Kendal Briles hired as Florida State offensive coordinator
Kendal Briles is on the move yet again.
Briles, the son of former Baylor head coach Art Briles, was officially announced as Florida State’s offensive coordinator on Sunday. FSU was looking for an offensive coordinator after Walt Bell left Tallahassee after one season to become the head coach at UMass.
Briles, who will be Florida State’s primary play-caller, resigned after Houston’s humiliating bowl loss to Army on Saturday. He had a buyout at Houston around $850,000, according to Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel.
“I am incredibly humbled by this opportunity and appreciate Coach Taggart’s trust in me,” Briles said in a Florida State statement. “I also appreciate him supporting my desire to finish this season at my alma mater by coaching in our bowl game yesterday. We both understand what this offense should be, and I have complete confidence in our ability to meet the goals he has for us. Sarah and I are excited to be part of Florida State and are looking forward to integrating ourselves within the Tallahassee and FSU communities.”
The Florida State job will be the younger Briles’ third since the tumultuous end of his father’s tenure at Baylor in the fallout of the sexual assault scandal at the school. After Art Briles (who now coaches in Italy) was fired and his staff was not retained after the 2016 season, Kendal found work as Lane Kiffin’s offensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic in 2017. He then spent the 2018 season as the offensive coordinator under Major Applewhite at Houston.
Now, he is moving to one of the premier programs in the ACC to help Taggart dig out from a disastrous opening season as the Seminoles’ head coach. FSU went 5-7 and missed out on a bowl game for the first time since 1982. The offense struggled mightily along the way.
“I’m excited about the addition of Kendal to our staff,” Taggart said. “He brings play-calling experience and familiarity with the type of scheme and tempo we will run, which is similar to the offenses he has coordinated. His ability to recruit, manage an offensive staff, develop quarterbacks and make in-game adjustments will be beneficial to us as we evolve in our offense. Kendal has success at the Power 5 level and has also shown his adaptability to personnel and situations that occur during a season. He had multiple opportunities following the 2018 season and we feel the fit here will be a good one.”
Because of the turmoil at Baylor, the Briles name comes with plenty of baggage. When Applewhite hired Briles at Houston, he noted that Briles was thoroughly vetted. A morality clause was also included in Briles’ contract that said he could be fired with cause if any undisclosed information about his time at Baylor emerged.
Kendal Briles spent nine seasons as a Baylor assistant, including eight under his father. Art Briles was fired in May 2016 as Baylor’s board released findings from an investigation into the school’s handling of sexual assault allegations, including several involving football players.
The investigation, conducted by law firm Pepper Hamilton, found “specific failings within both the football program and athletics department leadership” and said there were “significant concerns about the tone and culture within Baylor’s football program as it relates to accountability for all forms of student-athlete misconduct.” The firm also said Baylor failed to properly follow Title IX protocols. President Ken Starr was also fired while athletic director Ian McCaw turned in his resignation. McCaw was later hired as Liberty’s athletic director.
The Big 12 mandated that Baylor implement 105 recommendations from Pepper Hamilton after the law firm conducted a nine-month investigation into the school and its processes. During that time the recommendations were implemented, which the Big 12 called the “Baylor University Verification Process,” the conference withheld more than $14 million in revenue from the school.
The NCAA reportedly sent a formal notice of allegations to Baylor earlier this season.
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