Arthur Ray Briles (born December 3, 1955) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at Baylor University, a position he has held since the 2008 season. From 2002 to 2007, Briles was the head coach at the University of Houston.

Playing career[link]

A native of Rule, Texas, Briles attended Rule High School, where he was coached by his father. Playing quarterback and earning all-state honors, Briles accepted a scholarship offer by Bill Yeoman at the University of Houston. There Briles switched to wide receiver and played three seasons, including the 1977 Cotton Bowl Classic. His parents and aunt died in a car crash on their way to see him play in a game in October 1976. After finishing the 1976–77 academic year, Briles left Houston and transferred to Texas Tech to complete his bachelor's degree, which he earned in 1979.^[2][3] He went on to earn a master's degree in education at Abilene Christian University before entering coaching.^[2] Briles is a staunch churchgoer and has attested to the role his faith has had in influencing his coaching.^[4]

Coaching career[link]

High school[link]

Briles began his coaching career as an assistant at Sundown High School. From 1980 to 1983, he served as an assistant at Sweetwater High School. At age 28, he became head coach at 2A Hamlin High School, where he coached from 1984 to 1985. He guided the team to a 27–1–1 record including a 35-19 loss to Electra High School in the 1985 state semifinals. His instant success caught the attention of bigger schools, so Briles left Hamlin for 5A Georgetown High School in 1986, where he had a difficult two-year span in the school's first two seasons at the highest classification in Texas high school football. Briles left the school in 1987 with a 4–15–1 overall record.

In 1988, he took over head coaching duties at 4A Stephenville High School in Stephenville, Texas, a school that was playing in the same area as state powerhouse Brownwood High School and had not reached the playoffs in football since 1952. After a 4–5–1 season in 1989, Briles' Stephenville squads made the playoffs in 1990 and ever since. During Briles' tenure they won four state championships, including back-to-back titles in 1993 and 1994, and then again in 1998 and 1999. Coincidentally, in the 1993 and '94 state finals Briles' Stephenville squads faced La Marque, then coached by Briles' defensive coordinator at Houston, Alan Weddell.

Although Stephenville's offense was devastating throughout the 1990s, Briles shifted his offensive scheme from a running game in the early 90s to a passing game in the late 90s. Stephenville's first two state championship teams scored 89 touchdowns rushing in 1993, and 96 touchdowns rushing in 1994, which was second and third all-time in the nation, respectively, only behind Big Sandy's national record 114 touchdowns rushing from the 1975 season. In the late 90s, Briles adapted the spread offense and today is one of the coaches credited for introducing it to Texas high school football.^[6] His 1998 team posted 8,664 yards of total offense, breaking the 73-year-old national record 8,588 yards originally established by Pine Bluff High School in 1925.

Briles was also known for developing quarterbacks, sending six of his former players to Division I colleges, including Branndon Stewart, Kevin Kolb, and his son Kendal Briles.

College[link]

Briles left Stephenville after the 1999 season to join Mike Leach's staff at Texas Tech. While serving as running backs coach, Briles improved Texas Tech's rushing average every year from 66.4 yards a game in his first year to 99.6 yards a game in 2002. He also coached all-conference backs and later NFL players Ricky A. Williams, Shaud Williams, and Taurean Henderson.

In 2003, Briles was hired as head coach at the University of Houston, where he took over a program that had an 8–26 record under the previous coach, Dana Dimel. The Cougars went 0–11 just two years before Briles's arrival. In his first season, Briles led the Cougars to a 7–5 record, including a 48–54 triple overtime loss to Hawaiʻi, in the Sheraton Hawaiʻi Bowl.

After a 3–8 season in 2004, Briles guided the Cougars to a 6–6 season and another bowl game in 2005. In 2006, he led the Cougars to a 10–4 record and the Conference USA Championship that was played on December 1, 2006. The Cougars won the game 34–20 and it was the school's second C-USA Championship (the first came in 1996, in the school's inaugural season in the C-USA).

In 2007, the Cougars finished second in the Conference USA West Division to Todd Graham's Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Houston was invited to the Texas Bowl, which was played December 28, 2007 at Reliant Stadium.^[7] It was Houston's fourth bowl appearance in five years. Briles left the Cougars before their bowl game to take the head coaching job at Baylor.

Briles interviewed for the Baylor head coach position on November 27, 2007, and was hired the next day for a seven-year term.^[8][9][10] At Baylor, Briles was faced with a familiar task to turn around another rebounding program. Within three years, Art Briles led the Baylor Bears to their first bowl game in 15 years.

