November 27, 2007

Baylor gets OK to interview Briles

Despite the "Houston Nutt" to Baylor talk, it appears that the first Houston on the Bears wish list is Cougars coach Art Briles. And BU may get their wish as the University of Houston has agreed to allow Briles to interview for the Baylor position. Briles will interview with Baylor today in Dallas.

"Art asked for permission to talk to Baylor, and I said OK," said UH athletic director Dave Maggard. "We talked about it. I asked if he really felt that he needed to do this, and he said that it was something he needed to do. I told him that I wanted him to stay in Houston. That was it."

Briles - who owns a 34-28 record with the Cougars - is considered one of the top young coaches in the country. His Houston teams have played in four bowl games in five years and won the Conference USA title in 2006. Following the 2006 season, Briles had his contract extended at UH and received a bump in pay to $975,000.

Briles has a sliding scale buyout in his contract, with a diminishing buyout term for each year he remains at Houston.

I think this would be the perfect hire for Baylor -- by far.

Briles has a great reputation within Texas and has proven to be a solid recruiter. A coach who came up through the Texas high school ranks, Briles rolled up four Texas state high school championships at Stephenville and has maintained his connections among the state's coaches.

While Baylor has not been competitive in the Big XII, there's no reason to think that Briles can't be successful on the bigger stage with his offensive system. And while Baylor may only be a stepping stone for Briles -- he's been rumored as a future replacement for Leach at his alma mater, Texas Tech -- the Bears can certainly reap the benefits now.

Posted by Kevin Donahue