Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

Ed De La Garza        Josh Gajewski       Nikie Johnson
         Geronimo Rodriguez          Keenan Singleton

A thread of hope

With the announcement today that Art Briles will be UH's next head football coach, this school stands poised to do one of two things: continue to wallow in the dregs of Division I-A football, as it has for the last few years, or regain a portion of the proud tradition it had in the past.

Briles' résumé is solid but not gleaming. His most flattering statistic is his four Class 4A state championships at Stephenville High School in the 1990s. Three years ago he began his collegiate coaching career when Texas Tech University hired him as the running backs coach.

Coaching merits aside, Briles will have his work cut out for him.

Plain and simple, he will need to start winning. And soon.

After the Athletics Department became dissatisfied with former coach Kim Helton in 1999 and dismissed him, it was thought that his successor, Dana Dimel, could jump-start the program.

Unfortunately for Dimel, not quite three seasons and a paltry eight wins later, UH decided to cut its losses and make another leadership change.

Losing football games on a regular basis in Texas does not bode well. Alumni stop going to games, a student body that needs motivation to participate decides it has better things to do on Saturdays and the program starts a downward spiral.

Academics may hate to acknowledge it, but winning football games has a lot to do with how much money a university can raise.

Alumni like to see for themselves how well their school is doing. Most don't get that reassurance from the quality of teaching, the size and diversity of the student body or the number of patents a science department produces.

They see it when they come to campus for athletic events. And if they are disappointed with how a team is going, they won't come to campus. And they'll forget about the school. And they won't donate money.

Briles, who played at UH in the mid-1970s and went to the 1977 Cotton Bowl with the Cougars, must do something to get students, alumni and the community into Robertson Stadium next season, and the next, and the one after that.

If he doesn't — and he has Dimel to thank for this assurance — he won't last.

Briles doesn't have our vote of confidence yet, but oh, how we hope he earns it quickly.