 Prior to his appointment with Houston, he served as the head coach of Houston Baptist, where he transitioned the team from the NAIA to Division I of the NCAA.In his first season as head coach at Houston, Buchanan achieved the second best season record in the program's history, and the best ever as a first year coach for the program.From 2000 through 2005, Buchanan served as an associate head coach for Houston under coach Joe Curl.