HuskerfaninOkieland Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Big 12 Notebook By JOSEPH DUARTE Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle One-fourth of the Big 12 coaching fraternity will be in the unemployment line by the end of this month. Nothing says happy holidays like a pink slip (and a nice hefty buyout). That could be waiting at the Thanksgiving table for Texas A&M's Dennis Franchione, Baylor's Guy Morriss and Nebraska's Bill Callahan. One coach who is not on the hot seat but could find himself with employment options outside the Big 12 is Texas Tech's Mike Leach. Leach has flirted with other jobs in the past, including an interview for the University of Miami job last offseason, and there is speculation Pirate Mike could be a candidate if Karl Dorrell is fired at UCLA. Leach, who is from California and went to law school at Pepperdine, is believed to have interest in returning to the West Coast. In 2006, he signed a new five-year contract that reportedly will pay him $10 million if he remains at Tech through 2010. If Leach were to depart Lubbock, the Red Raiders' No. 1 target would be Houston coach Art Briles, who spent three seasons as an assistant at Tech under Leach. Briles is also expected to be a candidate for the Nebraska and Baylor jobs. Briles has the Cougars in position for a second straight Conference USA title, and they are bowl eligible for the fourth time in five years. Briles, who is an intriguing coaching candidate because of his strong recruiting ties in Texas, interviewed last November for the Iowa State job that eventually went to Texas co-defensive coordinator Gene Chizik. In Waco, there continues to be rampant speculation that Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker and Baylor legend Mike Singletary is the choice to replace Morriss. Singletary interviewed for the job before Morriss was hired but had no coaching experience at the time. Singletary has yet to be a head coach, but he's spent five seasons as an NFL assistant with Baltimore and San Francisco. He's also interviewed for three NFL head coaching jobs, most recently with the Dallas Cowboys last winter. While the hiring of Singletary would create a buzz for a Baylor program that has suffered 12 consecutive losing seasons, there is some concern about timing if he were offered the job. Singletary likely would be unable to leave the 49ers until January, putting the Bears at a disadvantage in recruiting with signing day the following month. Quote Link to comment
hack Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 art briles to nebraska? sure, why not? everyone else is up for the job, what's one more coach? Quote Link to comment
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