DALLAS -- It's easy to get caught in comparison. Everybody does it. Scrolling through Facebook, is your vacation as good as theirs? Your dinner look as appetizing? Is that party cooler than hanging out on your couch with your dog?
New Baylor offensive coordinator Kendal Briles can't help but compare sometimes, but for him, it's all about the measuring stick. Briles is 32. It wouldn't be hard to cast a wandering eye in Kliff Kingsbury's direction and wonder how he was going to land that head coaching job by 33 like Texas Tech's wunderkind.
Except he didn't grow up in a household with Kingsbury. He grew up in a household with Art Briles. When Art was 32, he was getting ready to take over at Stephenville High after going 4-15-1 in two seasons at Georgetown High in Texas.
Earlier this month, Kendal became a first-time coordinator for a two-time defending Power 5 Conference champion. He considers himself lucky, not behind schedule.
Kendal may not have inherited his father's career track and his bag of down home one-liners might be a little lighter, but he's still got plenty in common with the man who has brought Baylor football to heights previously unseen.
"He sees challenges and sees a chance to do something some people say can't be done," Kendal told Fox Sports Southwest this week. "But my timeline is 60 minutes of football on Thursday. That's all I care about in my career. I'm exactly where I'd like to be in my life as a family man and professionally."
Texas Tech taking chances on young guys like Kingsbury who have earned reputations as offensive whiz kids and make recruiting look easy "breaks the ice" for more programs to do the same, Briles said.
For now, though, he'll keep working as he gets the keys to one of college football's best units after longtime coordinator Philip Montgomery, who had been with Art Briles nearly two decades, took the head coaching job at Tulsa.
"There's a calm confidence that is father/son like. Not braggart or brash, just a confidence that has been passed down," defensive coordinator Phil Bennett said. "He'll be a head coach. This is step No. 2 for him."
He got this far this early by spending most of his life on the sidelines with his father, who blazed a trail as one of Texas'--and now the nation's--best coaches. The long hours at the office or endless drives on Lone Star State highways chasing recruits didn't scare him away. He's embraced it and earned a reputation as one of the state's best recruiters and is largely responsible for Baylor staking a claim as "Wide Receiver U."
"He's good. We either had to give him (the OC job) or somebody else was going to get him," Art Briles said. "That's the reality of the situation. If you've got something good, you take care of it."
Kendal has coached receivers for all of Briles' seven seasons at Baylor and been the passing game coordinator for three. Along the way, he's helped David Gettis, Kendall Wright, Josh Gordon and Terrance Williams put up big numbers at Baylor on the way to the NFL and now, you can't walk through Baylor's facility without tripping over a top-flight receiving prospect like KD Cannon, who along with Corey Coleman and Davion Hall, assure the position is in good hands for years to come.
"Love that dude to death," receiver Antwan Goodley said. "Nothing's going to change. We're still going to be the same Baylor offense we've been in the past."
Before any talk of Briles' Step No. 3, there's the matter of Thursday's game against Michigan State, his first opportunity to call plays. There's still debate about whether he'll stay on the sidelines or make a move up into the coaches' box. Since Montgomery's departure, Briles has served as de facto quarterback coach and traditionally spent plenty of time between possessions talking with quarterback Bryce Petty while Montgomery and other coaches schemed future possessions.
"He's going to hear what you have to say and then he's going to maybe correct you if he needs to," Petty said. "It's not a 'No, you're wrong, this is how to do it.' It's 'Hey, maybe this is a better way to do it.' I love the way he coaches and goes about the game."
Walking through a group of his players, it's easy for Briles to be mistaken for one. He's a spitting image of his dad with the same round head but a little more hair on top and a lot fewer wrinkles from games lost and plays he wishes he had back.
Art Briles had to wait until he was 48 before he earned a college football head coaching job. Kendal figures to find one much earlier. For now, though, he'll make sure the only thing that's in a hurry is his offense.
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