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Tuesday,
February 10, 2004 |
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Bailiff
accepts head coach job at Texas State
Defensive
coordinator leaves TCU to become head coach at his alma
mater
By
Brent Yarina
Sports Editor
David Bailiff is living proof that one can indeed go back
home.
Bailiff, the defensive coordinator for the Frogs the last
two seasons, is heading back to his alma mater after accepting
the head coaching position at Texas State University last
week.
“(TCU) was the greatest job in the greatest community
I’ve ever coached in,” he said. “We weren’t
looking for a head coaching position even a little bit.
It was just one of those situations where my phone rang
and it was something I had to consider. There just aren’t
a lot of head coaching jobs in the country, so when it’s
offered you have to consider it.”
Bailiff said he and his family have nothing but gratitude
for the entire TCU community.
“We love TCU,” Bailiff said. “From the
university to the community to the team, it was a great
experience.”
Head coach Gary Patterson said Bailiff is more than ready
to run his own football program.
“He is a very good defensive line coach and a great
recruiter,” Patterson said. “That is why he
has been given this tremendous chance. He has all the
attributes to be (a head coach) or else teams wouldn’t
have been interested in him. It’s rare to have this
opportunity and he deserves it.”
Patterson said no replacement has been named for the defensive
coordinator position but that regardless of who takes
over, the players are expected to perform at their expected
levels.
“It all comes down to what the players know, not
what the coach knows,” he said. “I doubt there
will be any sort of learning curve for the players with
a new coordinator.”
Sophomore defensive tackle Jeremy Breedlove said no matter
who becomes the new defensive coordinator, the system
will remain the same.
“The defensive scheme we run is coach Patterson’s,”
Breedlove said. “The new coach will have to learn
his scheme. It won’t change here unless coach Patterson
were to leave.”
Tony Brubaker, TSU’s assistant athletics director
of media relations, said TCU’s loss will benefit
the Bobcats’ football program.
“He is a wonderful choice,” Brubaker said. “David
Bailiff was a favorite coach while he was here as an assistant
and that will continue here again. He is very popular
and a community favorite. They all love him here.”
Brubaker said the Bobcats were determined to hire Bailiff
as the program’s 14th head coach once the university
officially announced the firing of Manny Matsak, who coached
TSU since December 2002.
“He was our number one choice during the whole process,”
he said. “There were some negotiations, but he was
the number one choice the whole time. That fact never
wavered, not even once. And now we can all just cherish
the fact that we were able to bring him back home.”
Bailiff said the Bobcats’ recent commitment to their
football program was the overriding element in him accepting
the head coaching position.
“The president and the entire university have taken
great steps to turn this football program around,”
he said. “That alone excites me.”
Brubaker said he does not believe Bailiff will be under
any great pressure to turn the Bobcats’ football
program around, despite the challenge of returning to
his alma mater.
“I believe that no one puts more pressure on a coach
than the coach himself,” he said. “The only
pressure he will be under here is the pressure that he
will put on himself.” |
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