Will Davis Tabbed 9th Houston Baseball Head Coach
10-year head coaching vet, former National Champion assistant named Cougars’ newest skipper
HOUSTON – Will Davis, a 10-year head coaching veteran and former national champion assistant coach, has been hired as Houston Baseball’s ninth head coach in program history, pending approval by the UH System Board of Regents.
Davis led Lamar to the 2026 Southland Conference Tournament Championship crown in his 10th season at the helm. The title sent Lamar to an NCAA Regional behind its fifth-straight 30-win season. Davis has the Cardinals rolling having won six in a row entering the College Station Regional where they will take on Texas A&M on Friday at 3 p.m.
Lamar won the 2024 Southland regular season title after winning 44 games for the first time since 2004 and finished in the top three of the league in each of the last four seasons. In Lamar’s lone season in the WAC, Davis led the Cardinals to a second-place finish in the Southwest Division.
I am thrilled and honored to be the head baseball coach at the University of Houston. I have spent my whole coaching career at both LSU and Lamar competing against them and have seen firsthand what a special place this is. In my time in college baseball they have come so close to making it to Omaha on several occasions and I am excited to take on the challenge of getting the program over that hump.Will Davis – Houston Baseball Head Coach
During his time at Lamar, 38 Cardinals earned All-Conference honors, and won he 289 games, making Davis the second-winningest coach in Cardinals Baseball history.
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“We are incredibly excited to have Will and his family join Cougar Nation,” Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Eddie Nuñez said. “With his background and proven track record, I’m fully confident that Coach Davis will help us return Houston to the NCAAs, compete for Big 12 Championships and put together an exceptional group of young men. The team couldn’t be in better hands and we’re eager to see what they’re able to accomplish.”
In 2023, Ryan Snell became Lamar’s first All-America selection since 2014 and was named the Southland Player of the Year, the program’s first since 2006.
The former College World Series winning assistant coach at LSU helped lead the Tigers to the 2009 title, seven SEC championships and four trips to Omaha in his seven seasons as an assistant in Baton Rouge. During his time at LSU, 48 Tigers were drafted in the MLB Draft including six First Round selections – among them, Alex Bregman and Aaron Nola – both MLB All-Stars.
Davis, who played four seasons at LSU, helped the Tigers to the 2004 College World Series as a freshman.
After taking over Lamar in January 2016, Davis coached 10 Cardinals who were drafted by MLB organizations – most recently 2023 SLC Player of the Year and Buster Posey Award finalist Ryan Snell (7th round pick, Washington Nationals), 2024 SLC Pitcher of the Year and third-team Baseball America All-American selection Brooks Caple (9th round pick: Chicago Cubs) and 2025 first-team All-SLC pitcher Riely Hunsaker (16th round pick: Chicago Cubs) – along with four additional Cardinals who signed free agent contracts.
In 2025, Davis guided the program to consecutive 40-win seasons for the first time since 2003-04, steering the squad to a 40-17 record. Under his direction, the Cards compiled a 27-2 mark at home during the regular season, representing the finest winning percentage at Vincent-Beck Stadium since 1993. The team strung together 11 consecutive home victories, a streak that ranked tied for second longest in the entire country. Additionally, LU stood as one of only two mid-major programs nationwide to reach the 40-win threshold by the end of the regular season.
During the 2024-25 season, Davis tutored a Brooks Wallace Award watch list honoree, three first team All-Southland Conference selections, the SLC Hitter of the Year and a second team All-Southland Conference recipient.
The 2024 campaign resulted in the Cardinals being crowned Southland Conference regular-season champions after posting an overall record of 44-15 and a 17-7 league mark. The 44 wins were the fourth-most in program history, also marking the first time the Cardinals posted 40+ wins since 2004. Davis was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year while Brooks Caple earned Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year honors. The Cardinals swept No. 25 Oklahoma on the road to highlight a season where they also won 13 games in a row.
The 2023 campaign came on the heels of a ’22 season that followed a similar path. The Cardinals recorded another 30-win season – falling just short of a 40-win campaign – a year again highlighted with victories over national powerhouse programs. The Cardinals took a three-game series over Rice in Houston early in the year and followed that up with wins at Oklahoma and against Houston. Big Red also won the first five series of the season, and 10 overall (including four series sweeps).
The 2022 campaign watched as the Cardinals made a return to postseason play, advancing to the winners’ bracket at the WAC Championships. That LU squad put an end to a nine-game postseason jinx with their opening-round win over Seattle University, marking the Cards’ first postseason win since 2013. The Cardinals made a 12-game improvement from the 2021 postseason squad, and that team made an eight-game improvement from 2019 (2020 season was cut short due to COVID).
Davis’ success on the field tells only part of the story. His first full recruiting class as the program’s head coach was ranked first in the Southland, and 73rd nationally by Perfect Game. Davis followed that up with a 2018 early signing class that again led the Southland and landed another top-100 spot according to Perfect Game. In the last three years alone, Davis’ efforts on the recruiting trail landed the nation’s seventh, 11th and ninth-best junior college recruiting classes.
He is married to the former Danielle Hall of Bogalusa, La., who was a member of the LSU Golden Girl squad. The two have three children, two daughters and a son. Davis graduated with a bachelors in secondary education (2007) and masters in kinesiology (2010) and was born May 29, 1984.
What They’re Saying
“I applaud Athletic Director Eddie Nuñez on his hiring of Will Davis as the new Head Baseball Coach at the University of Houston. This is a wonderful selection of a man whom I believe wholeheartedly will bring the Cougars back to a very competitive level in the Big 12 conference. Following in his father's footsteps, Will Davis was born to be a college baseball coach and has worked every day from the day I first met him to become the best possible baseball coach. I always felt Will was wise beyond his years. He always had great instincts about the game of baseball and the players. He was a very loyal and outstanding assistant coach with me at LSU; and was a big part of the success we enjoyed in Baton Rouge. What Will did at Lamar for the last 10 years allowed him to become one of the most respected coaches in all of college baseball. He has earned this new opportunity and I have no doubt he will make Cougar Nation proud of its baseball program.” – Paul Mainieri, retired LSU baseball head coach
“Will Davis is an elite hire for the University of Houston. Coach Davis is an incredible program builder, energetic recruiter and consistent developer of both talented players and winning teams. Cougar fans should be so very thankful that Will has chosen to lead UH at a championship level.” – Jim Schlossnagle, Texas baseball head coach
“From the moment in the recruiting process that I met Will we hit it off instantly as I thought we saw the game the same way. When I got to school he became someone I could lean on that was willing to work as hard as I did. He was willing to do anything to help me get better and I am not surprised at all that he had that level of success at Lamar. This is a great hire by Houston and I can’t wait to see what he does at that program!” – Alex Bregman, MLB All-Star, World Series Champion, former LSU baseball student-athlete
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