Résumé check: How Kendal Briles fared as offensive coordinator with previous teams
South Carolina has its newest offensive coordinator. Is he any good?
Kendal Briles was named the next OC for Gamecock football on Thursday. Briles, son of former Houston and Baylor head coach Art Briles, comes to Columbia by way of Texas Christian University, where he’s been the Horned Frogs’ offensive coordinator since 2023.
Now, Briles faces maybe his toughest coaching challenge yet: Revitalizing a South Carolina offense that, depending on the status of players like LaNorris Sellers and Nyck Harbor, could be run by an entirely new personnel in 2026.
Briles has held five other OC jobs besides his gig with TCU, and helped increase the average yards per game from the season before he arrived with each program he’s been with. Here’s a breakdown of how each Kendal Briles-led offense performed, by the numbers:
Baylor (2015-16)
Briles got his first OC job in 2015 while under his father at Baylor. He’d been with the team since 2008 as a wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator.
In 2015, the Bears put up 8,011 yards of total offense, 86 touchdowns and 26 turnovers. Baylor averaged 48.4 points per game and 616.2 yards per game. His offense ranked No. 1 in the country for average yards and points per game. Briles was a finalist for the Broyles award, which goes to the best assistant coach in college football each season.
Seth Russell was Briles’ main quarterback at Baylor, but future NFL quarterback Jarrett Stidham played under Briles in 2015 before transferring to Auburn.
Briles left Baylor in 2016 after his father was terminated as part of a scandal that revealed university officials failed to take action regarding alleged assaults by Baylor football players. A lawsuit filed after the scandal alleged Kendal Briles used potential access to female students as a way to entice recruits.
FAU, Houston, Florida State (2017-19)
After leaving Baylor, Briles bounced around three schools for one season each. He started with Florida Atlantic under head coach Lane Kiffin in 2017, then to his alma mater Houston and eventually back to the state of Florida with the Willie Taggart-led Seminoles.
In three seasons at three schools, Briles led his offenses to 202 total touchdowns and 18,948 yards. He coached future NFL running backs Devin Singletary and Cam Akers, as well as current Southern Methodist quarterbacks coach D’Eriq King.
At FAU and Houston, Briles’ offenses averaged led his teams’ respective conferences in scoring with an average of more than 40 points per game. The Owls were top-10 in total yards under Briles after being 72nd the year before. He elevated Houston from 40th nationally to 14th.
His time at FSU was less dominant. The Seminoles averaged 408.3 yards and 27.9 points per game, which ranked sixth and ninth in the ACC. FSU’s total offense still improved from 103rd to 59th in the nation under Briles.
Briles left FSU in December 2019 after Taggart was fired with three games left in the season.
Arkansas (2020-22)
Briles coached the Razorbacks for three seasons, leading the team to 128 touchdowns and 15,783 total yards. Arkansas’ average yards and points per game improved in each of the three seasons Briles was in Fayetteville, culminating in a top-5 SEC offense in 2022 with 471.2 average yards per game. He also coached a future first-round pick in wide receiver Treylon Burks and eventual Gamecock transfer Rocket Sanders.
His biggest offensive turnaround came with the Razorbacks. In two seasons, Briles took Arkansas from the nation’s 111th-ranked team for total offense in 2019 to the No. 27 team in 2022.
Briles left Arkansas after he was named TCU’s head coach Jan. 19, 2023.
TCU (2023-25)
Briles’ path led to his most recent stop with TCU.
He replaced Garrett Riley in the position, who left after his Broyles award-winning 2022 season to become the OC at Clemson. In three seasons with the Horned Frogs, Briles led his offense to 16,253 total yards and 151 touchdowns.
Briles initially jumped Riley’s offense from 455 yards per game in 2022 to 466.7 yards per game in 2023, but TCU’s offense regressed each year under Briles. In 2025, it up 47 touchdowns ad 5,104 yards — both the lowest in Briles’ three-year tenure. TCU’s 425.3 average yards per game in 2025 was still good enough for fourth in the Big 12.
Quarterback Josh Hoover played under Briles for three seasons at TCU and was the primary starter. He threw for 3,472 yards and 29 touchdowns this season and has one year of eligibility remaining.
This story was originally published December 11, 2025 at 11:15 AM.
