Briles Makes More Additions To His Staff
12/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 14, 2002
One week after accepting the head coaching position at the University of Houston, former Cougar Art Briles is a few steps closer to finalizing his coaching staff with the hiring of four assistants today.
Joining the Cougar coaching staff are Dave Aranda, Oscar Giles, Ron Harris, as well as former Cougar standout, Thomas McGaughey. Aranda, Giles and Harris will work on the defensive side of the ball, while McGaughey will handle the Cougar special teams.
Both Aranda and Harris follow Briles to Houston from Texas Tech, where Aranda served as the defensive graduate assistant, while Harris tutored the Red Raider defensive line. At Houston Harris will be the architect of the Cougar 4-3 defense as Briles' defensive coordinator, as well as coach the secondary. Aranda and Giles are slated to coach the front seven, and Briles will make a determination of specific assignments at a later date.
Harris is a 20-plus-year veteran of both the high school and college ranks, having served on the staffs of Northern Arizona University (1986-87), Glendale Community College (1988-89), University of Utah (190-91) and the United States Naval Academy (1992-94). He also served for one season (1995) as the head coach at Western New Mexico University in Silver City, compiling a 4-5 mark before returning to the high school ranks at Phoenix's Paradise Valley High School in 1996. Harris is a 1980 graduate of Cal Lutheran College.
Like Harris, Aranda is a Cal Lutheran graduate, earning his degree in 2000, after his playing career was cut short due to a shoulder injury. While he was finishing up his degree, Aranda served as Cal Lutheran's defensive coordinator before moving on to Texas Tech. Aranda worked three seasons at Tech, assisting Harris with the defensive ends.
Giles arrives in Houston after a three-year stint at SMU, where he coached both the defensive ends and the entire defensive line. A 1991 graduate of the University of Texas, Giles is "excited about being a Cougar" and returning closer to his hometown of Palacios. Giles played professionally for three seasons in the NFL (1991-93), as well as three years in the CFL (1994-97), winning the Grey Cup Championship with Toronto in 1996. Giles broke into coaching in 1998 at Southwest Texas State before moving on to Texas for one season as a defensive GA in 1999.
A 1995 graduate of UH, McGaughey lettered four seasons (1992-95) for the Cougars, excelling as a defensive back for both John Jenkins and Kim Helton. After completing his degree, McGaughey spent two years in the NFL with both Cincinnati and Philadelphia, as well as a stint in the Arena Football League. McGaughey returns to his alma mater from the Kansas City Chiefs, where he has spent the 2002 season as both a special teams and defensive assistant.
McGaughey is the second former Cougar to join Briles' staff, as two-time All-America wide receiver (consensus in 1988) Jason Phillips was hired by Briles earlier in the week. Briles also hired Phillip Montgomery from Denton High School to coach the UH backs and Stephenville High School's Randy Clements to tutor the Cougar offensive line. Both Montgomery and Clements coached for Briles when he was the Stephenville head coach in the 90s.
Briles hopes to fill the remaining spots on his staff before the Christmas break.