Complex sentence: Bayless went directly from Vanderbilt to "The Miami Herald", where he wrote sports features for a little more than two years before being hired away by the "Los Angeles Times" in August 1976.
Split into simpler sentences: Bayless went directly from Vanderbilt to "The Miami Herald", where he wrote sports features for a little more than two years. He then took a position at the "Los Angeles Times" in August 1976.