College Football Confidential

Baylor was dancing with the stars

When the search for Baylor's head football coach finally ended with Art Briles getting the job, I started thinking about the perfect analogy for the situation.

Briles beat out No. 1 candidate Mike Singletary for the coveted job, but here's how I saw it. Singletary was candidate 1A and Briles was candidate 1B.

It reminded me of the TV show, Dancing With the Stars, where the race car driver and the Spice Girl were the two finalists in this year's event. In that case, the race car driver beat out the Spice Girl.

In Baylor's case, Briles was the race car driver and Singletary was the Spice Girl.

Sorry, Mike.

_ Dwain Price

Nice rebound by Baylor

Today's announcement that Art Briles will be the new football coach at Baylor marks a nice rebound for athletic director Ian McCaw in a search that had been sprialing in the wrong direction -- from a perception standpoint -- since Baylor legend Mike Singletary took his name out of the running last Wednesday.

Baylor may not be as committed to pursuing a national championship as Singletary would like, but the Bears showed some commitment to trying to climb out of the Big 12 South Division basement by putting together a reported seven-year package for Briles, at $1.8 million per season. The length of the contract is more significant than the payout because it suggests a willingness to let Briles recruit and develop his own players before he is judged by the W' and L's. That's key in any turnaround situation.

With Briles, Baylor gets something it would not have had with Singletary: a coach with longterm ties to the Texas High School Coaches Association. The former Stephenville HS coach is well-liked among that group and should be in position to pluck some plums from off-the-beaten-path HS programs thanks to input from his former THSCA peers.  At the very least, he should be well-positioned to know about -- and, hopefully, sign -- a promising, undersized QB from Texas who can play at the Big 12 level before letting the next Todd Reesing (5-foot-10) go off and resurrect Kansas' football fortunes instead of Baylor's.

With Briles' wide-open, spread offense, Baylor's existing personnel should be a good match for the incoming coach and make for a more seamless transition period than is usually the case in these situations. But the big assest is Briles' recruiting ties to Texas' HS football coaches. Baylor will have to find its share of hidden jewels in that talent pool to turn things around, as they once did under Grant Teaff. Briles gives them a well-connected opportunity to do that.  A better opportunity, frankly, than they would have had with Singletary.

Will this work? No one knows. Baylor has suffered through 12 straight losing seasons. It will take time and talent to turn things around. From the looks of things, Baylor officials are willing to give Briles the time it takes. Bringing in the talent to do it is up to him. At the very least, he's well-connected with the people a Baylor coach must know to get the talent upgrades the school needs to get back to a bowl game -- forget about a championship -- sometime in the next three to four years.

_ Jimmy Burch

 

Art Briles takes Baylor job

Art Briles, the head coach at the University of Houston the last five years, will be named the head football coach of the Baylor Bears at a 5:30 p.m. news conference, a source said Wednesday.

Briles is expected to receive a seven-year deal worth $1.8 million a year. Houston has scheduled a team meeting for 12:30 p.m. this afternoon and one has been set at Baylor for 4 p.m. today.

Briles compiled a 34-28 record in his five seasons as the head coach of the University of Houston. During that span, he guided the Cougars to four bowl games, including a trip to this year’s Texas Bowl, which will be held Dec. 28 at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

Briles would replace Guy Morriss, who was fired Nov. 18 after the Bears posted an 18-40 record — they were only 7-33 in the Big 12 — in his five seasons as the Baylor head coach.

UH was 8-4 under Briles this season and 10-4 last year when won the Conference USA Coach of the Year award and the Cougars captured the conference’s championship. Briles also coached Stephenville to state titles in 1993, ’94, ’98 and ’99.

Overload?

The web site www.coacheshotseat.com, which tracks the status of college football coaches, is currently down. Wonder if the recent activity in the hiring/firing biz caused a computer melt down?

_ Wendell Barnhouse

Another quickie

Just over 12 hours after he announced his resignation at Arkansas, Houston Nutt has landed another job. Ole Miss is set to name Nutt as the successor to Ed Orgeron in Oxford.

This is just another example of coaching changes being orchestrated behind the scenes. Orgeron was fired after three seasons and just a day after the Rebels blew a 14-0 lead and lost to rival Mississippi State (which is bowl-bound).

The Ole Miss administration probably wouldn't have fired coach O unless it had a good idea it could hire Nutt. And Nutt would not have resigned _ he would have gotten more money if Arkansas had fired him _ unless he knew he was headed for Ole Miss.

One thing is certain _ those Razorbacks-Rebels game in the SEC West will be spicy for the next few seasons.

_ Wendell Barnhouse

Baylor, time's a wasting

I wouldn't blame Baylor alumni if they're just a bit concerned, because time's a wasting.

It took Texas A&M only three days to get rid of coach Dennis Franchione and replace him with Mike Sherman. Meanwhile, today marks Day No. 9 since Baylor fired coach Guy Morriss.