In his first season at Baylor, Briles led the Bears to a 4–8 record, 2–6 in Big 12 play. The season featured the emergence of freshman quarterback Robert Griffin, and the team's second win in 23 years over rival Texas A&M. In his second season at Baylor, the Bears again finished with a 4–8 record. However, they only went 1–7 in Big 12 conference play. Griffin was injured and missed every conference game. Baylor bounced back in 2010 with a 7–5 (4–4 conference) record with Griffin, who passed for over 3,000 yards, at the helm. Also the Baylor Bears achieved a bid in the Texas Bowl to play Illinois.

Briles led the 2011 Baylor team in its most successful season since the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996. With Baylor's win in the 2011 Valero Alamo Bowl game, Briles led the Bears to a 10-3 record; the 10 wins tied for the most by a Baylor team in school history with the 1980 team. The 2011 season opened at home against 14-ranked TCU. In a nationally televised game, Baylor won a dramatic 50-48 decision. It was Baylor's first win over a ranked opponent since 2004. In Big 12 Conference play the Bears would accumulate a 6-3 record, eclipsing their previous high of 4 conference wins in 2010. The Bears finished a perfect 7-0 at Floyd Casey Stadium, including a 45-38 upset victory over the #5 Oklahoma Sooners and a 48-24 victory over #22 Texas. The victory over Oklahoma was the first for the Bears, having lost the previous 20 meetings between the two schools. In 2011, Baylor also defeated Texas Tech for the first time since 1995 (snapping a 15 game losing streak to the Red Raiders). Following the conclusion of the 2011 regular season, Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, who Briles was instrumental in recruiting and developing, was awarded the 77th annual Heisman Trophy.^[11]

Head coaching record[link]

College[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Baylor profile
• Houston profile
• Art Briles at the College Football Data Warehouse

Robert Lee Griffin III (born February 12, 1990), nicknamed RG3, is an American football quarterback for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Baylor University, and won the 2011 Heisman Trophy. He was selected by the Redskins with the second pick of the 2012 NFL Draft.^[1]

Early years[link]

Griffin was born in Japan, where his parents, Robert Jr. and Jacqueline, both U.S. Army Sergeants, were stationed. The family later lived at Fort Lewis in the U.S. State of Washington,^[2] and then moved to New Orleans, before finally settling in Copperas Cove, Texas in 1997.^[3][4]

Football[link]

Griffin attended Copperas Cove High School, where he was a three-sport star in basketball, football, and track. He started at quarterback for two seasons. During his junior season, he passed for 2,001 yards and 25 touchdowns with two interceptions, while compiling 876 rushing yards for 8 touchdowns. He received first-team All-District 16-4A honors after the season. As a senior, he recorded 1,285 rushing yards, posting 24 touchdowns, and passed 1,356 yards for 16 touchdowns with seven interceptions. In his senior season Copperas Cove finished with a record of 13–2, and lost in the championship game of the 2007 Class 4A Division I state playoffs. Over the two seasons, he rushed for a total of 2,161 yards and 32 touchdowns, while passing for 3,357 yards and 41 touchdowns with nine interceptions.^[5]

Track[link]

In track, he broke state records for the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles. He ran the 110-meter hurdles in 13.55 seconds, and the 300-meter hurdles in 35.33 seconds. The 300-hurdles time was one-hundredth of a second short of breaking the national high school record. He was also a gold medalist in the 110 and 400-meter hurdles on the AAU track and field circuit. In 2007, as a junior, he was rated the No. 1 high school 400-meter immediate hurdler in the country, and was tied at No. 1 for the 110-meter sprint hurdler in the nation. His personal best in the 110-meter hurdles, 13.46 sec, ranked fifth in the world among junior athletes,^[6] while his personal best in the 400-meter hurdles, 49.56 sec, was World Junior Leading in 2007.^[7] Also as a junior, he received the Gatorade Texas Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year award,^[5] and was named to USA Today′s 2007 All-USA Track and Field team.^[8]

College recruitment[link]

