Art Briles
Art Briles went 99–67 as a head coach, 2003–2026, at Houston, Baylor and Eastern New Mexico. Share
One season our game records don’t credit to him comes from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2026 at Eastern New Mexico. It’s marked in the table.
- Record
- 99–67 career
- Seasons
- 14
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Best season
- 2014 11–2, No. 7
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Houston | 7–6 | T–6th | Hawai’i Bowl L | ||
| 2004 | Houston | 3–8 | T–5th | |||
| 2005 | Houston | 6–6 | T–3rd | Fort Worth Bowl L | ||
| 2006 | Houston | 10–4 | 1st | Liberty Bowl L | ||
| 2007 | Houston | 8–4 | T–1st | Texas (not coached) | ||
| 2008 | Baylor | 4–8 | T–5th | |||
| 2009 | Baylor | 4–8 | 6th | |||
| 2010 | Baylor | 7–6 | 4th | Texas Bowl L | ||
| 2011 | Baylor | 10–3 | T–3rd | Alamo Bowl W | 13 | |
| 2012 | Baylor | 8–5 | T–5th | Holiday Bowl W | ||
| 2013 | Baylor | 11–2 | 1st | Fiesta Bowl L | 13 | |
| 2014 | Baylor | 11–2 | T–1st | Cotton Bowl L | 7 | |
| 2015 | Baylor | 10–3 | 4th | Russell Athletic Bowl W | 13 | |
| 2016–25: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2026 | Eastern New Mexico * | 0–2 | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
Players he coached
Phil TaylorNo. 21 pick, 2011- Kendall WrightNo. 20 pick, 2012
- Danny WatkinsNo. 23 pick, 2011
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 39 | 12–27 | 31% |
| Against top-10 teams | 19 | 6–13 | 32% |
| Against rivals | 29 | 17–12 | 59% |
| Conference games | 109 | 63–46 | 58% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 9 | 3–6 | 33% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 53 | 26–27 | 49% |
| At home | 82 | 60–22 | 73% |
| On the road | 65 | 30–35 | 46% |
| At neutral sites | 17 | 9–8 | 53% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 96 | 83–13 | 86% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 68 | 16–52 | 24% |
His own 164 games on file, 2003–2015, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Gundy 2006–2015 | 4–5 | Oklahoma State | 9 | |
| Bob Stoops 2004–2015 | 3–6 | Oklahoma | 9 | |
| Gary Patterson 2003–2015 | 3–5 | TCU | 8 | |
| Bill Snyder 2010–2015 | 5–1 | Kansas State | 6 | |
| Paul Rhoads 2009–2015 | 4–2 | Iowa State | 6 | |
| Mack Brown 2008–2013 | 3–3 | Texas | 6 | |
| Jeff Bower 2003–2006 | 2–3 | Southern Miss | 5 | |
| Chris Scelfo 2003–2006 | 4–0 | Tulane | 4 | |
| David Bailiff 2007–2015 | 4–0 | Rice | 4 | |
| Dana Holgorsen 2012–2015 | 2–2 | West Virginia | 4 |
Art Briles’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma Stateseries | 9 | 4–5 |
| Oklahomaseries | 9 | 3–6 |
| Riceseries | 8 | 7–1 |
| Texas Techseries | 8 | 5–3 |
| Texasseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| TCUseries | 8 | 3–5 |
| Kansasseries | 7 | 6–1 |
| Iowa Stateseries | 7 | 5–2 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Sundown HS (TX) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 1980–83 | Sweetwater HS (TX) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 1984–85 | Hamlin HS (TX) high school | Head coach | |
| 1986–87 | Georgetown HS (TX) high school | Head coach | |
| 1988–99 | Stephenville HS (TX) high school | Head coach | |
| 2000–02 | Texas Tech | Running backs coach | |
| 2003–07 | Houston | Head coach | |
| 2008–15 | Baylor | Head coach | |
| 2018 | Guelfi Firenze | Head coach | |
| 2019–20 | Mount Vernon HS (TX) high school | Head coach | |
| 2022–25 | Guelfi Firenze | Head coach | |
| 2026–present | Eastern New Mexico | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Mike LeachTexas Tech
Assistants who became head coaches
- Philip MontgomeryTulsa, Virginia Tech
- Dave ArandaBaylor
- Sterlin GilbertMcNeese
- Chris ThurmondHouston
