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The Rice Owls have fired David Bailiff after 11 seasons. Bailiff went 57-80 during his time in Houston and although that record might indicate that he flopped as a head coach, Bailiff’s tenure was not a failure.
Bailiff guided the Owls to four bowl games during his tenure and won Conference USA in 2013. Rice and Houston are the only G5 programs in Texas to win a conference title since 2011. From 2012-2014 the Owls were 25-15 with a 2-1 bowl record to go along with the conference title.
It seemed like Bailiff had done the impossible and built a winning program at Rice. During that stretch Bailiff's name was only linked to other jobs a few times. After Rice stayed loyal to him after three straight losing seasons following a 10-win season in 2008, Bailliff returned the favor and stayed put in Houston.
However, poor recruiting ultimately caught up to him. While the record isn’t glamorous, Bailiff leaves Rice in much better shape than how he inherited the program back in 2007. Rice has one of the best end zone facilities in C-USA and that’s due in large part to Bailiff’s tenure.
Rice will always be a tough place to build a consistent winner but Bailiff has proven that the right coach can win at Rice.