Robert Griffin III at 2009 Meet the Bears scrimmage

Rivals.com, a college football recruiting service, ranked Griffin the fourth-best dual-threat quarterback in the nation and the 42nd-best player in Texas in the high school prospect class of 2008.^[9] During the college recruiting period, Griffin was pursued by Stanford, Tennessee, Kansas, Nebraska, Houston, Tulsa, Illinois, Washington State, and Oregon. Griffin initially committed to play for the University of Houston under head coach Art Briles. When Briles left Houston to take the head coaching position at Baylor, Griffin switched his commitment and eventually signed a National Letter of Intent to play for Baylor,^[10] in part because the university also had a top track and field program.^[11]

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	40‡	Commit date
Robert Griffin QB	Houston, Texas	Copperas Cove HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	4.4	Dec 3, 2007
	Scout:   Rivals:   ESPN grade: 77
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 12 (QB)   Rivals: 4 (Dual-threat QB)  ESPN: 40 (QB)
Note: In many cases, Scout and Rivals may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, an average of the two was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Baylor Football Commitments". Rivals.com. http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/commitments/2008/alabama-79. Retrieved 2011-12-14.  "2008 Baylor Football Commits". Scout.com. http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=44&p=9&c=8&yr=2008. Retrieved 2011-12-14.  "ESPN". ESPN.com. http://espn.go.com/college-football/recruiting/school/_/id/239/class/2008. Retrieved 2011-12-14.  "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=44&p=9&c=14&yr=2008. Retrieved 2011-12-14.  "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. http://www.rivals.com/TeamRank.asp?type=0&sort=0&year=2008. Retrieved 2011-12-14.

College career[link]

Griffin graduated from high school a semester early, after serving as class president and ranking seventh in his class.^[11] He began attending Baylor in the spring 2008 semester at 17 years old. On the track team, Griffin finished first place in the 400-meter hurdles at both the Big 12 Conference Championship and the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship meets; he also broke the NCAA Midwest Regional 400-meter hurdles record. He placed third in the NCAA meet and also participated in the U.S. Olympic Trials, in which he advanced to the semifinals.^[3] Griffin graduated in three years with a degree in political science and a 3.67 GPA, while appearing on the Dean's List twice^[11], and is currently studying for a Masters in Communication.^[12]

2008 season[link]

As a true freshman, he earned Big 12 Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year honors. Griffin started 11 of 12 games his freshman season. In the upset 41–21 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies, he recorded 13-of-23 passes for 241 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and no sacks.^[13]

Griffin garnered Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors from the league's coaches (who are not allowed to vote for their own players) as well as the media.

The team finished the season with a 4–8 record (2–6 Big 12).^[14]

2009 season[link]

Griffin sat out for the remainder of the 2009 season after sustaining an isolated tear to his ACL in the first half of the third game and his third start of his sophomore year. The Bears picked up a 68-13 victory over Northwestern State.^[15]

Season record was 4–8 (1–7 Big 12).

2010 season[link]

Griffin was granted redshirt status so he entered the 2010 season as a redshirt sophomore. According to the bylaws, players who are injured after playing less than 30 percent of the season may be eligible (Griffin was injured during game three of 12 of the 2009 season, with 25 percent of the season completed).^[16]

Baylor finished the season 7–6 (4–4 Big 12).

2011 season[link]

Coming into the 2011 season, the Baylor Bears were not expected to do well, being picked 6th in the Big 12 preseason poll.^[17] The Bears opened the season with 15th ranked TCU. The Bears took a 47-23 lead into the 4th quarter, and were able to fight off a comeback after TCU gained the lead 48-47 briefly, only for Baylor to kick the game winning field goal and win 50-48. They pulled off the upset in large part to Griffin's performance, who passed for 359 yards, 5 touchdowns and a 77.8% completion percentage. Following the win, Baylor entered the AP Poll rankings for only the third time in the previous 15 seasons, at 20th,^[18][19] and Griffin was considered by many to be a Heisman Trophy candidate.^[20] After a bye week, Baylor shut out Stephen F. Austin State University 48-0 and Griffin went 20 of 22 (90.9%) for 247 yards and 3 touchdowns and ran for 78 yards.^[21] In week 4, Griffin ushered Baylor to their third win, beating Rice University 56-31. Griffin completed 29 of 33 passes (87.9%) for 338 yards with 51 yards rushing and a touchdown.^[22] In week five, against Kansas St. Griffin almost brought the bears to their fourth win, but lost 36-35 to Kansas St. completing 23 out of 31 (74.2%) for 346 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception. In week five against Iowa St. Griffin took Baylor to Iowa for their fourth win completing 22 out of 30 (73.3%) for 212 yards, one touchdown, and zero interceptions. He won the Heisman Trophy, becoming the first player from Baylor to win it.

