Whittington and freshman phenoms Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill Jr. Hughes only toted the rock 17 times for 70 yards across four games and requested a redshirt in early October, eventually leaving the College Football Playoff-bound Ducks. Hughes receives a fresh start in Houston under his former head coach Fritz and former offensive coordinator Slade Nagle.
Hurst is moving directly from New Orleans to Houston after spending four seasons with the Green Wave. The guard took a redshirt in 2022 and worked his way into the starting lineup in Week 5 of the 2023 season, eventually becoming a Freshman All-American. In his first year as a full-fledged starter in 2024, Hurst secured First Team All-American Conference honors and then repeated as a first team all-conference selection in 2025, serving as the star of a Tulane team renowned for dominance in the trenches. The guard was an NFL Draft prospect and held several SEC offers before electing to play for his former head coach and offensive coordinator in Houston.
The Houston Cougars are fresh off a breakout 10-3 season, marking their first winning campaign as a Big 12 member. In year two under Fritz, Houston triumphed in the Texas Bowl over LSU and now awaits its imminent season-ending ranking. For 2026, the Cougars retain a heap of offensive talent such as starting quarterback Conner Weigman, No. 1 receiver Amare Thomas, wide receiver Koby Young, and left tackle Alvin Ebosele. In addition to Hughes and Hurst, Houston also signed All-MAC offensive tackle Drew Terrill from Miami (OH) on Sunday, putting the chips in to push one step further to a College Football Playoff appearance.
