TIGER RAG NEWS SERVICES
Will Davis, a 10-year head coaching veteran at Lamar and former national champion assistant coach at LSU, has been hired as the Houston Cougars’ ninth baseball head coach in program history.
Davis led Lamar (34-25, 19-11 Southland Conference) to the 2026 SLC Tournament championship in his 10th season and to an NCAA Regional Friday at Texas A&M at 3 p.m. Whether Davis continues to coach the team or not in the postseason was not known as of yet, according to a Lamar spokesman.
Davis played at LSU from 2004-07 under coach Ray “Smoke” Laval for his first three seasons, then under coach Paul Mainieri. He then coached under Mainieri from 2008-15 before becoming Lamar’s coach. Houston athletic director Eddie Nunez, who worked in LSU’s athletic department from 2003-17 before becoming New Mexico State’s athletic director and then at Houston in 2024, hired Davis.
“I applaud Eddie Nuñez on his hiring of Will Davis as the new coach at Houston,” Mainieri said in a Houston release on Tuesday. “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.”
Will Davis’ late father, Randy Davis, was an assistant coach at LSU under legendary baseball coach Skip Bertman.
“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,” Mainieri said. “I always felt Will was wise beyond his years. He always had great instincts about the game 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.”
Mainieri and the Tigers with Davis on staff won the 2009 national championship.
Davis has won 30 or more games at Lamar for five straight seasons. 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.
During his time at Lamar, 38 Cardinals earned All-Conference honors, and won he 289 games, making Davis the winningest coach in Cardinals Baseball history.
“We are incredibly excited to have Will and his family join Cougar Nation,” Nuñez said. “With his background and proven track record, I’m fully confident that he 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.”
Davis, who played four seasons at LSU, helped the Tigers to the 2004 College World Series as a freshman.
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