David Bailiff Position: Head Coach Second Season: Texas State--1981

In his first two seasons at Rice, David Bailiff has established a foundation for success that has already seen the Owls achieve a level of success that the program has not enjoyed for over 50 years.

In 2008, the Owls endured a series of challenges as well as the aftermath of Hurricane Ike and produced the first 10-win season for Rice since 1949 and the Owls' first victory in a bowl game since their memorable win over Alabama in the 1954 Cotton Bowl. For his efforts, Bailiff was honored by his conference peers as the 2008 Conference USA Coach of the Year.

With their 38-14 victory over Western Michigan in the Texas Bowl, the Owls closed the season with seven straight wins, validating the faith he had placed in the 2008 senior class to motivate their teammates to make it a memorable year. From the rigors of winter conditioning to the early morning workouts all through the summer of 2008, the Owls were molded into a team determined to make a statement this season.

The results of their combined efforts were readily apparent from the first whistle of the 2008 campaign.

Opening with a 56-point outburst against SMU on national TV in late August, Chase Clement and his band of receivers piled up points at a record pace. Clement and Jarett Dillard went on to become the most productive passing duo in NCAA history, while Dillard broke the NCAA career mark for touchdown passes. Clement shattered the conference career marks for touchdown passes and total touchdowns, while James Casey, the multi-talented former pro baseball player, broke the C-USA record with 111 catches.

At the same time, the Owls defense, bolstered by the fruits of Bailiff's first two recruiting classes, was able to improve with each game and produced some stout efforts during a seven-game winning streak to end the year.

Bailiff came to Rice after three seasons as the head coach at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX where he posted a 21-15 record while leading the Bobcats to their first Southland Conference championship and the semifinals of the NCAA Division 1AA playoffs in 2005.

In his last two seasons at Texas State, Bailiff produced standouts both on the field and in the classroom. He produced both the Southland Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in 2005 (Barrick Nealy and Fred Evans) and the league's Student Athlete of the Year for football in 2006 (Walter Musgrove). Overall, he produced a total of 14 All Southland Conference first team selections, and 13 players who were named to the academic all conference squad in his last two years.

The 2005 season was truly a magical one. The Bobcats went 9-2 during the regular season and earned the school's first berth in the Division I-AA playoffs.

In their first game, the Bobcats stormed back from a 35-16 deficit against Division I-AA national power Georgia Southern to score 34 unanswered points and beat the Eagles 50-35. The `Cats then defeated Cal Poly 14-7 to move on to the national semifinals. Only a 40-37 overtime loss to Northern Iowa stood between Texas State and an appearance in the Division I-AA National Championship Game.

Bailiff was named the American Football Coaches Association's Region 5 Coach of the Year and finished third in the voting for the Eddie Robinson Award presented annually to the top coach in Division I-AA.

Prior to being named Texas State head coach, Bailiff spent three seasons on the staff at TCU. He served as the Horned Frogs' defensive coordinator in both 2002 and 2003 while working with the team's defensive lineman.

The 2003 Horned Frogs posted an 11-2 record and were ranked 25th in the final Associated Press writers poll and 24th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Bailiff was part of a staff which built quite a tradition on defense at TCU. During his three seasons in Fort Worth, the Horned Frogs were ranked 24th, 1st and 38th in the country in total defense and 10th, first and ninth against the run.

In 2002, TCU allowed just 240.2 yards of total offense per game which led the country. The Horned Frogs surrendered an average 64.8 yards on the ground. During the year, the Frogs held Tulane to a school-record -53 yards rushing. TCU also ranked second in the country in pass efficiency defense, allowing opponents to complete less than 39 percent of their passes.

Six TCU defensive players earned all-conference accolades in 2002 including Conference USA Defensive Player of the year and Second-Team All-American LaMarcus MacDonald.

While at TCU, the Horned Frogs played in a bowl game every season - the galleryfurniture.com bowl (2001), AXA Liberty Bowl (2002) and the Plains Capital Fort Worth Bowl (2003).

He began his coaching career as the defensive line coach at New Braunfels High School (1982-84). He went into private business from 1984-88 before returning to the coaching ranks as a defensive graduate assistant coach at Texas State in 1988 . He was elevated to the Bobcats' defensive line coach in 1989.

Bailiff left Texas State in 1992 for an assistant coaching position at New Mexico. He returned to Texas State in 1997 as defensive coordinator and added assistant head coach responsibilities to his role in 1999.

It was in 1999 that Bailiff was selected the NCAA Division I-AA Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association. While at TCU Bailiff was also honored as the Top Assistant Football Coach by the All-American Football Foundation following the Horned Frogs' 2002 season.

As a player, Bailiff was named All-Lone Star Conference as well as All-America honorable mention while playing at Texas State from 1977-80. He served as a team captain in 1980 and was named honorable mention to the Lone Star Team of the Decade.

Bailiff is married to the former Angie Daniels of Versailles, Mo. He has a daughter, Brooke (24), and the couple has twin 11-year-old sons, Grayson and Gregory.

DAVID BAILIFF COACHING RECORD
Head Coach, Texas State University
2004: 5-6
2005: 11-3 (Southland Conference Co-Champions, NCAA Playoffs)
2006: 5-6
2007: 3-9
2008: 10-3
TOTAL: 34-27
At Rice: 13-12

Prior Coaching Experience
1982-84: New Braunfels High (Defensive Line)
1988: Texas State (Graduate Assistant-Defense)
1989-92: Texas State (Defensive Line)
1992-97: New Mexico (Defensive Line/Recruiting)
1997-99: Texas State (Defensive Coordinator)
1999-2000: Texas State (Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator)
2001: TCU (Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Line)
2002-03: TCU (Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line)

Post-Season Appearances
2001 galleryfurniture.com Bowl
2002 AXA Liberty Bowl
2003 Fort Worth Bowl
2005 NCAA I-AA National Semifinalist 2008 Texas Bowl