Briles Commits to Baylor Amid Texas Tech Speculation

The timing seemed interesting Friday as second-year Baylor football coach Art Briles came out and affirmed his desire to continue the rebuilding the project he has started in Waco.

There was never any mention of a school or why on Jan. 1 Briles suddenly wanted to make known his commitment to the Baylor Bears. But we know the intent is to ward off the speculation that Briles will be the prime candidate to take over Texas Tech after Mike Leach was suddenly fired Wednesday on the heels of an 8-4 Alamo Bowl season.

Briles makes sense for so many reasons. He has West Texas ties as a former high school coach in the area and he worked as Leach's running backs coach for a few seasons and runs a similar style offense. He also turned around the Houston program running a similar style offense he learned under Leach.

However, it seems Briles wanted to send the message to potential recruits by letting everyone know he's staying put.

"I am proud to be a Baylor Bear and remain committed to making this program a source of pride for the Baylor family," Briles said. "I feel good about the direction of our program and the foundation that has been built for future success.

"Our coaching staff is excited to finish this recruiting class strong and start preparations for the 2010 season," he added. "Happy New Year and Sic 'em Bears, Baylor fans."

His message is in stark contrast to that of former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, who has expressed great interest in taking over the Red Raiders. The big difference between the two are are Briles has somewhere to be next season and he seems on the verge of turning around perennial loser Baylor.

There was a great expectation this season that Baylor might break a 14-year bowl drought with a talented young team, but those dreams faded when star sophomore quarterback Robert Griffin went down with an ACL injury during the second game of the season. The Bears finished 4-8 and 1-7 in the Big 12 to finish last in the South Division.

But with Griffin expected to return to the practice field in time for spring drills and with a nucleus of experienced players returning, the future could finally look promising for the Bears.

"I think we are close without a doubt," Briles said at the end of the season in November. "It is a tough league and a tough schedule. Every game that we didn't win this year was to a bowl-eligible team. We beat a team [Missouri] that went 8-4 and had [represented] the Big 12 North in the [Big 12 Championship] the last two years. There is some progress being made. It is a welcome challenge because that is what we are here to do -- we are here to do it right. We are on the road to doing that."

Briles' commitment to Baylor seems to be a major blow to Tech, which is stocked with talent suited to run a quick-strike passing offense. On the surface, the traditional offense the defensive-minded Tuberville has run would not fit the current Red Raiders or the incoming recruits, which would mean a major rebuilding project.

The leaves University of Houston coach Kevin Sumlin, Arizona offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes and current defensive coordinator/interim head coach Ruffin McNeill as the most logical choices to replace Leach if Tech has any hopes of a smooth transition. All three have experience running a similar-style offense.

Sumlin and his offensive coordinator Dana Holgersen, who worked on Leach's staff, run an offense that is almost identical to Tech's. Dykes has worked on Leach's offensive staff and is very familiar with the offense. McNeill, who is about to lead the Raiders against Michigan State in Saturday's Alamo Bowl, would likely adopt the philosophy by either promoting one of the current assistant coaches or perhaps luring Holgersen back to Lubbock.