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Art Briles and Tubby. That's what you want to replace Leach with?
By John Werner Tribune-Herald staff writer
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Myers contacted Baylor for permission to interview Art Briles for its vacant head coaching job on Tuesday, according to a source close to Baylor.
But now the ball is in Briles’ court whether he wants to interview for the Red Raiders’ job. Briles was unavailable for comment Tuesday night.
Last Friday, Briles issued a statement affirming his commitment to the Baylor football program.
“I am proud to be a Baylor Bear and remain committed to making this program a source of pride for the Baylor family,” Briles said. “I feel good about the direction of our program and the foundation that has been built for future success.”
A major obstacle for Texas Tech could be a $4 million buyout in Briles’ contract at Baylor.
Briles, a West Texas native, has Texas Tech ties since he graduated from the university in 1979 and served as running backs coach under former Red Raiders coach Mike Leach for three seasons from 2000-02. In his first college head coaching job, Briles guided the Houston Cougars to four bowl appearances in five seasons before going 8-16 in his first two seasons at Baylor.
The Texas Tech job opened on Dec. 30 when Leach was fired after 10 seasons amid allegations that he mistreated receiver Adam James after he suffered a concussion. Leach was in the first season of a five-year, $12.7 million contract, and his attorney said that he plans to file a lawsuit against Texas Tech.
Texas Tech has already interviewed Red Raiders interim coach Ruffin McNeill and former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville for the job.
McNeill served as a Texas Tech assistant for 10 seasons, and has been defensive coordinator for the last three seasons. Following Leach’s firing, McNeill led the Red Raiders to a 41-31 win over Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl.
After McNeill met informally with Texas Tech President Guy Bailey on Monday, athletic director Gerald Myers said, “He’s going to have strong consideration, no doubt about that.”
Tuberville, who is currently working as an ESPN analyst, interviewed Tuesday for the job. Tuberville went 85-40 in 10 seasons at Auburn, including a 13-0 record in 2004. He led the Tigers to five SEC Western Division les and eight straight bowl appearances from 2000-07 before resigning in 2008 following a 5-7 record.
Texas Tech officials have indicated that they want to end the coaching search by the end of the week.
Before coming to Auburn, Tuberville coached at Mississippi and compiled a 25-20 record in four years after inheriting a program under serious NCAA scholarship sanctions. He also spent a year as defensive coordinator at Texas A&M when the Aggies finished 10-0-1 and were among the nation’s defensive leaders.
Leach-Tech fight
Leach has denied he mistreated James, son of former NFL player and ESPN analyst Craig James.
The sop re alleges the coach twice ordered him to stand while confined to small, dark places after the player was diagnosed with a concussion.
Leach was fired with cause, which means the university does not have to pay him any of the money remaining in his contract, or the $800,000 he was due to receive Dec. 31 if he was still coaching Tech.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Art Briles and Tubby. That's what you want to replace Leach with?
Art Briles would be fine with me.
Tubby, not so much because I'd hate to see everything scrapped to start over.
Ruffin
But Tubby's initials are Double-T. It seems like a sign from God.
I'd be happier with Briles coming in, but I'll be ok if they give Ruffin a shot at it.
It would be so great to see Briles go to Tech and Leach go to Baylor.
I believe Ruffin would command much less money to coach the team, there is no buyout to deal with and the transition through Ruffin to Briles later on would be better IMHO. *shurgs*
financial reasons would definitely be an advantage in keeping McMuffin.
You could make him the lowest paid coach in the conference and he would still be smiling from ear to ear.
X2 ............... and the players seem to love that guy.
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