WACO, Texas -- Baylor coach Guy Morriss won't return for the
remaining year on his contract after being unable to produce a
winning record in any of his five seasons, two newspapers reported
Thursday night.
Morriss, 18-38 at Baylor, will coach the final two games of the
season for the Bears (3-7, 0-6 Big 12), the Houston Chronicle and
The Dallas Morning News reported on their Web sites in stories
citing sources. Baylor plays Saturday at fourth-ranked Oklahoma.
Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw told The Associated Press on
Thursday night that the status of Morriss' future hadn't been
determined.
"What I told you before is the truth in this case. We'll
evaluate the program at the end of the season," McCaw said by
phone.
A message left on Morriss' cell phone wasn't immediately
returned. A phone message left at the home of Harold Cunningham,
chairman of Baylor's regents, also wasn't returned.
The Houston Chronicle, the first to report that Morriss wouldn't
return, cited two people close to the athletic program. The Dallas
Morning News cited two high-ranking university sources.
After Oklahoma, which the Bears haven't beaten in four tries
under Morriss, they finish the season at home against Oklahoma
State on Nov. 18.
The Bears were guaranteed their 12th straight losing season, all
since moving to the Big 12, when they lost 38-7 at home to Texas
Tech on Saturday. Baylor's lone touchdown didn't come until the
final minute of the game.
Baylor has lost its Big 12 games by an average of 30 points
since going 3-1 in non-conference games.
In Baylor's first conference game under Morriss four years ago,
the Bears pulled off a shocker by beating two-time defending North
Division champion Colorado. Morriss also delivered the first Big 12
road victory, in 2005 at Iowa State, and then last year the Bears
won three Big 12 games in the same season for the first time after
having won more than one only once.
Still, the Bears are 7-32 in the Big 12 under Morriss, who is a
combined 1-7 against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
Morriss came to Baylor from Kentucky after the 2002 season when
he replaced Kevin Steele.
Now the Bears are apparently looking for their fifth coach since
Grant Teaff won 128 games and took them to eight bowl games in his
21 seasons (1972-92).
Among the potential candidates is Pro Football Hall of Fame
linebacker and Baylor icon Mike Singletary, who is in his third
season as assistant head coach for the San Francisco 49ers. Before
that, he spent two years on the Baltimore Ravens staff.
When Singletary was interviewed for the Baylor job before
Morriss was hired, Singletary had no coaching experience.
But Singletary then became an NFL assistant. He has since been
interviewed for three NFL head coaching jobs, including with the
Dallas Cowboys last winter, and would seem a likely candidate for
future jobs.