Kendal Briles has spent enough time around high-powered offenses that his name keeps surfacing whenever Nebraska has an opening at offensive coordinator. That’s been true through multiple coaching eras, and it’s true again now after Matt Rhule’s firing of Dana Holgorsen.
If Rhule is looking for an established Power Four play-caller, Briles fits the bill. He has more than a decade of experience running offenses in the SEC, ACC and Big 12, and there aren’t many coordinators with that kind of résumé.
Briles got his start working under his father, Art Briles, at Baylor, where he helped shape the Bears’ explosive spread attack before taking over as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2015. From there, he moved through a long list of stops: Florida Atlantic, Houston, Florida State, Arkansas, TCU and now South Carolina, where Shane Beamer hired him last December.
The production has followed him. 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 title while they averaged 40.6 points and 498.4 yards per game, good for eighth and ninth nationally. Running back Devin Singletary piled up 1,920 yards and 32 rushing touchdowns and was named Conference USA MVP.
His Houston offense in 2018 was just as eye-popping. D’Eriq King accounted for 50 touchdowns in 11 games, throwing for 36 and running for 14. That kind of output is part of what makes Briles’ system so appealing.
His version of the veer-and-shoot leans on extremely wide receiver splits, tempo, vertical passing and RPOs that force defenses into bad choices. The spacing also opens up the run game, and Briles has shown that the approach can work against SEC defenses.
Arkansas is a good example. His offenses ranked 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 finished 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 also showed a different side of the system at TCU. 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 earned first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2023.
His first year at South Carolina has brought a more balanced profile. The Gamecocks are 24th nationally in scoring at 34.7 points per game and 21st in total offense at 452.6 yards per game. They’re averaging 205.4 rushing yards, which ranks 20th, and 247.1 passing yards, which ranks 41st.
Briles’ background also includes work with a wide range of quarterbacks, from mobile playmakers like King and Arkansas’ KJ Jefferson to more traditional passers like Hoover.
The catch is cost. 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 early-departure provisions. Any attempt to bring him to Lincoln would require a serious financial push from athletic director Troy Dannen.
That said, Briles shouldn’t be brushed off as unreachable. 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 years with the Razorbacks, then three more at TCU before returning to the SEC at South Carolina this season.
Not every move has been an obvious upgrade, and that track record suggests he’s open to changing jobs when the right opportunity comes along. Leaving after one year would be difficult, especially with uncertainty around Rhule’s future, but Briles has shown a willingness to move. Nebraska can at least make him turn it down.
He’s built some of the most explosive offenses in college football and has proven his system can fuel a strong running game against major-conference competition.
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