Of course, the Bears' search for Morriss' replacement suffered a major hiccup when their top candidate, former Baylor All-American linebacker and current San Francisco 49er assistant head coach and defensive coach Mike Singletary, told them he would love to take the job if Baylor was serious about contending for national championships. Now we know why Singletary was ceremoniously scratched from Baylor's wish-list.

Today the Bears will interview University of Houston coach Art Briles. From where I'm sitting, give Briles the job!

Offer the man a five-year package worth $1.2 million a year plus incentives, and I promise you'll have a coach by the end of the day. Time's a wasting.

Briles led Houston to four bowls in his five years with the Cougars. The Bears would love to go bowling. If they happen to contend for some national championships along the way _ as Singletary suggested _ that's mere icing on the cake.

In the meantime, time's a wasting.

_ Dwain Price

UPDATE: Black Monday for coaches

It's official in Arkansas. Houston Nutt resigned Monday evening. Apparently he realized that the program's fractured fan base would never come together while he was the coach.

Washington State fired Bill Doba. He replaced Mike Price, who left for Alabama but wound up at UT-El Paso. There's a decent chance that Price will return to Pullman to coach the Cougars.

The number of coaching openings is at 12.

-- Wendell Barnhouse

Air Force in Armed Forces Bowl

The Fort Worth-based Armed Forces Bowl will invite Air Force as its Mountain West Conference team. The official announcement will come later this (Monday) afternoon. The Armed Forces Bowl will be played at 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 31 in Amon Carter Stadium.

Under first-year coach Troy Calhoun, the Falcons went 9-3 and their 5-2 record was good for second place in the MWC.

Air Force's opponent will either be a team from the Pacific-10 Conference or Purdue.

The Pac-10 has six bowl-eligible teams and agreements with six bowls. However, if the Pac-10 places a second team in the Bowl Championship Series as an at-large invitee, the league won't have enough bowl-eligible teams.

In that case, the Armed Forces Bowl is free to select a team from another conference. Teams with seven or more victories get first priority. Purdue, which finished 7-5, probably won't go to one of the Big Ten Conference's affiliated bowls and should be available to come to Fort Worth.

The Pac-10 bowl situation will be decided Saturday. USC can clinch a spot in the Rose Bowl by beating UCLA. Arizona State would probably become a BCS at-large team by defeating Arizona. However, if UCLA beats USC and Arizona beats Arizona State, UCLA would go to the Rose Bowl. That would also make Arizona bowl-eligible and would probably knock Arizona State out of at-large BCS consideration.

_ Wendell Barnhouse

Black Monday for coaches

Monday was not a good day to be a college football coach (unless you're Mike Sherman).

If the reports are true _ and schools don't call news conferences to announce contract extensions _ Arkansas will send Houston Nutt to the unemployment line Monday around dinner time. Georgia Tech fired Chan Gailey, Duke fired Ted Roof, Jeff Bower retired after 17 years at Southern Miss and Northern Illinois' Joe Novak announced his retirement.

Texas A&M had the quickest turnaround on the coaching carousel _ Dennis Franchione, gone on Friday; Mike Sherman, hired on Monday.

Arkansas scheduled a news conference for 6:30 p.m. Monday. If Nutt is dismissed, he could end his unemployed status quickly and take the Baylor job ... if it's offered. If indeed Nutt is out in Fayetteville, there will be 11 schools looking for coaches: Baylor, Nebraska, Michigan, SMU, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Duke, Southern Miss, Northern Illinois and Colorado State.

First-year North Carolina coach Butch Davis last week had his contract extended by a year and his yearly compensation increased by nearly $300,000. That move was made to counter a possible offer from Arkansas. It's still possible that Davis, an Arkansas grad, would listen to what the Boss Hogs have to say if they try to woo him.

_ Wendell Barnhouse

A&M names Sherman as football coach

Mike Sherman, the Houston Texans' offensive coordinator, is the new football coach at Texas A&M.

Sherman, 52, takes over the program three days after Dennis Franchione accepted a buyout that was announced after the Aggies’ 38-30 victory over Texas on Friday. Sherman has strong ties to Texas A&M with two stints as an assistant coach, serving as the offensive line coach from 1989-93 and 1995-96 under former coach R.C. Slocum. After leaving Texas A&M in 1996, he went to the NFL as an assistant coach for the Green Bay Packers. In 2000, he was named head coach of the Packers, a position he held for six years.

He had a winning record in five of his six seasons and overall was 57-39. Green Bay went to the playoffs four times under Sherman, winning the division three consecutive years from 2002-04. The Packers were 2-4 in the playoffs under Sherman and never advanced to the NFC Championship Game.

He was fired after his sixth season, when the Packers went 4-12. After leaving the Packers, he was hired by Texans’ head coach Gary Kubiak, a former Texas A&M quarterback, to be an assistant head coach/offense. He was named offensive coordinator in January.

-- John Miller