Submitted by admin on Fri, 2006-12-01 08:00. ::
They have the same goals for UH, but they haven't always agreed on how to accomplish them. Someday, they'll look back and admire what they've built.
Here's hoping they share a long, emotional bearhug tonight at Robertson Stadium. Here's hoping for a packed house and a happy ending when the Cougars play Southern Miss for the Conference USA championship.
After all the years and all the frustration, UH has earned this one. For Briles and Maggard, for Kevin Kolb and the other seniors who've worked so hard. Also for that small, resolute group of fans who never stopped caring.
Things will be changing at UH, and not just because Kolb is graduating. Maggard is 66. He's feels the tug of California. Win, lose or draw, he's probably not going to be at UH much longer.
Briles is adamant that he wants to stay. But he did interview for the Iowa State opening last week. Texas defensive coordinator Gene Chizik got that job, but Briles will have other opportunities.
He's making $550,000 a year plus incentives. That's $100,000 less than Dana Dimel was making and about half what some other Conference USA coaches are getting.
Briles has been told his contract will be addressed after the season. His bargaining power might never be greater. He took over a program that had gone 8-26 the previous three years. He's 25-23 and about to take the Cougars to their third bowl in four seasons. He's got another solid recruiting class on the way.
He seemed a perfect fit when he was hired four years ago. There have been some bumps in the road, but he has taken the program in the right direction.
There are things Briles will tell you about the last four years and things he won't. But he doesn't want his words misunderstood. He wants to stay.
He has changed in four years. He had some growing and some learning to do. Much of it has come in the year since that 29-point loss to Kansas in the Fort Worth Bowl.
He got tougher. He hired a new strength coach and some new defensive coaches. Players were ordered to report to the weight room at sunrise many mornings. Results were immediate.
"I thought he was going to kill us," senior safety Will Gulley said of new strength coach Larry Jackson. "But when we got to the fourth quarter this year, you felt the difference. We got stronger while other teams were dying out."
Being tough doesn't come naturally to Art Briles. He's loyal to a fault, naturally easygoing, instantly likable. Wouldn't you like that to be the harshest thing anyone says about you?
Give Briles credit for changing. He'd had so much success at Stephenville High and had been part of a successful program at Texas Tech. He probably didn't know all he didn't know.
"I think I've really grown as a coach in a lot of areas," he said. "Probably not that much in schemes and those types of things. You've got your things you believe in. As far as understanding and handling student-athletes, teaching them how to be accountable and respectful, how to be self-motivated and have a feeling of self-worth, I think I've grown in that area. Without a doubt."
"I think we've challenged them to be more accountable. If that means tougher, yes. We've taken the program up a level in that area each year. We've always felt we've done things the right way. We've demanded they go to class. We've asked them to be respectful of people on and off the field."
Attendance might always be a problem at UH, but Briles has done his part. He has the program respectable again, and his 49th game is one of those special moments programs spend years working toward. It shouldn't be taken for granted.
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