kaorder1999
11-28-2007, 01:34 PM
Baylor to hire Art Briles as football coach
12:26 PM CST on Wednesday, November 28, 2007
By BRIAN DAVIS / The Dallas Morning News
brdavis@dallasnews.com
Baylor has called a news conference for 5:30 p.m. today to announce that Art Briles has been hired as the school's new head coach, a university source said.
Briles, currently the head coach at Houston, will be replacing Guy Morriss, who was fired on Nov. 18 after completing a 3-9 season.
Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw received permission from Houston AD Dave Maggard to talk to Briles on Monday. McCaw and Briles met on Tuesday at an undisclosed location in Dallas, and then Briles went home without being offered the job.
"Art just indicated that they talked in general teams and no offer was made," Maggard said Tuesday. "He thought they would resolve it in probably the next couple of days."
However, Briles was offered the job early Wednesday, a source said, and Briles accepted. The financial details were not immediately known. Baylor University is a private school and does not have to release details about its coaching contracts.
Briles signed a contact extension last year with Houston. He makes $900,000 annually with the Cougars and could make up to $1 million with incentives. Morriss earned $1.2 million per year.
Briles was an immensely successful high school coach at Stephenville during the 1990s. The program was a Class 4A powerhouse, winning back-to-back state titles in 1998 and '99. The 1998 team racked up 8,650 total yards, which was a national record at the time.
In six years at Stephenville, Briles was 91-11-1.
When Texas Tech hired Mike Leach, he needed someone with knowledge of Texas high schools. That person was Briles, who became the Red Raiders' running backs coach in 2000.
Briles stayed in Lubbock only three seasons. While he was a solid recruiter, Briles was somewhat marginalized as Leach installed his own pass-oriented system. That prompted Briles to search for a head coaching job, and he landed back at his alma mater, Houston, prior to the 2003 season.
The Cougars started off 5-1 in 2003 and went to their first bowl game in seven years. UH was only one of seven Bowl Subdivision teams to score 40 points in at least seven games that year.
UH dropped back to 3-8 in 2004 but managed to go 6-6 the following year. Led by quarterback Kevin Kolb, the Cougars still had the No. 1 offense in Conference USA in 2005.
Houston enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2006 by going 10-4 and winning the C-USA championship. The team ranked 10th nationally in scoring (33.0) and seventh in total offense (277.8 yards per game).
One of the program's marquee wins that year was a 34-25 win over Oklahoma State. UH suffered a disappointing 14-13 loss at Miami the following week.
Briles kept Houston on track, and the team beat Southern Miss in the championship game. Then, UH lost a shootout to South Carolina, 44-36, in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
Briles was named one of nine finalists for the Eddie Robinson national coach of the year award. Kolb was named the C-USA offensive player the year, and three others were first-team picks.
12:26 PM CST on Wednesday, November 28, 2007
By BRIAN DAVIS / The Dallas Morning News
brdavis@dallasnews.com
Baylor has called a news conference for 5:30 p.m. today to announce that Art Briles has been hired as the school's new head coach, a university source said.
Briles, currently the head coach at Houston, will be replacing Guy Morriss, who was fired on Nov. 18 after completing a 3-9 season.
Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw received permission from Houston AD Dave Maggard to talk to Briles on Monday. McCaw and Briles met on Tuesday at an undisclosed location in Dallas, and then Briles went home without being offered the job.
"Art just indicated that they talked in general teams and no offer was made," Maggard said Tuesday. "He thought they would resolve it in probably the next couple of days."
However, Briles was offered the job early Wednesday, a source said, and Briles accepted. The financial details were not immediately known. Baylor University is a private school and does not have to release details about its coaching contracts.
Briles signed a contact extension last year with Houston. He makes $900,000 annually with the Cougars and could make up to $1 million with incentives. Morriss earned $1.2 million per year.
Briles was an immensely successful high school coach at Stephenville during the 1990s. The program was a Class 4A powerhouse, winning back-to-back state titles in 1998 and '99. The 1998 team racked up 8,650 total yards, which was a national record at the time.
In six years at Stephenville, Briles was 91-11-1.
When Texas Tech hired Mike Leach, he needed someone with knowledge of Texas high schools. That person was Briles, who became the Red Raiders' running backs coach in 2000.
Briles stayed in Lubbock only three seasons. While he was a solid recruiter, Briles was somewhat marginalized as Leach installed his own pass-oriented system. That prompted Briles to search for a head coaching job, and he landed back at his alma mater, Houston, prior to the 2003 season.
The Cougars started off 5-1 in 2003 and went to their first bowl game in seven years. UH was only one of seven Bowl Subdivision teams to score 40 points in at least seven games that year.
UH dropped back to 3-8 in 2004 but managed to go 6-6 the following year. Led by quarterback Kevin Kolb, the Cougars still had the No. 1 offense in Conference USA in 2005.
Houston enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2006 by going 10-4 and winning the C-USA championship. The team ranked 10th nationally in scoring (33.0) and seventh in total offense (277.8 yards per game).
One of the program's marquee wins that year was a 34-25 win over Oklahoma State. UH suffered a disappointing 14-13 loss at Miami the following week.
Briles kept Houston on track, and the team beat Southern Miss in the championship game. Then, UH lost a shootout to South Carolina, 44-36, in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
Briles was named one of nine finalists for the Eddie Robinson national coach of the year award. Kolb was named the C-USA offensive player the year, and three others were first-team picks.