David Edward Bailiff (born May 26, 1958) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach at

Texas A&M University–Commerce East Texas A&M University (ETAMU; formerly Texas A&M University–Commerce) is a public university in Commerce, Texas, United States. With an enrollment of over 12,000 students as of fall 2017, the university is the third-largest institution in ...

from 2019 to 2022; prior to that he was the head coach at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

from 2007 to 2017. During his tenure as head coach, the Rice Owls played in four

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

s, winning three of them, and won the 2013 Conference USA football championship, the first outright conference title for Rice in 56 years. He also coached at his alma mater,

Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock, Texas, Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has ...

, where he led the Bobcats to the NCAA Division I-AA National Semifinals in 2005.

Playing career

Bailiff played for three years as an

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

and

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for coach

Jim Wacker James Herbert Wacker (April 28, 1937 – August 26, 2003) was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Texas Lutheran University (1971–1975), North Dakota State University (1976–1 ...

at Southwest Texas State University in

San Marcos, Texas San Marcos () is a city and the county seat of Hays County, Texas, United States. The city is a part of the Greater Austin, Greater Austin Metropolitan Area. San Marcos's limits extend into Caldwell County, Texas, Caldwell and Guadalupe County, T ...

. As a senior in 1980, he was team captain.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

After graduating in 1981, Bailiff's first coaching job was in the high school ranks in

New Braunfels, Texas New Braunfels ( ) is a city in Comal County, Texas, Comal and Guadalupe County, Texas, Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Comal County. The city covers and had a population of 90,403 as of the 2020 United Sta ...

. After three years coaching the defensive line at New Braunfels High School, he left coaching and entered the private sector for four years. He returned to coaching in 1988 as a graduate assistant at Southwest Texas and was promoted the next year to a full-time position that he held until he was hired to coach the defensive line at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

by Lobos' head coach Dennis Franchione. In 1997, Bailiff returned to Southwest Texas as the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

. In 2001, he was hired to serve in the same role at TCU by coach Gary Patterson. Following the 2002 season, in which the Horned Frogs' defense, led by All-American linebacker LaMarcus McDonald, ranked 2nd in the nation, Bailiff was named the nation's Top Assistant Coach by the All American Football Foundation.

Texas State

On February 5, 2004, Bailiff again returned to his alma mater, which by now was known as Texas State University, this time as head coach. In his first season as the Bobcats' head coach, he guided them to a 5–6 record. In 2005, they finished the regular season 9–2 and were

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

Champions. They then won two games in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, eventually losing to Northern Iowa. In 2006, the Bobcats were again 5–6.

Rice

On January 19, 2007,

hired Bailiff as head coach, replacing Todd Graham. In 2008, he led Rice to a 9–3 record and an appearance in the 2008 Texas Bowl—only their second bowl appearance in 47 years. The Owls won that game 38–14 for Rice's first 10-win season since 1949, and Bailiff was rewarded with a five-year contract extension. In 2012, Rice returned to bowl action with a win over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. The following season, Bailiff became the first coach in Rice history to record two 10-win seasons as Rice won its first outright conference championship since

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

by defeating

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

41–24 and earning a berth in the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic Cit ...

. In 2014, Bailiff led the Owls to a third consecutive bowl game as Rice defeated Fresno State 30–3 in the Hawai'i Bowl. In 2017, Bailiff was fired after the conclusion of a 1-11 season, his worst at Rice. His 57 wins are the second most in school history, behind only Hall of Famer Jess Neely.

Texas A&M–Commerce

On December 9, 2018, Bailiff was hired as the head coach at

. He replaced Colby Carthel, who had been hired at Division I Stephen F. Austin State University. Bailiff was hired mainly due to his familiarity with the Lone Star Conference as a player, his relationship with Texas high school coaches, and having had success at schools that had traditionally not been football powers. Unlike his previous tenures at Rice and Texas State, Bailiff was taking over an A&M-Commerce program that had deep tradition and that was considered by most Division II football observers to be the best Division II program in Texas. In his first season at Texas A&M-Commerce, he led the Lions to an 11-3 record, finishing 2nd in the Lone Star Conference. The Lions went to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the fifth straight season. In the first round, they avenged their only conference loss by defeating # 3 and undefeated Tarleton State University, 23-16. In the second round, they defeated Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Champion and previously undefeated

Colorado School of Mines The Colorado School of Mines (Mines) is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1874, the school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on ener ...

23-3 to send them back to the Region 4 Championship for the second time in 3 years. They were defeated by # 4 Minnesota State-Mankato 42-21 to end their season at 11-3. After the Lions decided not to compete in football in 2020 amid the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the Lions returned to play in 2021. During Bailiff's second season, the Lions went 7-4 overall and 5-2 in Lone Star Conference Play. However, the Lions missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014. In 2022, the Lions made the transition to Division I as a member of the

. Bailiff stepped down after the 2022 seaso

Head coaching record

References

External links

Texas A&M–Commerce profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailiff, David 1958 births Living people American football offensive linemen New Mexico Lobos football coaches Rice Owls football coaches TCU Horned Frogs football coaches East Texas A&M Lions football coaches Texas State Bobcats football coaches High school football coaches in Texas Douglas MacArthur High School (San Antonio) alumni Players of American football from New Braunfels, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from Dallas