December 24, 2025 • 10 mins
Athletic Director Eddie Nunez Joins to Talk All Things UH Athletics
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's a Matt Thomas Show with Ross, and it's eleven
o two on Sports Talk seven HONI The Matt Thomas
Show with Ross. I'm here in Los Angeles last night
the Rockets loss of the Clippers. Will take on the
Lakers on Christmas Day, and then two days after that
it'll be the Texas Bowl inside NRG Stadium for an
(00:23):
eight fifteen kick. And to join us to talk about
that and among other things, is the athletic director of
the University Houston, Eddie nuniez Eddie, thanks for joining us
this morning. The number one most important question is Diehard
a Christmas movie? Yes? Or no?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I would probably lean on not, but I know a
lot of people do because the day came out and
everything else. I'm more of the classics, you know, give
me a good Christmas story or something like that. But
I am a little dispoint. I thought you would at
least have some Christmas music leading into it, or some
holiday music something you know going on.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Oh don't worry, We're playing it all year, all so long.
So as soon as you hang up listen to the
show between now and two o'clock, we'll take care of it. Hey,
I will, I will Hey, First of all, I'm so
I had Willing on the show yesterday and I just
love that man. And look, I've been very fortunate with
my relationship with the University of Houston as a student,
as an alumnus, a broadcaster, to be around some great coaches.
(01:23):
I don't know what to say in the words what
a truly classy person he is. He can coach, he
can recruit, He plays by the rules when the rules
constantly change. He talked about yesterday that all the kids,
a lot of the kids are from Texas and Louisiana,
And your willing, is it ten or fifteen years ago,
we couldn't get kids from Texas and Louisiana because the
(01:44):
facilities were not up to speed, and the product was
not good and the conference wasn't great. And so it's
all coming full circle now. It's a great time to
be a Houston Cougar fan, especially with coach Fritz running things.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah. No, you hit the nail on the head. I mean,
he's someone who, first of all, has seen it at
so many different levels, but he understands the importance of Texas,
having spent a lot of his career here in the
state of Texas. He understands the importance the caliber of athletes,
and if we're able, which he is, to be able
to put all this together with those young men, we
(02:18):
can have something special. And you said it right, it's alignment.
It's aligning everything perfectly because for us to be able
to do it, you know, being in the Big twelve
and having success and everything else. We know we can
win and we can win at a high level here,
but you need the right leader and to have somebody
who's not just done it at every level in one
but understands that this is bigger than just football. This
(02:41):
is bigger than everything else. It's about the city and
everything else. It resonates across the board with all our sports.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Eddie, you are on the Texas Bowl Committee and I
don't know if that was kind of a job that
you got because they asked you to or as part
of beer. I thought a director of responsibilities. But how
intriguing was that process? Did you have to take yourself
out of some some things because of the fact that
the Cougars were trying to figure out which ball game
to go to?
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So yeah, you know, it's it's it's an unusual process.
I was part of the New Mexico Bowl when I
was in ut at the University of New Mexico and
a little bit different than this one. This one a
little bit more hands on and you're you're involved in
understanding all the details, how the teams are selected and
everything else. So yeah, I had to listen to the good,
the bad, end, the ugly. Why you know, we would
(03:26):
possibly not be someone that they would consider as strong
as some others and everything else, And you have to
sit there and you have to bite your tongue and
you have to understand. And sometimes we put ourselves in
a position where those those those realities are true. But
on the other side, it's I also know what we
can bring to the table. So I did have an
opportunity to present what I felt was important for the
(03:46):
group to know. And as I said before, we wanted
to stay in the state of Texas, and we knew
that either that possibly going to San Antonio or here,
and if the possibility presented itself here, we were going
to be not just all in. We wanted that chance
to be able to have our fans come and experience
the holidays together with us, and so interesting experience. I
(04:09):
was able to say what I needed to say, and
I'm just glad for David Fletcher and the whole board,
everybody just giving us a chance.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Well, it was nice to see that the Bold ticket
alignment was sold very very quickly. Tickets are still on
sale for the game because you want to fill as
many seats up as possible. Yeah, what was it like
Eddie to determine the opponent on that because you're trying
to sell the University of Houston, but the SEC connection
and trying to figure out, okay, does LSU want to
come back to Houston? And oh, by the way, LSU
(04:40):
and Houston are going to open up the twenty seventh
season in that same building.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Yeah, that was discussed and part of it was, you know,
with the SEC, the way they do their their Bowl appointments,
they basically a point who goes where, and so they
had conversations the SEC within themselves about what teams would
be on the the possible selection process. H When we
saw LSU on there, of course, everybody said, we know
(05:06):
they've draw.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Well.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
I had talked to their a d who's a dear friend,
and he and I spoke and he said, look, if
we have the chance to go there, we're going to
go there. Our fans love it, you know. Yes, we
play you guys in a year later, you know, but
it's it's well worth it, especially as they're transitioning right
now with everything else, and it just really lines up
better for them than anything else. So they were they
(05:28):
were really excited to be a part of this, and
as I told them, for me, it's it has another
another layer to it. But I also understand that we
want to make this a sea of red. Like you said,
there's plenty of tickets available. We want all our fans
to keep going to to the Nergy, to the Texas
Bowl website, get those tickets. Let's make this a sea
(05:48):
of red. Let's make it loud. Let's show not just
the city of Houston, but America that Cougar football is back.