Griffin, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science with a 3.67 grade point average in December 2010, began pursuing a masters in communications in 2011.^[23][24] On January 11, 2012, Griffin officially announced his intention to enter the 2012 NFL Draft.^[25]

Statistics[link]

• **Griffin sat out for the remainder of the 2009 season after sustaining an isolated tear to his ACL in the first half of the third game and his third start of his sophomore year.

• In 2009, Griifin had one (1) punt for 59 Yards.
• In 2011, Griffin had three (3) punts for a total of 99 yards, the longest was 39 yards.

College awards and honors[link]

• 2011 Heisman Trophy winner
• 2011 Associated Press College Football Player of the Year winner
• 2011 Davey O'Brien Award winner
• 2011 Manning Award winner
• 2011 Consensus All-American
• 2011 Finalist for Walter Campbell Player of the Year
• 2011 Finalist for Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
• 2011 Finalist for Wuerffel Trophy
• 2011 Semifinalist for Maxwell Award
• 2010 Semifinalist for Maxwell Award
• 2010 Semifinalist for Walter Campbell Player of the Year
• 2010 Baylor's Kyle Woods Inspirational Leader
• 2008 Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year (as selected by the league's coaches^[26] and the media^[27][28][29])
• 2008 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week (received honor for the week of September 7–14, 2008; Griffin led the Bears to a 45–17 victory over Washington State on September 12, breaking various school records in the process^[30])
• 2008 Sporting News^[31] and Rivals.com^[32] freshman first team All-American
• 2008 Big 12 gold medalist (400m hurdles)
• 2008 Track & Field All-American (400m hurdles)
• 2008 Baylor Offensive MVP

School records[link]

• 2008 Rushing yards by a freshman: 843
• 2008 Rushing yards by a QB: 843
• 2008 Rushing yards Per attempt (Game): 20.45 vs. Washington State, (11 for 225 yards)
• 2008 Rushing TDs (Season): 13 (tied)
• 2008 Rushing TDs by a QB (Season): 13
• Rushing TDs by a QB (Career): 23
• 100-yard Rushing games by QB (Season): 4
• 100-yard Rushing games by QB (Career): 5

Professional career[link]

2012 NFL Draft[link]

Griffin was not perceived as a first-round draft pick prior to his junior season.^[33][34][35] By midseason, however, he had drawn the attention of NFL scouts and analysts, now being projected an early first round selection.^[36][37] Towards the end of his junior season, Griffin had established himself as the No. 2 quarterback prospect for the 2012 NFL Draft, behind the unanimous first pick projection Andrew Luck.^[38][39]

Griffin was widely projected to be the No. 2 pick of the draft, but the team originally holding the pick—the St. Louis Rams—had already selected Sam Bradford to be their long-term starting quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. Wanting to stick with Bradford, the Rams decided to deal the pick prior to the draft, with the Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins perceived as the most interested bidders. After a brief bidding process, the Redskins acquired the pick by giving the Rams four high-value draft picks over three years: their No. 6 overall pick in 2012, their second-round pick in 2012, and their first-round picks in 2013 and 2014.^[40]

As expected, the Redskins selected Griffin at No. 2, making him the second Baylor Bear to be drafted this high in four years (after Jason Smith in 2009), but the first Baylor quarterback to be chosen second overall since Adrian Burk in 1950.

2012 Season[link]

Griffin will wear number 10 for the Redskins, with Griffin III on the back of his jersey. This will make him the first player in American sports history to have a Roman numeral on his jersey, as the NFL changed the rule in 2012 to allow players to include generational titles on their name plates.^[42]

Personal[link]

Robert Griffin III has family ties to New Orleans. His paternal grandfather, Robert Griffin I, was a foreman for a New Orleans construction company. He died in 1984 at age 43 from a brain aneurysm after suffering from glaucoma for several years.^[2][43] Financial hardship caused the family to move to the Desire Projects neighborhood.

Griffin's father, Robert Griffin II, a talented basketball player at Kennedy High School, enlisted in the Army before he graduated.^[43] While stationed in Fort Carson, Colorado, he met and later married Jackie Griffin (née Ross).^[2] The couple were deployed to Okinawa, Fort Lewis, and Fort Hood, nearby where they eventually settled after retiring from the military.

At Baylor, Griffin met his fiancée Rebecca Liddicoat, a native of Boulder, Colorado.^[44]

References[link]