Florida State officially hires Kendal Briles as offensive coordinator

Now that the early signing period is behind us, Jeremy Pruitt and company can now lock in and restart the search for an offensive coordinator. Most everyone had already crossed his name off of the list, but Kendal Briles officially will no longer be an option for Tennessee.

Florida State made things official today, announcing the hire of Briles to run their offense.

Briles resigned after Army obliterated Houston on Saturday to take the same job at Florida State. This all comes just 20 days after Briles signed an extension to stay at Houston.

Briles reportedly interviewed for Tennessee’s offensive coordinator opening a couple of weeks back. Tennessee is still working to find the right replacement for Tyson Helton, who left for the Western Kentucky head coaching job on November 26th.

Hugh Freeze (HC, Liberty), Chip Lindsey (OC, Kansas) and now Briles are three names that were connected to the opening but have since found other jobs. How serious of candidates they were, we may never know.

UCF’s Jeff Lebby and Oklahoma State’s Mike Yurcich have also reportedly talked to Tennessee about the opening. You can probably bank on a few more names emerging in the search this week.