Baylor legend Grant Teaff knew he wanted to coach at a young age
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On Wednesday, former head coach and Baylor legend Grant Teaff turned 92 years old. If any man’s football coaching career deserves to be praised, talked about and written about, it is Coach Teaff.
Born in Hermleigh, TX in 1933, Teaff knew at a young age, at 14, that he wanted to become a football coach. As a team captain, he fell in love with the game and played for Snyder High School in Snyder, TX and then later at McMurry University in Abilene, TX.
In 1960, Teaff got his dream job and became the head football coach at his alma mater at McMurry. In addition, Teaff also had a coaching stop at Angelo State, where he won 63 percent of his games as head coach with a 19-11 record.
When Baylor went looking for a head football coach in 1972, Teaff was not their first choice. But when former New Mexico head coach Rudy Feldman left Baylor after one day on the job, Baylor hired Teaff. Teaff would roam the sidelines for the Bears for the next 21 seasons. Baylor’s five-year record prior to Teaff arriving in Waco was 7 wins, 43 losses, 1 tie.
However, in just two seasons, Teaff built Baylor into a championship program. In 1974, Teaff led the Bears to an 8-4 record and a Southwest Conference Championship. It was Baylor’s first conference title in half a century. As a result, Teaff was named the National Coach of the Year.
Every Bear should know the story of "The Miracle on the Brazos" -- and there's no one better to tell it than Grant Teaff. 🐻🏈
— Baylor University (@Baylor) August 28, 2024
The latest @BaylorPlus original film is now available, exclusively at https://t.co/qvoX9aNDng.pic.twitter.com/WFCLajIvDr
During that ’74 season, Teaff coached the Bears to victory over the visiting Texas Longhorns after being down 24-7 at halftime. Baylor scored 27 unanswered points in the second half to snatch victory away from the jaws of Bevo and posted a 34-24 rousing victory. That victory became the legend of “The Miracle on the Brazos.”
Six years later, Teaff fielded another championship squad. The Bears were undefeated in conference play (8-0) and won another Southwest Conference title and posted yet another win over Texas, this time the Longhorns were shutout 16-0. Under Teaff, Baylor posted a 10-11 record vs. Texas.
That 1980 team went 10-2 and was led by a bone-jarring, helmet breaking, tackling machine at linebacker named Mike Singletary. In six of those games, Baylor held opponents to seven points or less.
Four of Teaff’s players earned Consensus All-American honors: DB Gary Green (1976), Singletary (1979-1980), DB Thomas Everett (1986) and DL Santana Dotson (1991).
Upon his retirement from coaching, Teaff had posted 128 wins and four bowl victories at Baylor and is the winningest coach in the program's history. Later, he became the Executive Director of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and served in that capacity for 23 years, from 1993 to 2016.
#TBT: Grant Teaff on the importance of having a positive attitude- "A positive attitude is self imposed!" #WeAreAFCA pic.twitter.com/Kyb1xwu4bT
— AFCA (@WeAreAFCA) September 8, 2016
Teaff is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, inducted in 2001.
92 years strong, Coach Teaff is beloved by Baylor fans and is still a presence at McLane Stadium. A legend in the Lone Star State and in the green and gold, Coach Teaff lived his dream in the only job he ever wanted, at his home away from home, roaming the sidelines of a football field.
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Tony comes to On SI with six years of experience writing about sports online. His work has been published on such sites as The Gridiron News, Mike Farrell Sports, YardBarker, Athlon Sports and College Football Backers. Tony is a U.S. Air Force veteran and is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).
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