University of Houston head football coach Major Applewhite is in for a busy offseason.
He will have to hire two new coordinators after associate head coach and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles resigned followed the team’s 70-14 loss to Army in the Armed Forced Bowl in Fort Worth. Several reports say he is heading to Tallahassee to take the same position at Florida State.
Briles’ resignation comes a month after he signed a three-year, 2.1-million dollar deal to remain at UH. He was said to be under consideration for several other positions, including head coach at Texas State and offensive coordinator at Tennessee.
The departure leaves Applewhite with vacancies on both sides of the ball. Defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio was fired at the end of the regular season.
Saturday’s 56-point deficit ties an NCAA record for the worst loss in bowl history; Tulsa beat Bowling Green 63-7 in the 2008 GMAC Bowl. It’s also the second straight bowl loss for the Cougars. They lost to San Diego State in the 2016 Las Vegas Bowl, which was Applewhite’s first game as head coach.