Could Kendal Briles bring a longtime staffer with him to South Carolina?
Inside the private jet carrying new South Carolina offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, offensive line coach Randy Clements and their family from Texas to Columbia was one other person.
His name is Mike Anthony and, though he wasn’t hired at South Carolina when he flew on the jet with Briles and Clements, a team source said USC is talking to Anthony about a role on staff.
Following his introductory press conference on Friday — which Anthony attended — Briles acknowledged he would love to bring Anthony with him to Columbia.
“Sure hoping to,” Briles said. “He’s got some other opportunities, but he would love to be here if it fits. Just trying to work through that process.”
That shouldn’t be much of a surprise, given that Anthony has basically been attached at the hip to Briles for over a decade.
It seems that the pair met at Baylor in 2009, when Anthony — then a freshman at the school — was a student assistant with the Bears’ football program and Briles was the wide receivers coach. Briles’ father, Art, was the Baylor head coach from 2008 to 2015, when he was fired amidst a sexual assault scandal.
After Anthony graduated in 2013, according to his bio from the University of Houston, he spent two football seasons “assisting the football program” and then served as the assistant director or operations and a offensive analyst in 2015 and 2016. Briles was Baylor’s offensive coordinator for both those seasons.
From there, as Briles began jumping around the country leading some of college football’s top offenses, Anthony was also on staff.
He was an analyst under Briles at FAU (2017) and Houston (2018). When Briles’ took over as Florida State’s offensive coordinator in 2019, Anthony was a “senior offensive analyst,” per the school’s media guide.
He became an offensive quality control staffer at Arkansas (2020-2022). And at Briles’ most-recent stop, TCU, Anthony was a senior offensive analyst (2023), assistant wide receivers coach (2024) and an assistant quarterbacks coach (2025).
While it might seem like Anthony is just a trusted friend Briles likes to have with him, he is a crucial part of Briles’ success. Per a source who worked with Briles and Anthony at a previous stop, he was instrumental in helping Briles install his offense and formulate weekly game plans.
“He’s a football guy through and through. That’s all he cares about,” Briles said of Anthony on Friday. “And just incredibly smart. Knows the offense. He’s good with the offense and, you know, we just think the same.”
“He’s great on game days, as well,” Briles continued, “as far as making adjustments and helping me.”
Briles has already brought one loyal assistant with him to South Carolina. Clements, the Gamecocks’ new offensive line coach, was hired by Art Briles at Stephenville High School (Texas) in 1990 and has been an OL coach under Kendal Briles at Baylor, Houston, Florida State and TCU.
“Adversity is coming, and I know how he’s going to handle it,” Briles said of Clements. “He’s a foxhole guy. ... When you’ve been in wars with a guy, you know how he’s going to react; and coach Clem is one of the best.”
Familiarity brings comfort. Briles has that at South Carolina with Clements on staff and, well, it would only be enhanced if Anthony joined him, too. One could imagine how that would help Briles get his offense scheme installed more precisely and efficiently at a new place.
“It makes it so much easier whenever I’m wanting to do something, he already knows what I’m talking about,” Briles said of Anthony, “and we can get it communicated really quickly to other people.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
