Another losing year could be Bailiff ’s last
After their final practice of the season, Rice seniors take a final stroll around the field at Rice Stadium.
It’s a tradition coach David Bailiff has carried with him since his days at Texas State.
When players near the final stretch of their lap, in a showing of camaraderie and reverence, four teammates or Rice personnel respectively hoist each of the 19 seniors, symbolically carrying them from the field they’ve called home for the last time.
It’s a fitting tradition, an expression of appreciation imported by a coach who might have also coached his final practice at the school. Although Bailiff might get carried off the field if his team can manage an upset on North Texas State (8-3, 6-1 Conference USA) on Saturday.
Fans had been clamoring for Bailiff’s job since this time last year, but the reality of Bailiff’s 11-year tenure ending was far from certain when this season began.
But as the blowout losses of September and October morphed into the late-minute losses of November, his demise grew likely. Bailiff has deflected questions about his job security. His staff and players have said they’re focused on one game at a time.
“I don’t really entertain all that,” receiver Austin Walter said of the talk surrounding Bailiff’s job. “Overall it was a rough season, full of tough learning experiences. But overall, I’m just blessed to play this game I love to play and to be able to play with these seniors one last time.”
A steady decline
It’s hard to avoid the obvious. After going 3-9 in his first season, the Owls rebounded with a 10-3 year and won the Texas Bowl in 2008.
But since winning the Owls’ first outright conference title in 56 years in 2013, Bailiff’s teams have done progressively worse.
Rice went 8-5 in 2014 and won the Hawaii Bowl. The Owls were 5-7 in 2015 and finished 3-9 in 2016. They’re 1-10 (1-5 C-USA) this season.
“(The season) didn’t go the way we wanted it to in the wins and losses column obviously,” center Trey Martin said. “We just have to make sure that everyone’s locked in and trying to win this last game.”
Rice athletic director Joe Karlgaard is in his fourth year at the school. He said records are important, but he considers other factors.
“(A coach’s record) is the easiest thing to measure, he said. “I think it’s the thing that people gravitate towards most. However, you look at other things. You look at competitiveness of the program; you look at how a team is performing in the fundamentals.
“Are there a lot of penalties? Are there a lot of plays where you’re getting beat deep? Are you executing your offensive strategy correctly?
“All those things are probably more important than the wins and losses in a given season. But as you start to look out farther and farther, consecutive losing seasons is a hard thing to overcome.”
Rice is the second-least penalized team in the conference, despite the fact that untimely flags have regularly erased big gains late in the season.
Defensively, the team is last in the conference in yards allowed per play (6.5) and third worst in yards allowed per game (429.7).
Expectations to win
In October, Karlgaard was asked if Bailiff would coach the Owls next year if the team finished at or below last season’s record of 3-9 overall and 2-6 in conference play.
“I think the expectations we set last year were pretty clear and that’s that we expect to have a winning program and anything less than that is not acceptable,” he said. “Coach and I are on the same page with that.”