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Baylor reportedly considering one-year suspension for Art Briles

By Patrick Schmidt

Oct 10, 2015; Lawrence, KS, USA; Baylor Bears head coach Art Briles watches against the Kansas Jayhawks in the second half at Memorial Stadium. Baylor won the game 66-7. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2015; Lawrence, KS, USA; Baylor Bears head coach Art Briles watches against the Kansas Jayhawks in the second half at Memorial Stadium. Baylor won the game 66-7. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Baylor Bears already hired his replacement but Art Briles could return to the football program after serving a one-year suspension if the Board of Regents gets their way.

Big-money boosters are pressuring the Board of Regents to give Art Briles a one-year suspension so he can return to the program for the 2017 season, according to Chip Brown of Horns Digest.

Briles was suspended with the intent to be terminated on May 27 after the university was rocked by allegations of sexual assault by Baylor football players and Briles was aware of this and did nothing to discipline the players or report the assaults to the authorities.

According to the report from Brown, a vote by the regents will take place sometime Monday about a one-year suspension that is being driven by the most powerful Baylor boosters who are largely responsible for the new $300 million stadium.

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Their stance is former university president Ken Starr should have been the fall guy for not having a Title IX coordinator from 2011-2014 and Briles was unfairly made to fall on the sword for the university. And those boosters are threatening to stop giving money to the university unless Briles is reinstated in 2017.

It’s unclear if the votes are there to suspend Briles, but it would be an awful precedent to set, should they go forward with this decision because it further solidifies the notion that winning football games is the most important thing at Baylor.

If they don’t have the votes, the board will have to negotiate a buyout of Briles’ contract that had eight years and $40 million remaining. Brown reports the buyout could range from $15-25 million.

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According to WFAA.com, the boosters are not pressuring for Briles to only be suspended, but just want a chance for Briles to defend himself, transparency from the Board of Regents and are not planning a vote at Monday night’s conference.

Jim Grobe has been hired as the interim head coach with Briles coaching staff all retaining their jobs.

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