Baylor narrowing its coaching search to a few big names
Two names at the top of Baylor's list are Houston's Tom Herman and SMU's Chad Morris
Nov 18, 2016
We don't know who will be Baylor's coach at the start of the 2017 season, but it's becoming increasingly clear that it will not be Jim Grobe.
Earlier this week, CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd reported that former LSU coach Les Miles is on Baylor's short list to replace Art Briles, and now 247 Sports' Travis Haney reports that two other names at the top of the list are Houston's Tom Herman and SMU's Chad Morris.
As Haney writes, Baylor's new athletic director is Mack Rhoades, who was the athletic director at Houston when it hired Tom Herman. Rhoades didn't stick around long after hiring Herman, moving on to Missouri before winding up at Baylor (dude gets around). It's not clear if that connection would be enough to lure Herman, who is certainly a candidate for the LSU job, and would be considered at Texas and Oregon if those jobs opened as well. I'm not sure Baylor -- with everything that has gone on with the program over the last year -- would be as attractive a destination for Herman when compared to those other possibilities, but a source tells Haney that Baylor's "not giving up."
Chad Morris being a target is an interesting one, and it's also somewhat ironic. Herman's star had begun to fade in recent weeks before Houston lit up Louisville on Thursday night, and one of the reasons Herman had been losing some steam were unexpected losses to Navy and Morris' SMU squad. Morris is only 7-15 in his second season at SMU, but he's currently 5-5 this year after winning only two games in 2015. Before coming to SMU Morris spent four seasons at Clemson as it's offensive coordinator, helping Dabo Swinney turn that program into a national title contender. Before that, he spent many a year as a high school coach in Texas.
All of which would make Morris an attractive and smart target for Baylor. He could keep the offensive tradition alive, and he's very familiar with the high school football scene in Texas, which would help with recruiting. He may not have the same cache as Tom Herman, but he could prove to be a wise choice.
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