Art Briles: 'I am a Baylor Bear'

Art Briles led Baylor to the first Big 12 championship in school history this season. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) Baylor head coach Art Briles has been

Art Briles led Baylor to the first Big 12 championship in school history this season. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Baylor head coach Art Briles has been rumored as a candidate for the open position at Texas for several weeks. But it seems Briles has now taken himself out of the running for what many consider to be the best job in college football.

In a statement released by the school on Friday, Briles cemented his decision to remain with the Baylor program.

"I have no desire to pursue other coaching positions," Briles said. "As I've said many times, I am both humbled and honored to be the head coach at Baylor University, and believe we have something special going here. I look forward to leading the Bears onto the field next fall at McLane Stadium and defending our Big 12 championship that our players and coaches worked so hard to win this season.

"There is tremendous excitement for our program's future, and I look forward to many more great seasons at Baylor," he added. "There is tremendous commitment from our University leadership, athletic administration, coaches and student-athletes - it truly is a great time to be a Baylor Bear."

Prior to releasing his statement, Briles posted a tweet Friday that implied he was sticking with the Bears.

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The Bears' coach had been one of the presumed favorites to take over for the departed Mack Brown at Texas. Briles knows the Lone Star State well. He spent 16 seasons as a high school coach in Texas before embarking on a career in college football, and he spent six seasons at Houston before arriving at Baylor in 2008.