Kendal Briles returns to Big 12 as TCU offensive coordinator

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Kendal Briles is headed back to the Big 12 as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at TCU, leaving Arkansas after three seasons.

The former Baylor assistant, whose hiring was announced Thursday, takes over for Garrett Riley. The younger brother of Southern California coach Lincoln Riley is taking over play-calling at Clemson.

Briles served under his dad, former Baylor coach Art Briles. The elder Briles was fired in 2016 because of allegations of sexual assault by football players.

Kendal Briles was a finalist for the 2015 Broyles Award, which goes to the nation’s top assistant coach, in his first season as Baylor’s offensive coordinator. He stayed on for another year after Art Briles was fired.

TCU will be Kendal Briles’ fifth stop as an offensive coordinator since leaving Baylor. He served in that role for one season each at Florida Atlantic, Florida State and Houston before joining the Razorbacks in 2020.

Arkansas ranked seventh nationally in rushing last season at 237 yards per game and 15th in total offense at 471. The Razorbacks finished with 3,075 yards rushing, their most in 19 years.

Briles inherits an offense that helped the Horned Frogs to a 13-2 finish that included a College Football Playoff semifinal victory over Michigan before a 65-7 loss to Georgia in the title game.

Quarterback Max Duggan, the Heisman Trophy runner-up who threw for 32 touchdowns with eight interceptions and ran for nine more scores, is skipping a final season of eligibility to turn pro.

Briles was a Texas state championship-winning high school quarterback at Stephenville in 1999 before Art Briles, the head coach, took a job as an assistant at Texas Tech. The younger Briles led Wolfforth Frenship to the state semifinals as a senior.

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