Art Briles opens up on how close he came to taking Texas job in 2013

Back when Texas was officially looking to replace Mack Brown after the 2013 season, the Longhorns eventually landed on Charlie Strong. However, not too far up I-35 was Art Briles, putting together nice on-field performances with the Baylor Bears. Briles was strongly linked to make the move to Austin but wound up staying in Waco.

Over a decade later, Briles opened up on how close he actually came to taking the Texas job. If Baylor had beaten UCF in the Fiesta Bowl, he believes there might have been some movement. But the Bears lost and ultimately, Briles did not want to abandon the program.

“Honestly, if we had won that game, it might have come to fruition,” Briles said via Royden Ogletree of KWTX. “But I just had all these guys that had come up with us and made the journey to where we were at. Honestly, at that time, I felt like I would have been betraying them and the university.

“Beacuse we had beaten them in ’10, ’11, and ’13. We had beaten them three out of the last four years… It could have gotten real real but I never let it get there. They wanted to come out to Arizona and meet with me after the game and all that stuff. I just said no. It wasn’t right, it wasn’t the right time.”

Briles stayed and spent just two more seasons for an overall 65-37 record. A win against Texas came in 2014 before losing a home game to close out the 2015 regular season. Baylor went a total of 21-5 while Texas struggled to get off the ground with Strong at the helm.

That summer, Baylor fired Briles due to a sexual assault scandal. He has not coached in college football since, making multiple stops in the Italian Football League. Mount Vernon High School, a 3A program in East Texas, had him as their head coach too.

As for Texas, Strong got fired after three seasons on the 40 Acres and a 16-21 overall record. Tom Herman replaced him, lasting through the 2020 season. Steve Sarkisian came in to be the next guy and has worked out quite well.

Texas won the Big 12 in 2022 before transitioning to the SEC the following year. It’s been two straight years of the College Football Playoff, reestablishing itself on the national stage. The journey may have taken a little longer than expected the Longhorns have to feel happy with the timeline of events.