After finishing 10-3 and No. 22 in the country, Houston returns head coach Willie Fritz, all three coordinators, and 12 primary starters starting quarterback Conner Weigman and All-Big 12 selections Amare Thomas and Will James.
Despite all the continuity, one significant vacancy remains.
In 2025, tight end Tanner Koziol was indispensible to Houston’s offense. The First Team All-Big 12 selection led all FBS tight ends with 74 receptions and ranked second with 727 receiving yards, adding six touchdowns
in the process. He accounted for 31 percent of the Cougars’ receptions, 26 percent of their receiving yards, and 23 percent of their receiving touchdowns.
Koziol played his final down for Houston in its 38-35 Texas Bowl victory over LSU. Immediately after the game, he turned his attention to two priorities: one, NFL Draft preparation, and two, helping Houston find his successor.
He wound up hand-picking the Cougars’ next tight end.
One day before Houston’s Texas Bowl victory, UTSA capped its season with a 57-20 rout of FIU in the First Responder Bowl. Tight end Patrick Overmyer recorded 50 receiving yards and a touchdown in the assertive win and then began preparing for his next step. When Overmyer entered the transfer portal, he was promptly contacted by Koziol.
Koziol sold him on the pitch that Houston is a prime destination to be for tight end usage. The Cougars’ coaching staff agreed, and after an evaluation of Overmyer’s film, they made an offer to the former Roadrunner.
“We identified Pat when he announced he was gonna hit the transfer portal,” Houston tight ends coach Henry Stone said. “We saw him as a threat, a vertical threat, and a guy who can make some plays in the pass game. He does a really, really good job on routes — getting open, finding soft spots. Then within the run game, I think he’s a plus blocker and does some really, really good stuff.”
There were other selling points too, including those of the geographic variety. Overmyer’s hometown of Kingswood, TX stands roughly 30 miles from Houston’s campus. But the biggest draw remained obvious.
“I knew this was a good spot for a tight end,” Overmyer said. “I’ve seen what Tanner did last year.”
Overmyer played in a UTSA offense that regularly deployed three tight ends — giving substantial opportunity to Houston Thomas, Dan Dishman, and Overmyer throughout the previous two seasons. Overmyer started eight contests in 2025, securing 27 receptions for 344 yards, and five touchdowns. Now under the tutelage of offensive coordinator Slade Nagle — a longtime tight ends coach — he is preparing to further expand his role in Houston’s passing game.
“That’s what the coaches expect,” Overmyer said. “Coach Nagle loves a tight end offense, and it’s key in our offense to have a tight end making plays. I’m just trying to get better every day to do that for the team.”
Houston’s coaching staff expects a well-rounded tight end who can make plays on and off the ball. However, they don’t expect Overmyer to be a carbon copy of Koziol — even if he’s wearing the same No. 9.
“He’s a different player than Tanner,” Stone said. “Tanner’s 6’7”, 250 pounds. Pat’s not quite as tall, but Pat’s got some juice too. He can go and he can get open in different ways than Tanner can. It’s fun to experiment and to have had both of those guys. You’re able to teach and get different things out of different players. They’re not the same player, but they’re both really good tight ends.”
Overmyer’s speed is one attribute that immediately stands out to his new teammates. The tight end routinely created separation downfield at UTSA, corralling a reception of 34 yards or greater in five of his final six games. Houston believes this element of his game can further bolster an offense which only had 15 passes gain at least 30 yards in 2025.
“He’s not gonna drop the ball,” quarterback Conner Weigman said. “And I think we’re gonna be able to give Pat the ball, and he’s gonna be able to go get some good yards after the catch for us, and go score touchdowns from afar. It’s gonna make us a more explosive offense.”
Overmyer’s top offseason priority involved improving in the mental game. He wanted to understand the position at a Ph.D. level, believing the more he learned off the field, the slower the game would become. Overmyer already entered college with a strong football foundation thanks to his experience as a high school quarterback. But to further develop his knowledge, he spent an offseason digesting Koziol’s 2025 tape to fully understand every nuance of playing tight end in Nagle’s offense.
“Watching the film, I could tell Tanner was a film junkie,” Overmyer said. “He had great feel in spaces, and just with his big frame, he was able to make so many contested catches. I’m just trying to put parts from him in my game. But I feel like we’re two different body types. I might have a little more speed and twitch than him, so I can get more separation, but I’m just trying to do a lot of what he did because he’s a great player.”
Koziol is now with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but his influence remains present in Houston’s tight end room. He continues to work with the group from a distance, helping maintain the standard he established for the position last season. On the first night of fall camp, Koziol FaceTimed the entire tight end room, providing words of encouragement and offering tips for the season ahead.
“Tanner is super involved,” Stone said. “The dude loves football like nobody I’ve ever been around in my life. For example, the day after the bowl game, we beat LSU that Saturday night. That Sunday, I come up here to watch the film and Tanner and Dean (Connors) are sitting in the quarterback room just watching it. Their careers are over and they’re just up here watching film. And they’re pulling up different cut-ups and NFL stuff, whatever it might be. Tanner really rubbed off on a lot of those younger guys.”
In addition to advancing in the film room, Overmyer also honed his physical skills this offseason. He added 10 pounds of muscle to prepare for his transition to the Big 12, where he’ll block larger defensive linemen and linebackers. That work has already been tested in practice, as he is frequently pitted against two of Houston’s top athletes in Brandon Mack II and Latreveon McCutchin.
But Overmyer doesn’t want to be known as a blocking tight end. Or a receiver tight end. Instead, he wants to be the jack-of-all-trades tight end. He has been placed in a variety of roles in fall camp, lining up both on-ball and off-ball as Houston develops him into a multidimensional weapon.
That blueprint was there with Koziol. And now Overmyer, who earned Koziol’s seal of approval, is ready to prove his mettle as the successor.
“They love a versatile tight end giving the defense a bunch of different looks,” Overmyer said. “I’m ready to do it all.”