And it's not just back for for this year. It's
back to sustain success for for a long time to come.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Any one piece of business, do I need to get
caught up the speed on private equity or on just
let you guys handle that at this point.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Listen, I think one of the biggest, one of the
biggest things is a lot of that information that came
out was premature, and like most news articles. They wanted
to get it out as soon as possible when we
heard about it. There's a lot of discussions still having happening.
Nothing is right at the finish line. There's there's different
parts of this private equity that may suit well for us,
(06:33):
but it's not that big five hundred million that people
read about this or that you know, there's we have
to make sure that we put our best, you know,
the best opportunity for our institution first and foremost. And
borrowing money is sounds good at times, but it's also
we're taking or borrowing money. It's alone, and so we
(06:54):
have to understand if that makes sense, if it works
for us. Is other ways, is our companies internally, I
think internally in our city, in our state that might
have better understanding of who we are and make it
a better opportunity for us. So we are actively looking
at everything with private equity, with all those investors and
everything else because we have to. We have to do
(07:15):
our due diligence. But the one that the bolt that
was expressed about the conference, excuse me, that one does
have some validity, but it's still not anywhere close to
finish line.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Last question about that is it going to be possible
to get sixteen schools on the same page When it
comes to private equity.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Depends on what you're asking for. Not every school needs
the loan. Not every school can do that. Our state
has different requirements when it comes to taking loans, and
so I don't see it working perfectly. That's what you
saw with the Big Ten. It's what happened when the
first iteration of ours. So I would say the likelihood
(07:54):
of making one of those things truly possible makes it
really hard because you're dealing with private schools, state school
different states. There's a lot of factors that go into it.
We all want the ability to generate more revenue to
help us be great, but it takes a little time
before I forget. I'd love to make sure our fans know.
December twenty sixth Tom's Watch Bar Downtown, we're taking over
(08:17):
the Tom's Watch Bar. Come on down. We're gonna have
a cougar event there. We want all our fans to
come out. It's gonna be a five to thirty and
then on the twenty seventh of the day of the game,
of course, we have a tailgate there starting at four
thirty In the blue lot. Come on out. Let's make
sure that we can do it right for our kooks.
But more than anything else, thank you for this past year.
(08:39):
I want to wish everybody a wonderful Holidays and look
forward to seeing them at the Bowl game.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yes, go to the game Saturday night. My kids are going.
I bought tickets yesterday as a matter of fact, so
the Thomas Now, I've got a Rockets game, so I
won't be able to be there, but the Thomas family
is going to be representing. So just go and root
the hell against LSU. And know I used to work there,
but I mean it's easy to make fun of times.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Oh yeah, listen. I love my time there. It was
great for the family and I but there's no love
right now. It's all about the Koogs and let's go
and take care of business and show them who we
really are. So I'm all in. Let's make it happen,
all right.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Last question, the basketball squads. All they're doing is running
around the country beating up on these top twenty five opponents.
I love the non conference scheduling. I know that folks
would like to see some more home games and Fortita Center,
but the world of the college basketball works a little
bit differently, and you still at the end of the day,
are trying to build your resume for the March madness.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, it's part of this new landscape that we're dealing with.
