HOUSTON -- Rice head football coach David Bailiff has been dismissed by AD Joe Karlgaard.
Bailiff served at the helm of the Owls for the last decade but Rice went 1-11 this season.
“I met with Coach Bailiff this morning and informed him of my decision,” Karlgaard said. “I appreciate the dedication, passion and integrity that David has brought to our program during his years at Rice. His first priority has always been his student-athletes and he has been tireless in his efforts to foster their success. But with three consecutive losing seasons, our program is not meeting the competitive standards we have set forth for all of our athletic programs at Rice. We expect our football program to be competitive in every game, fight for the conference championship and consistently participate in bowl games.”
“Every coach knows that, in the end, it comes down to wins and losses,” Bailiff said. “I know every member of our staff and every player on our team came into the season with the highest of expectations, but when those expectations are not met, changes will be made. I have enjoyed an amazing 11 years at Rice and been blessed to offer so many outstanding young men a chance to gain a great education and bring Rice many great moments on the field. My sincerest hope is that the current players and those who will join them in the future can find even greater success in the years to come.”
Bailiff coached the Owls for 11 seasons, matching Phil Arbuckle for the third longest tenure in school history. He ranks second to Jess Neely in school history in games coached (157), wins (57) and losses (80) and twice matched Neely’s 1949 team for the school record with 10 wins in a season (2008 & 2013). He led the Owls to four bowl games, winning three, and led Rice to its first outright conference championship in 56 years with a 42-24 defeat of Marshall at Rice Stadium in 2013.
He was twice named Conference USA Coach of the Year (2008, 2013) and was chosen by his fellow college coaches as a finalist for the 2013 Bear Bryant Award as national coach of the year.
Bailiff's teams were also standouts in the classroom. Twice in his tenure, the Owls were honored by the American Football Coaches Association with its Academic Achievement Award, having posted a 100 percent graduation rate. Rice has led Conference USA football teams in GPA in seven of his 10 seasons and has dominated Texas on the conference in the NCAA’s annual graduation rate studies.