- Dino BabersBowling Green, Syracuse, Eastern Illinois
- Jeff LebbyMississippi State
- Jim GushGarden City, Navarro
- Phil BennettSMU, Pittsburgh, North Texas
Worked under (1)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Leach | Texas Tech | 2000–02 | Running backs coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (8)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philip Montgomery | Stephenville HS (TX), 1997–99: quarterbacks and running backs coach; Houston, 2003–06: quarterbacks and running backs coach; 2007: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks and running backs coach; Baylor, 2008–11: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks and running backs coach; 2012–14: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Tulsa, Virginia Tech | |
| Dave Aranda | Houston, 2003–04: linebackers coach | Baylor | |
| Sterlin Gilbert | Houston, 2005: graduate assistant | McNeese | |
| Chris Thurmond | Houston, 2006–07: cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator | Houston | |
| Dino Babers | Baylor, 2008: wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator; 2009–11: special teams and wide receivers coach | Bowling Green, Syracuse, Eastern Illinois | |
| Jeff Lebby | Baylor, 2008–11: offensive quality control coach; 2012–14: running backs coach; 2015: passing game coordinator, running backs coach and ORC | Mississippi State | |
| Jim Gush | Baylor, 2011–15: linebackers coach | Garden City, Navarro | |
| Phil Bennett | Baylor, 2011–15: defensive coordinator | SMU, Pittsburgh, North Texas |
Other assistants under him (10)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Joe Gillespie | Stephenville HS (TX), 1995–99: assistant coach | |
| Derrick Odum | Houston, 2003–04: defensive backs coach | |
| Ron Harris | Houston, 2003–05: defensive coordinator | |
| Alan Weddell | Houston, 2005: linebackers coach; 2006–07: defensive coordinator | |
| Matt Mattox | Houston, 2005: strength and conditioning coach; 2006: graduate assistant | |
| Randy Clements | Houston, 2007: co-offensive coordinator; Baylor, 2008–13: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Brian Norwood | Baylor, 2008–10: defensive coordinator; 2011–14: assistant head coach and safeties coach | |
| Kendal Briles | Baylor, 2008–11: inside receivers coach and ORC; 2012–14: wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator; 2015: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Kim McCloud | Baylor, 2008–10: defensive backs coach | |
| Joe Jon Finley | Baylor, 2015: offensive quality control coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Briles’s teams went for it on 31% of fourth downs and on 47% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 47% of plays and took 21.7 seconds a play, 2004–2015.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 3 g | Houston | 7 of 27 26% | 50% | 49% | 19.0 | −0.10 | |
| 2005 11 g | Houston | 21 of 87 24% | 42% | 50% | 23.1 | +0.02 | |
| 2006 14 g | Houston | 33 of 91 36% | 62% | 51% | 25.5 | +0.14 | |
| 2007 6 g | Houston | 14 of 45 31% | 42% | 49% | 23.9 | +0.11 | |
| 2008 12 g | Baylor | 28 of 86 33% | 49% | 41% | 26.6 | +0.04 | |
| 2009 12 g | Baylor | 20 of 94 21% | 38% | 59% | 22.3 | −0.12 | |
| 2010 13 g | Baylor | 22 of 96 23% | 32% | 53% | 20.5 | +0.11 | |
| 2011 13 g | Baylor | 27 of 75 36% | 54% | 45% | 20.9 | +0.23 | |
| 2012 13 g | Baylor | 31 of 94 33% | 43% | 46% | 19.4 | +0.18 | |
| 2013 13 g | Baylor | 24 of 98 24% | 45% | 43% | 19.4 | +0.21 | |
| 2014 13 g | Baylor | 35 of 105 33% | 55% | 48% | 19.4 | +0.19 | |
| 2015 13 g | Baylor | 41 of 95 43% | 52% | 37% | 19.5 | +0.22 | |
| All 136 g | 303 of 993 31% | 47% | 47% | 21.7 | +0.12 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.