I will tell you that this has also given us
a little bit of light about what we want to
do for the future. Coach Sampson actually mentioned to me
about a week ago that we really want to try
to do more home and homes with some power opponents
at our place. Make it impactful, make it desirable. But
right now, because of the way the nuances are, we
(09:56):
had to take advantage of these games on the road,
and some teams don't want to come here, but He's
I know he'll have somebody in here and we look
forward to it. But it is. It is part of
building the resume. And our guys took care of business
against Arkansas and now we're here getting ready for We've
got one more game before conference and hope to see
everybody there. Also on the twenty eighth in the Ftida Center.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Eddie Happy, Holly is you and your family. Thank you
for the time and the best of luck on Saturday
against those Tigers.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Sounds great. Thank you
It's a Matt Thomas Show with Ross, and it's eleven
o two on Sports Talk seven HONI The Matt Thomas
Show with Ross. I'm here in Los Angeles last night
the Rockets loss of the Clippers. Will take on the
Lakers on Christmas Day, and then two days after that
it'll be the Texas Bowl inside NRG Stadium for an
(00:23):
eight fifteen kick. And to join us to talk about
that and among other things, is the athletic director of
the University Houston, Eddie nuniez Eddie, thanks for joining us
this morning. The number one most important question is Diehard
a Christmas movie? Yes? Or no?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I would probably lean on not, but I know a
lot of people do because the day came out and
everything else. I'm more of the classics, you know, give
me a good Christmas story or something like that. But
I am a little dispoint. I thought you would at
least have some Christmas music leading into it, or some
holiday music something you know going on.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Oh don't worry, We're playing it all year, all so long.
So as soon as you hang up listen to the
show between now and two o'clock, we'll take care of it. Hey,
I will, I will Hey, First of all, I'm so
I had Willing on the show yesterday and I just
love that man. And look, I've been very fortunate with
my relationship with the University of Houston as a student,
as an alumnus, a broadcaster, to be around some great coaches.
(01:23):
I don't know what to say in the words what
a truly classy person he is. He can coach, he
can recruit, He plays by the rules when the rules
constantly change. He talked about yesterday that all the kids,
a lot of the kids are from Texas and Louisiana,
And your willing, is it ten or fifteen years ago,
we couldn't get kids from Texas and Louisiana because the
(01:44):
facilities were not up to speed, and the product was
not good and the conference wasn't great. And so it's
all coming full circle now. It's a great time to
be a Houston Cougar fan, especially with coach Fritz running things.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah. No, you hit the nail on the head. I mean,
he's someone who, first of all, has seen it at
so many different levels, but he understands the importance of Texas,
having spent a lot of his career here in the
state of Texas. He understands the importance the caliber of athletes,
and if we're able, which he is, to be able
to put all this together with those young men, we
(02:18):
can have something special. And you said it right, it's alignment.
It's aligning everything perfectly because for us to be able
to do it, you know, being in the Big twelve
and having success and everything else. We know we can
win and we can win at a high level here,
but you need the right leader and to have somebody
who's not just done it at every level in one
but understands that this is bigger than just football. This
(02:41):
is bigger than everything else. It's about the city and
everything else. It resonates across the board with all our sports.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Eddie, you are on the Texas Bowl Committee and I
don't know if that was kind of a job that
you got because they asked you to or as part
of beer. I thought a director of responsibilities. But how
intriguing was that process? Did you have to take yourself
out of some some things because of the fact that
the Cougars were trying to figure out which ball game
to go to?
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So yeah, you know, it's it's it's an unusual process.
I was part of the New Mexico Bowl when I
was in ut at the University of New Mexico and
a little bit different than this one. This one a
little bit more hands on and you're you're involved in
understanding all the details, how the teams are selected and
everything else. So yeah, I had to listen to the good,
the bad, end, the ugly. Why you know, we would
(03:26):
possibly not be someone that they would consider as strong
as some others and everything else, And you have to
sit there and you have to bite your tongue and
you have to understand. And sometimes we put ourselves in
a position where those those those realities are true. But
on the other side, it's I also know what we
can bring to the table. So I did have an
opportunity to present what I felt was important for the
(03:46):
group to know. And as I said before, we wanted
to stay in the state of Texas, and we knew
that either that possibly going to San Antonio or here,
and if the possibility presented itself here, we were going
to be not just all in. We wanted that chance
to be able to have our fans come and experience
the holidays together with us, and so interesting experience. I
(04:09):
was able to say what I needed to say, and
I'm just glad for David Fletcher and the whole board,
everybody just giving us a chance.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Well, it was nice to see that the Bold ticket
alignment was sold very very quickly. Tickets are still on
sale for the game because you want to fill as
many seats up as possible. Yeah, what was it like
Eddie to determine the opponent on that because you're trying
to sell the University of Houston, but the SEC connection
and trying to figure out, okay, does LSU want to
come back to Houston? And oh, by the way, LSU
(04:40):
and Houston are going to open up the twenty seventh
season in that same building.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Yeah, that was discussed and part of it was, you know,
with the SEC, the way they do their their Bowl appointments,
they basically a point who goes where, and so they
had conversations the SEC within themselves about what teams would
be on the the possible selection process. H When we
saw LSU on there, of course, everybody said, we know
(05:06):
they've draw.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Well.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
I had talked to their a d who's a dear friend,
and he and I spoke and he said, look, if
we have the chance to go there, we're going to
go there. Our fans love it, you know. Yes, we
play you guys in a year later, you know, but
it's it's well worth it, especially as they're transitioning right
now with everything else, and it just really lines up
better for them than anything else. So they were they
(05:28):
were really excited to be a part of this, and
as I told them, for me, it's it has another
another layer to it. But I also understand that we
want to make this a sea of red. Like you said,
there's plenty of tickets available. We want all our fans
to keep going to to the Nergy, to the Texas
Bowl website, get those tickets. Let's make this a sea
(05:48):
of red. Let's make it loud. Let's show not just
the city of Houston, but America that Cougar football is back.
