Baylor coach Art Briles "indicated" to a major Baylor booster that he would remain at the school.
Bob Simpson, who co-owns the Texas Rangers, said he had a post-game conversation with Briles following UCF's shocking upset of the Bears in Wednesday night's Fiesta Bowl.
"He's indicated that" he is staying at Baylor, Simpson told the Morning News. "Let's hope it holds true."
Briles led Baylor to its first Big 12 title this season and is one of the hottest commodities on the coaching market. He reportedly has drawn the interest of Texas and of the Washington Redskins, whose quarterback, Robert Griffin III, played for Briles at Baylor.
The Austin (Texas) American-Statesman had reported earlier Thursday morning that a source close to Briles said he would be interested in talking with Texas.
Briles recently received a 10-year contract extension at Baylor that will make him one of the nation's 10 highest-paid coaches. In addition, Baylor's new $260 million stadium -- built right off campus on the banks of the Brazos River -- opens this fall. The school announced Tuesday that it would be named McLane Stadium, in honor of booster Drayton McLane Jr.'s family. McLane is the former owner of the Houston Astros.
"I'm hopeful we've done everything at Baylor to help take care of him," Simpson told the Morning News. "... When you have somebody as good as he is, the world is going to come after him. And it won't be just UT. If we survive this one, there will be more."
Briles, 58, is a former longtime high school coach in Texas. His first college job came in 2000, when he was hired as Texas Tech's running backs coach under Mike Leach. He was coach at Houston from 2003-07, then was hired at Baylor.
Briles is a folksy Texan who is a good fit at Baylor, which is affiliated with the Baptist church. There's not much of a media spotlight and not that much pressure overall. That is vastly different than Texas. And Baylor winning the Big 12 this season says as much about Oklahoma and Texas (and Oklahoma State, too) falling short of what they should be as it does about Briles' coaching ability.
The ceiling at Texas is much higher than it is at Baylor, and that higher ceiling has to be appealing to Briles. Being able to win and without the intense media glare that exists at Texas likely is mighty appealing, too. The question for Briles is whether he thinks he can continue to win at this level going forward with the Bears.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
