Dec. 6, 2006

After leading Houston to its first Conference USA championship since the league's inaugural season in 1996, Cougars head football coach Art Briles has been named the C-USA Coach of the Year, as selected by the league's 12 head coaches. It marks the 10th time in 11 years that the coaches have voted the coach of the conference champion as its Coach of the Year.

Houston's conference title is the crowning achievement of the rebuilding plan at UH as the Cougars have gone from a winless season in 2001, prior to Briles arrival, to a 10-3 league champ in his fourth season at the helm of his alma mater. The former Cougar wide receiver will be leading UH to a bowl game for the third time in four seasons under his tutelage when they face South Carolina in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Dec. 29 in Memphis.

Briles, one of nine finalists for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year award, is the third coach in school history to lead the Cougars to a 10-win season and the sixth one to lead his team to a conference championship. He is now tied for third in all-time victories at UH with 26.

Led by record-setting senior quarterback Kevin Kolb, who Briles coached at Stephenville (Texas) High School, the Cougars are ranked sixth in the nation in total offense (439.9 ypg). Houston leads Conference USA and ranks 11th in the nation in scoring offense (32.7 ppg).

UH won the West Division with a 7-1 league record. Its three losses this season came by a combined total of eight points. The Cougars hosted the second annual Conference USA Football Championship Game on Dec. 1, defeating Southern Miss, 34-20, before a Robertson Stadium record crowd of 31,818. Houston is currently receiving votes in both major polls and has been for the past five weeks.

Following the Liberty Bowl, Briles will have one more game to coach this season, as he will be a part of the coaching staff at the Hula Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii on January 14.