Baylor coach Art Briles said Friday he has no desire to pursue another job and plans to lead the defending Big 12 champion Bears into their new stadium next fall.
With his name linked to the opening at Texas, and speculation increasing after the Bears’ most successful season ever, Briles sent a tweet on his account that read “Contrary to reports and rumors I am a Baylor Bear _ 2013 Big 12 Champs.” The school later released a statement from the coach.
“As I’ve said many times, I am both humbled and honored to be the head coach at Baylor University, and believe we have something special going here,” Briles said. “I look forward to leading the Bears onto the field next fall at McLane Stadium and defending our Big 12 championship that our players and coaches worked so hard to win this season. `’
The sixth-ranked Bears finished 11-2 after losing 52-42 to No. 15 UCF on Wednesday night in the Fiesta Bowl, their only Bowl Championship Series appearance. They finished the regular season with a 30-10 win over Texas to clinch their first Big 12 title, Baylor’s first outright conference title since the 1980 Southwest Conference.
“There is tremendous excitement for our program’s future, and I look forward to many more great seasons at Baylor,” Briles said. “There is tremendous commitment from our university leadership, athletic administration, coaches and student-athletes _ it truly is a great time to be a Baylor Bear.”
Baylor next season moves into a new $260 million stadium on the Waco campus.
Briles in November agreed to a new 10-year contract through 2023, though the 58-year-old coach had already been signed for multiple seasons past this year. He is 44-32 at Baylor, and this season was the unanimous pick as AP All-Big 12 coach of the year.
The private school doesn’t reveal financial terms, but the new deal was reportedly worth more than $4 million a season.
When Briles arrived at Baylor six years ago, the Bears had just finished their 12th consecutive losing season under four coaches since the inception of the Big 12.
Baylor is 29-10 over the past three seasons, a stretch that began in 2011 with Robert Griffin III winning the Heisman Trophy before being the No. 2 overall pick by the NFL’s Washington Redskins. The Bears have been to four consecutive bowls for the first time in school history.
Briles went to Baylor from Houston, where he was 34-28 in five seasons (2003-07). The Cougars were 0-11 two seasons before he arrived, but Briles led them the 2006 Conference USA championship and four bowl games.
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