Kendal Briles has been a name tied to Nebraska’s offensive coordinator opening for years, and that hasn’t changed now that Matt Rhule has moved on from Dana Holgorsen. If Rhule wants a proven Power Four play-caller, Briles is hard to ignore.
He’s spent more than a decade running offenses in the SEC, ACC and Big 12, and that kind of résumé is rare. Briles got his start under his father, Art Briles, at Baylor, where he helped build the Bears’ explosive spread attack before taking over as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2015.
From there, he kept moving. Briles has coordinated offenses at Florida Atlantic, Houston, Florida State, Arkansas and TCU before Shane Beamer brought him to South Carolina last December.
The production has followed him almost everywhere. Baylor led the country in scoring in 2015 at 48.1 points per game and in total offense at 616.2 yards per game. That team featured Corey Coleman, who won the Biletnikoff Award and became a first-round NFL Draft pick.
At Florida Atlantic in 2017, Briles helped Lane Kiffin guide the Owls to a Conference USA championship while they averaged 40.6 points and 498.4 yards per game. Those numbers ranked eighth and ninth nationally, and running back Devin Singletary piled up 1,920 rushing yards and 32 rushing touchdowns to earn Conference USA MVP honors.
His Houston offense in 2018 was even more eye-catching in a different way. D’Eriq King accounted for 50 touchdowns in 11 games, throwing 36 and rushing for 14. That kind of output says a lot about what Briles wants his offense to be.
His veer-and-shoot system spreads defenses out with wide receiver alignments, tempo, vertical passing concepts and RPOs that punish opponents for overcommitting. The spacing also opens up the run game, and Briles has shown that formula can work against SEC defenses.
Arkansas was a strong example. His offenses finished seventh nationally in rushing in back-to-back seasons, averaging 227.8 yards per game in 2021 and 236.5 in 2022.
The 2022 Razorbacks also ranked 15th nationally in total offense at 471.2 yards per game. That group included Raheim Sanders, an Associated Press first-team All-SEC selection, and center Ricky Stromberg, who earned first-team all-conference honors and won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy.
Briles’ time at TCU showed another layer of the system. The Horned Frogs finished in the nation’s top 10 in passing offense in each of his three seasons. Josh Hoover set a school record with 3,949 passing yards in 2024, and tight end Jared Wiley was a first-team All-Big 12 pick in 2023.
South Carolina’s first season with Briles has shown the balance he can create. The Gamecocks are scoring 34.7 points per game, good for 24th nationally, and averaging 452.6 yards per game, which ranks 21st. They’re also putting up 205.4 rushing yards per game, 20th nationally, along with 247.1 passing yards per game, which ranks 41st.
He’s also worked with a wide range of quarterbacks, from mobile players like King and Arkansas’ KJ Jefferson to more traditional passers such as Hoover.
The biggest hurdle isn’t fit. It’s money.
South Carolina gave Briles a three-year, $6.3 million deal that pays him $2 million this season, $2.1 million in 2027 and $2.2 million in 2028. That’s well above what Nebraska paid Holgorsen, and the contract includes language that governs an early exit.
Troy Dannen would have to spend serious money to pry him away from Columbia.
There’s also the question of whether Nebraska would be making a one-year bet if Rhule doesn’t get the program to the playoffs in 2027 and the two sides part ways. Even so, Briles shouldn’t be brushed off as impossible.
He’s already coordinating an SEC offense, has major control over his system and is one of the highest-paid offensive coordinators in the country. But he’s also been something of a coaching nomad. Since leaving Baylor after the 2016 season, he has worked at six schools in 10 seasons, including one-year stops at Florida Atlantic, Houston and Florida State before landing at Arkansas in 2020.
He spent three seasons with the Razorbacks, then moved to TCU for another three before returning to the SEC at South Carolina this year. Not every move was an obvious upgrade, and that track record suggests he’s willing to jump when the right opportunity comes along.
That doesn’t mean Nebraska would have an easy sell, especially with the uncertainty around Rhule’s future. But Briles has made a career of moving around. Why not make him say no?
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