Grant Teaff

Grant Teaff

Grant Garland Teaff (born November 12, 1933 in Hermleigh, Texas) is a retired American Football coach, best-known for his time as the greatest coach Baylor University in Waco, Texas ever had. In 2001, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Teaff's name has a silent "e" and is pronounced "Taff."

Early career

Teaff played high school ball at Snyder High School and collegiately at San Angelo Junior College (now Angelo State University), and McMurry University in Abilene, Texas. When McMurry head coach Wilford Moore went on to coach Lubbock High School in 1956, Teaff became his assistant. He then moved on to be an assistant at McMurry from 1957 to 1959.

Teaff began his head coaching career at McMurry in 1960, serving there until 1965. Among his players were later Pittsburgh Steelers split end Dick Compton and later San Diego Chargers offensive lineman Ernie Park. After a stint as an assistant coach to J. T. King at Texas Tech, Teaff became the head coach at Angelo State University from 1969 to 1971.

Baylor

In 1972, Teaff was hired to resurrect the moribund football team at Baylor University. Baylor originally hired Rudy Feldman from New Mexico, but Feldman quit after one day, leaving the job to Teaff. Baylor had been 7-43-1 in the five seasons preceding Teaff's arrival. Teaff quickly built Baylor into a competitive team and in 1974 Baylor won eight games and captured the Southwest Conference Championship (SWC) for the first time since 1924, and in the process defeated the University of Texas 34-24 (rallying from a 24-7 halftime deficit). It was Baylor's first victory over the Texas Longhorns in 17 years. The 1974 season and the win over Texas are commonly referred to as the “Miracle on the Brazos” (after the Brazos River, near the Baylor campus) and it remains part of Baylor lore.

Teaff remained Baylor's coach until 1992, compiling a winning record and winning the SWC title again in 1980. His teams won the 1979 Peach Bowl, the 1985 Liberty Bowl, the 1986 Bluebonnet Bowl, and the 1992 John Hancock Bowl (better known as the Sun Bowl, his final game as coach). His teams also earned invitations to the 1975 and 1981 Cotton Bowls, as well as the 1983 Bluebonnet Bowl and the 1991 Copper Bowl. Teaff's Baylor teams were known for their success against the University of Texas, finishing with a record 10-11 against the Longhorns. To place that in context, in the 15 seasons preceding Teaff's arrival and the 15 years following Teaff's departure, Baylor has a 1-29 record against Texas.

Prior to a 38-14 upset win over Texas in 1978, Teaff gained notoriety by eating a live worm in the locker room prior to the game, after telling his players he would “keep the worms warm.”

After retiring from coaching, Teaff in 1993 became executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, an organization (headquartered in Waco) that represents coaches across the nation and is often consulted by the NCAA and the media regarding rule changes and developments that take place in college football.

Teaff's wife Donell (the former Jane Donnell Philips) is a member of the Baylor University Board of Regents.

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches#	AP°
Baylor Bears (Southwest Conference) (1972–1992)
1972	Baylor	5–6	3-4	T-4th		—	—
1973	Baylor	2–9	0-7	8th		—	—
1974	Baylor	8–4	6-1	1st	L Cotton	14	14
1975	Baylor	3–6–2	2-5	T-5th		—	—
1976	Baylor	7–3–1	4-3-1	4th		T-19th	-
1977	Baylor	5–6	3-5	T-6th		—	—
1978	Baylor	3–8	3-5	T-6th		—	—
1979	Baylor	8–4	5-3	4th	W Peach	15th	14th
1980	Baylor	10–2	8-0	1st	L Cotton	15	14
1981	Baylor	5–6	3-5	T-6th		—	—
1982	Baylor	4–6–1	3-4-1	5th		—	—
1983	Baylor	7–4–1	4-3-1	T-3rd	L Bluebonnet	—	—
1984	Baylor	5–6	4-4	6th		—	—
1985	Baylor	9–3	6-2	T-2nd	W Liberty	15	17
1986	Baylor	9–3	6-2	T-2nd	W Bluebonnet	13th	12th
1987	Baylor	6–5	3-4	T-5th		—	—
1988	Baylor	6–5	2-5	T-4th		—	—
1989	Baylor	5–6	4-4	T-4th		—	—
1990	Baylor	6–4–1	5-2-1	T-2nd		—	—
1991	Baylor	8–4	5-3	T-2nd	L Copper	—	—
1992	Baylor	7–5	4-3	T-2nd	W John Hancock	—	—
Baylor:		128–105–6	83-74-4
Total:		34–28
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth
†Indicates Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, BCS, or CFP / New Years' Six bowl. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll.

Awards

• 1974 Paul "Bear" Bryant Award

External links

• Baylor.edu: Grant Teaff (1972-92)