After six years in self-imposed exile from the college football ranks, former Baylor and Houston head coach Art Briles could be on the verge of a return.
According to FootballScoop, Briles is being targeted for the offensive coordinator role at Grambling State. Grambling State recently hired former NFL head coach Hue Jackson as their new head coach, but have yet to install a full staff.
Briles has been out of the college football ranks since his firing from Baylor in 2015. Over the past six years he’s tried his hand at football in the high school ranks, the CFL and even the Italian Football League.
Briles signed a two-year deal with Mount Vernon High School in Texas in 2019 and led the team to a 20-6 record as well as the state playoffs. He resigned in December 2020 and was out of football in 2021.
Grambling is targeting Art Briles as offensive coordinator, sources tell @FootballScoop.https://t.co/Gi2qlXYk37
— Zach Barnett (@zach_barnett) February 14, 2022
As head coach at Houston from 2003 to 2007, Art Briles led the Cougars to four bowl games and a Conference USA title. He parlayed his success in Houston into the Baylor job in 2008, and quickly restored the program to glory.
In 2010 he led the Bears to their first bowl game in over 15 years. Over the next five years Baylor would enjoy some of the greatest seasons in school history, picking up their first Heisman from Robert Griffin III in 2012, back-to-back Big 12 titles in 2013 and 2014, and going 50-15 between 2011 and 2015.
But Briles was ousted in 2016 in the wake of a sexual assault scandal that rocked the program. He was fired and several high ranking members of the Baylor athletic department were forced to resign.
Briles may never hold a head coaching job in college football again. But it seems his coaching acumen may be too strong to keep him out of the game entirely.