Briles Joins Football Staff
December 23, 1999 | Football
Dec. 23, 1999
LUBBOCK, Texas - Art Briles, one of the most successful high school coaches in Texas prep football history has joined the Texas Tech football coaching staff, according to an announcement today by head coach Mike Leach.
The head coach at Stephenville High School for the last 12 years, Briles has authored four Texas high school state championships. The president-elect of the Texas High School Coaches Association guided Stephenville to back-to-back state titles in 1993-94, as well as in 1998-99.
?This is a great opportunity for us at Texas Tech to have Art Briles as part of the family,? Leach said. ?His accomplishments speak for themselves. Four state titles and numerous offensive records are awful hard to ignore.?
Briles posted a 126-21-1 record during the decade of the 90s at Stephenville and has guided SHS to the playoffs 11 straight years. In 16 years as a high school head coach he posted a 172-42-4 record and made 13 trips to the playoffs.
?We are committed to putting together the best possible staff,? Leach said, ?and I believe we are on the way to assembling one of the finest coaching staffs I?ve ever been associate with.?
Briles will coach running backs at Texas Tech and is the sixth assistant hired by Leach. He joins Manny Matsakis, Sonny Dykes and Robert Anae on the offensive side of the ball, where Leach will serve as his own offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Defensive coordinator Greg McMackin and defensive assistant Ron Harris round out Leach hires to date. ?I am so thankful for our time at Stephenville and for being a Texas high school coach,? Briles said. ?At the same time, I?m looking forward to new challenges and the opportunity of coaching in Big 12 Conference football.?
Known for his offensive prowess, Briles? 1998 Stephenville team set the all-time national high school record for total offense with 8,650 yards. His 1994 and 1993 teams hold the third and fourth highest all-time offensive totals. This year?s state championship team totaled over 7,000 yards offense.
Briles and his wife, Jan, are the parents of three children. Their oldest daughter, Jancy is a sophomore at Texas Tech, while the youngest daughter, Staley, is an eighth-grader. Son Kendal quarterbacked Stephenville to the state title as a junior this season.