Beating Goliath: My Story of Football and Faith Hardcover – July 15, 2014

A native West Texan, Art Briles became Baylor's 25th head coach on Nov. 28, 2007, ushering in a new era and a new attitude to the storied Bears football program. From his first game on the sidelines in Waco it was quickly evident that the Briles regime was underway at Baylor; from the innovative offense, to the reintroduction of a solid running game, to improved recruitment, to refusal to accept moral victories, and within a short time - wins, bowl games and top 25 rankings.
Art Briles' restoration of Baylor's football program to an elite national level received an exclamation point in 2013 with a Big 12 Conference title and first-ever BCS bowl berth.
Powered by a record breaking offense (110 school records set or tied) and a veteran Top-30 nationally ranked defense, the 2013 Bears won a school-record 11 games, finished No. 13 nationally and played in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl as Big 12 champions (a school-record fourth consecutive bowl berth).
During a historic record-breaking 2011 season, Briles led Baylor to a school-record 10 wins and its highest final ranking (12th) since 1986, the school's first bowl victory in 19 years and coached the first Heisman Trophy winner in program history - Robert Griffin III. The Bears finished a perfect 7-0 at Floyd Casey Stadium, just the third perfect record in the stadium's history and a school record for home wins in a single season.
Briles came to Baylor after resurrecting the University of Houston football program in a five-year stretch from 2003 to 2007.
After inheriting a Houston program that was just two years removed from an 0-11 season, Briles won eight total games from 2000 to 2003, posted a 34-28 record with the Cougars, including a 10-win 2006 Conference USA title season and guided them to four bowl games. He ranks as the program's third-winningest head coach behind College Football Hall of Famer Bill Yeoman (160 wins in 26 seasons) and Clyde Lee (37 victories in seven seasons).
Briles arrived to Houston from Texas Tech, where he spent three years (2000-02) as the Red Raiders' running backs coach.
Prior to moving into the collegiate coaching ranks at Texas Tech, Briles spent 12 seasons (1988-99) as head coach and athletic director at Stephenville [Texas] High School. His Yellowjacket teams won four state championships, capturing back-to-back crowns in 1993 and 1994 and repeating that feat in 1998 and 1999.
Briles, a former Texas High School Coaches Association president, has spent his entire coaching career in the state of Texas. Following in his father's footsteps, Briles began his coaching career as an assistant at Sundown [Texas] High School in 1979 before moving to Sweetwater [Texas] High School as an assistant from 1980-83. He landed his first head coaching job at Hamlin [Texas] High School (1984-86), where he also served as athletic director.
From Hamlin, Briles went to Georgetown [Texas] High School as head coach and athletic director for two seasons (1986-87) before moving to Stephenville in 1988. While coaching in the high school ranks, Briles developed six Division I quarterbacks and had five signal callers throw for over 3,000 yards in a season.
A former wide receiver for the Cougars from 1974 to 1977, Briles was a member of Houston's 1976 squad that captured the Southwest Conference championship in its first season in the league. He later played in the 1977 Cotton Bowl against fifth-ranked Maryland, a game the Cougars won, 30-21.
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas Tech in 1979 and a Masters of Education degree from Abilene Christian in 1984.
Briles and his wife, Jan, have three children; Jancy, a UH graduate; Kendal, a Cougar letterman and UH graduate who serves as an assistant coach on his father's Baylor staff; and Staley Lebby, a UH graduate and wife of Baylor assistant coach Jeff Lebby; and three grandchildren.