In case you missed it, two weeks ago Baylor University announced it was firing head football coach Art Briles in the wake of overwhelming evidence that his program had utterly mishandled allegations that players had raped and sexually assaulted women. Well, a flurry of activity on Monday revealed just how far gone Baylor’s football culture had become. A small, misguided, and mind-blowingly stupid cabal of Baylor donors has been angling to bring Briles back as head coach.
When the Baylor Board of Regents announced that Briles was out, it officially characterized the move as an indefinite suspension with intent to terminate him as soon as it was legally possible to do so. However, USA Today reported that a small minority of Baylor donors are pushing for a compromise–have Briles sit out the 2016 season and allow him to return in 2017. According to KCEN-TV in Waco, some Baylor players have been briefed on the proposal.
However, according to USA Today, such moves are “unlikely to result in any action.” There’s very good reason to think this is a wasted effort. The findings of fact from an independent investigation into Baylor’s response to sexual assault so unnerved university officials that they immediately forwarded the report to the NCAA and Big 12 Conference. Bringing back a coach who, at best, was disengaged from how disciplinary issues were handled wouldn’t exactly allow Baylor to look good with the NCAA, and would all but assure heavy sanctions.
But there are concerns more fundamental than NCAA sanctions. Several more women have come forward to say that Bears players assaulted them, and that university officials and football staffers swept their complaints under the rug. Additionally, Baylor is reportedly in the process of settling a Title IX lawsuit brought by former student Jasmin Hernandez, in which Briles is also a defendant. If Baylor cracked open even the tiniest door for Briles to return, the velocity with which Hernandez and her team would walk away from the table should create enough of a breeze that I’d be able to feel it here in Charlotte, a time zone away from Waco.
Small wonder that ESPN’s Paul Finebaum thinks it would be “beyond unlikely” and “simply unthinkable” that Briles could come back. However, the mere fact this is even being discusses says a lot about the culture of Baylor’s football program. Finebaum rightly noted that there are boosters in every program “who really don’t care about anything other than winning or losing”–and everything else, including campus safety, be damned.
According to Horns Digest, a fan magazine covering Big 12 rival Texas, and KWTX-TV in Waco, the Board of Regents is meeting to discuss the Briles situation on Monday. Depending on who you talk to, the vote could go either way. Let’s hope Baylor does the right thing and formally ends the Art Briles era.
