Baylor coach Art Briles signed a contract extension that runs through the 2023 season, he confirmed Wednesday.
Briles, 57, last year signed a contract through the 2020 season that reportedly averaged nearly $3.5 million. Financial terms of the new contract aren’t known. Baylor is a private university.
“Art Briles and Baylor are a wonderful fit,” athletic director Ian McCaw said in a statement. “We are grateful for his long-term commitment and desire to lead Baylor football forward for many years to come. Baylor Nation is indebted to Coach Briles for his vision, passion and dedication to rebuilding Baylor football and turning it into a destination job.”
Briles led Baylor to an 8-0 start for the first time in program history and a No. 5 BCS ranking entering Saturday’s game in Arlington, Texas, against Texas Tech. Games against two other BCS Top 25 teams — No. 12 Oklahoma State and No. 24 Texas — remain and will determine the Big 12 championship. The outcome of the Dec. 7 home game against the Longhorns lines up as a de facto conference championship.
Briles, in his sixth season with the Bears since he arrived from the University of Houston, said he was blessed and humbled to remain in Waco. Briles’ name was mentioned in connection with anticipated openings from the University of Texas — where embattled coach Mack Brown could be replaced — to Southern Cal, which fired Lane Kiffin on Sept. 30 after a 3-2 start.
The rebuilding effort at Baylor was considerable.
Briles is 41-30 with the Bears despite starting 8-16 in his first two seasons.
McCaw said Briles is to credit for turning Baylor into a “destination job” that other head coaches would covet. The program’s success — due in part to the presence and popularity of quarterback Robert Griffin III, the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner — caused interest and support in the football program to explode.
In 2014, the Bears move into a new $260 million on-campus stadium.