Hot Board: What HC candidates could replace Art Briles at Baylor?
At this point, anyone with the internet knows what occurred this morning at Baylor. The University released a statement, including excerpts from the Pepper Hamilton report detailing the findings and decisions moving forward. Briles is officially "suspended with intent to terminate" at the moment, but the writing is on the wall and there is a much bigger story than who will become the next head coach.
This site covers recruiting though, and a coaching change of this magnitude drastically impacts that aspect of the Baylor program - especially considering who the program brings in as the next head coach.
Even more concerning, the 2016 signees were mostly scheduled to begin arriving in Waco next week to enroll. What happens with those players, will current players be released, and how does this effect the current 2017 recruiting class at Baylor?
The perception of this head coaching opportunity at the moment aside, here is a list of potential candidates at Baylor. For more details on each candidate from SicEmSports publisher Kevin Lonnquist, click here.
Bailiff, age 58, is currently the head coach at Rice and has over 30 years of coaching experience around the state of Texas. He holds a 37-35 record in nine seasons as the head coach of the Owls.
Babers, age 54, is currently the head coach at Syracuse and was recently hired away from Bowling Green this past December. He holds a 37-16 record as a head coach and led the Falcons to a 18-9 record, including a conference championship and bowl victory, over two seasons at Bowling Green.
Babers was also part of Art Briles' initial coaching staff at Baylor in 2008 and spent four seasons in Waco as the wide receivers, running game coordinator, and special teams coordinator before taking the head coaching position at Eastern Illinois following the 2011 season.
Montgomery, age 44, is currently the head coach at Tulsa and just completed his first season with the Golden Hurricanes, finishing 6-7 with a loss to Virginia Tech in the Independence Bowl. He spent over 15-plus years coaching under Art Briles at both the college and high school level dating back to Stephenville high school in 1995.
Montgomery worked as the Baylor offensive coordinator, quarterbacks and running backs coach from 2006-2014.
Fedora, age 53, is currently the head coach at North Carolina and led the Tar Heels to an 11-3 record this past season - including a loss to Baylor in the Russell Athletic Bowl. He holds a 66-39 record as a head coach at both North Carolina and Southern Mississippi.
Prior to becoming a head coach, Fedora worked in the Big12 conference as the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State from 2005-2007. He also worked as the wide receivers, tight ends, and running backs coach at Baylor from 1991-1996 under then head coaches Grant Teaff and Chuck Reedy.
Fedora was born and raised in Texas, attending and playing football at Austin College, then going on to coach Texas high school football at Garland for three years before joining the college coaching ranks.
Dykes, age 46, is currently the head coach at Cal and holds a 14-23 record in three seasons with the Golden Bears. He is the son of former Texas Tech head coach Spike Dykes and worked his way through the coaching ranks for several years with stops at the Texas high school football level, the junior college level, and eventually the Division One collegiate level.
Dykes spent four seasons as the wide receivers coach and another two seasons as the co-offensive coordinator under Mike Leach at Texas Tech. He then spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arizona, then accepted the head coaching position at Lousiana Tech in 2010 before joining Cal as the head coach in 2013.
Gilbert, age 37, is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks at Texas. He was recently hired by Charlie Strong this past December, but does have ties to Art Briles and the Baylor program.
Gilbert worked as a graduate assistant under Briles at the University of Houston, then after a six year stint coaching Texas high school football, he joined Dino Babers as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at both Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green.
Gilbert spent the past season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Tulsa, working under former Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery.
Herman, age 40, is currently the head coach at Houston and has done a terrific job with the Cougars' program considering it was his first head coaching opportunity. He led Houston to a 13-1 record and a Peach Bowl victory over Florida State, finishing as the No. 8 team in both the AP and Coaches Polls.
Herman's coaching career started in the state of Texas and he now has over 10 years of experience coaching across the state. His background as a offensive-minded coach, plus his success at both Ohio State and now Houston make him an attractive candidate for Baylor.
Morris, age 47, is currently the head coach at SMU and led the Mustangs to a underwhelming 2-10 record in his first year on the job. He holds over 20-plus years as a Texas high school football head coach with tons of success, including multiple state championships.
With his connections throughout the state and his background as a successful offensive coordinator at Clemson, it would not be surprising to see Baylor look in Morris' direction to replace Briles.
Cumbie, age 34, is currently the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at TCU. With the co-coordinator title, many expected Cumbie or his counterpart Doug Meachum to take the opening at Texas earlier this year. Meetings and talks occurred, but nothing every happened and both stayed with the Horned Frogs.
Cumbie, a former Texas Tech quarterback, started his coaching career with the Red Raiders as a graduate assistant in 2009 and worked his way up to co-offensive coordinator by the 2013 season.
He has played in or coached the famous 'Air-Raid' offense, or his version of the spread attack, for over 10 years now. Since arriving at TCU, Cumbie has helped the Horned Frogs' offense become one of the best in the nation.
Meachum, age 51, is currently the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at TCU. See above, the co-coordinator title caused much of the job search rumors for Meachum as well this off-season. He was connected with the Texas offensive coordinator search and a few other smaller head coaching opportunities, but eventually decided to stay with the Horned Frogs.
Meachum is also known for his offensive-minded coaching experience. He worked as the receivers coach at Oklahoma State from 2005-2012 and the offensive coordinator at Houston in 2013 for one season before being hired to the same role at TCU in 2014.
Of the two candidates, Meachum has more overall coaching experience.