Baylor coach Art Briles has agreed to a new 10-year contract with the fourth-ranked Bears, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The new deal goes into effect after this season, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday night because the private university does not release contract details.
When Briles arrived at Baylor six years ago, the Bears had just finished their 12th consecutive losing season since the inception of the Big 12 under four different coaches in that span.
Briles is 41-30 at Baylor, which is 8-0 for the first time in school history and the only undefeated team in the Big 12. The Bears are fifth in the BCS standings and have won a school-record 12 games in a row. Briles’ fast-paced spread offense has turned Baylor into a national title contender this season. The Bears are averaging 61 points per game, on pace to break a major college football record.
A message left on Briles’ cellphone wasn’t immediately returned.
A 10-year deal would go through the 2023 season, and replace future years in his current contract. Financial details weren’t made available. He was already signed for multiple seasons.
Briles turns 58 next month.
Baylor went 4-8 in each of Briles’ first two seasons, including 2009 when Robert Griffin III suffered a season-ending knee injury in the third game of the season.
But in 2010, the Bears had their first winning season as a Big 12 team and made it to their first bowl game in 16 years. A year later, Griffin won the Heisman Trophy while the Bears capped their first 10-win season since Mike Singletary was a linebacker at the school 31 years earlier with a win over Washington in the Alamo Bowl.
Briles was 34-28 in five seasons at Houston, and took the Cougars to four bowl games.
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