Art Briles reportedly close to joining Grambling staff

It looks like Art Briles will soon be coaching at an HBCU.

The former Baylor University head coach is reportedly close to being hired by Grambling State, according to a report by Football Scoop. The deal hasn’t been finalized yet but is expected to be completed.

Grambling State head coach Hue Jackson is looking to fill his offensive coordinator position after Ted White was hired by the Houston Texans.

After a brilliant career as a high school coach, Briles went 34-28 as the head coach at Houston from 2003-07 before taking over at Baylor. Baylor improved tremendously under Briles as he lead the perennial Big 12 doormat to back-to-back conference titles in 2013-14.

Briles was eventually dismissed from Baylor in 2015 following an assault scandal in 2015. Since then he’s served as offensive coordinator of the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats and spent part of 2019 coaching in Italy. He spent two years coaching at the high school level in Texas before sitting out coaching in 2021.

Grambling State would represent the first college coaching job for Art Briles since Baylor. 

GSU averaged a SWAC-worst 16.9 points per game last fall under Brodrick Fobbs and Co. It also averaged a league-low 232.5 yards per contest.