And it's not just back for for this year. It's
back to sustain success for for a long time to come.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Any one piece of business, do I need to get
caught up the speed on private equity or on just
let you guys handle that at this point.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Listen, I think one of the biggest, one of the
biggest things is a lot of that information that came
out was premature, and like most news articles. They wanted
to get it out as soon as possible when we
heard about it. There's a lot of discussions still having happening.
Nothing is right at the finish line. There's there's different
parts of this private equity that may suit well for us,
(06:33):
but it's not that big five hundred million that people
read about this or that you know, there's we have
to make sure that we put our best, you know,
the best opportunity for our institution first and foremost. And
borrowing money is sounds good at times, but it's also
we're taking or borrowing money. It's alone, and so we
(06:54):
have to understand if that makes sense, if it works
for us. Is other ways, is our companies internally, I
think internally in our city, in our state that might
have better understanding of who we are and make it
a better opportunity for us. So we are actively looking
at everything with private equity, with all those investors and
everything else because we have to. We have to do
(07:15):
our due diligence. But the one that the bolt that
was expressed about the conference, excuse me, that one does
have some validity, but it's still not anywhere close to
finish line.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Last question about that is it going to be possible
to get sixteen schools on the same page When it
comes to private equity.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Depends on what you're asking for. Not every school needs
the loan. Not every school can do that. Our state
has different requirements when it comes to taking loans, and
so I don't see it working perfectly. That's what you
saw with the Big Ten. It's what happened when the
first iteration of ours. So I would say the likelihood
(07:54):
of making one of those things truly possible makes it
really hard because you're dealing with private schools, state school
different states. There's a lot of factors that go into it.
We all want the ability to generate more revenue to
help us be great, but it takes a little time
before I forget. I'd love to make sure our fans know.
December twenty sixth Tom's Watch Bar Downtown, we're taking over
(08:17):
the Tom's Watch Bar. Come on down. We're gonna have
a cougar event there. We want all our fans to
come out. It's gonna be a five to thirty and
then on the twenty seventh of the day of the game,
of course, we have a tailgate there starting at four
thirty In the blue lot. Come on out. Let's make
sure that we can do it right for our kooks.
But more than anything else, thank you for this past year.
(08:39):
I want to wish everybody a wonderful Holidays and look
forward to seeing them at the Bowl game.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yes, go to the game Saturday night. My kids are going.
I bought tickets yesterday as a matter of fact, so
the Thomas Now, I've got a Rockets game, so I
won't be able to be there, but the Thomas family
is going to be representing. So just go and root
the hell against LSU. And know I used to work there,
but I mean it's easy to make fun of times.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Oh yeah, listen. I love my time there. It was
great for the family and I but there's no love
right now. It's all about the Koogs and let's go
and take care of business and show them who we
really are. So I'm all in. Let's make it happen,
all right.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Last question, the basketball squads. All they're doing is running
around the country beating up on these top twenty five opponents.
I love the non conference scheduling. I know that folks
would like to see some more home games and Fortita Center,
but the world of the college basketball works a little
bit differently, and you still at the end of the day,
are trying to build your resume for the March madness.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, it's part of this new landscape that we're dealing with.
I will tell you that this has also given us
a little bit of light about what we want to
do for the future. Coach Sampson actually mentioned to me
about a week ago that we really want to try
to do more home and homes with some power opponents
at our place. Make it impactful, make it desirable. But
right now, because of the way the nuances are, we
(09:56):
had to take advantage of these games on the road,
and some teams don't want to come here, but He's
I know he'll have somebody in here and we look
forward to it. But it is. It is part of
building the resume. And our guys took care of business
against Arkansas and now we're here getting ready for We've
got one more game before conference and hope to see
everybody there. Also on the twenty eighth in the Ftida Center.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Eddie Happy, Holly is you and your family. Thank you
for the time and the best of luck on Saturday
against those Tigers.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Sounds great. Thank you
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