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Bailiff won't return to coach A&M-Commerce football in 2023

Monday Morning Newscast Graphic
Lindsey Wiley
/
Texas A&M University-Commerce

The Lions finished 5-6 this season, the team's first in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Series classification.

In sports, it looks like Texas A&M University-Commerce will be looking for a new football coach over the off-season. A&M-Commerce athletics department assistant director for communications Avi Mehta told the Greenville Herald Banner that head coach David Bailiff will not be back for the 2023 season. A&M-Commerce's interim athletics director Eric Coleman told the Herald Banner that Bailiff and the university couldn’t come to terms on a contract extension. Mehta said Bailiff will meet with players today and an official statement will be coming Tuesday.

The Lions posted a 23-13 record in three seasons under Bailiff. A&M-Commerce finished 5-6 this past season, which was the first for the Lions in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Series classification. A&M-Commerce’s record included a 3-3 mark in the Southland Conference. The Lions went 7-4 in 2021 for their final season in NCAA Division II. The team did not play in 2020 because of the pandemic. In Bailiff’s first season, the Lions posted an 11-3 mark in 2019.

Bailiff has previously coached at Texas State and Rice. Bailiff succeeded former Lions head coach Colby Carthel, who led A&M-Commerce to an NCAA Division II national championship in 2017. Carthel, who is now head coach at Stephen F. Austin State University, coached the Lions from 2013 to 2018.