Former Baylor football coach Art Briles tone-deaf in publicity tour

By VF Castro | Aug 18, 2016

Sep 26, 2015; Waco, TX, USA; Baylor Bears head coach Art Briles during the game against the Rice Owls at McLane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

Former Baylor football head coach Art Briles hasn’t done himself any favors on his “comeback” publicity tour. But his recent tone-deaf comments illustrate why he might be unfit for coaching – especially at the college ranks.

If you were to have told us last year around this time, that the Baylor Bears would be headed into its 2016 campaign with just 70 scholarship players, half its 2016 recruiting class released from the program, its coaching staff in disarray, and Art Briles fired, we probably wouldn’t have believed you.

After all, Baylor has been climbing its way to the top of the college football ranks for a few years now, and Briles’ coaching philosophy seemed to have the Bears poised for a national championship sooner or later.

However, it is 2016, we’re just weeks away from the start of the season, and all of the aforementioned is now the reality in Waco. But with Briles out of a job, his current publicity tour to get back into coaching has left us asking more questions on whether he’s even fit to be a coach.

For those who need a refresher on just how severe the situation is at Baylor, back in May, Briles was fired after eight seasons following the termination of Baylor President Ken Starr. These events occurred almost an entire academic year after Texas Monthly Magazine published a scathing report on former Baylor defensive end Sam Ukwuachu, who transferred to Boise State in 2013 following the sexual assault against a female student.

The report said Art Briles knew of the incident.

Since August 2015 when the report was released, Baylor has done nothing significant to claim ownership regarding the outcome of the independent Pepper Hamilton report–where one victim told ESPN’s Outside the Lines that she was never even interviewed by the firm.

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In fact, more allegations, lawsuits, charges, and exploitation of blatant systematic failures have come out instead of direct action by the University to truly fix its broken system.

Baylor even went to the depths to protect its program by threatening victims with the school’s conduct code, which may have “suppressed” victims from filing sexual assault reports with the University.

We live in a society that is quick to judge without allowing due process to guide our opinions. However, report after report by investigative journalists has continued to paint a vivid portrait exposing Baylor for demonstrating a complete lack of institutional control.

So we return to the Art Briles publicity tour, where he continues to try and frame his optimism of employment with anecdotal responses indicating to the press that he’ll be exonerated of any wrongdoing. Unfortunately for those who have to entertain his posturing, every utterance is a complete farce, and it’s painfully obvious.

On Tuesday while attending the Texans’ training camp in Houston, Briles continued the charade by responding to a question about the scandal in, perhaps, the most tone-deaf manner we’ve heard yet.

With the season set to kick off in just a few short weeks, sports shows around the nation are gearing up to talk X’s and O’s. But this statement from Briles threw an audible into a number of coverages on Wednesday, which included the show rundown of radio host Patrick Creighton of SB Nation 1560 in Houston, formerly with CBS Radio in Houston.

Creighton held nothing back in his response to Briles:

“I’m glad Coach Briles is excited to try to get back to football.” Said Creighton. “Because I bet all those women who were subjected to assault and abuse by members of his football team — at Baylor — I bet they’re are really looking forward to get their lives back.”

Art Briles says he’ll be back into coaching in 2017, but Creighton demands that any school or team that makes the move be crucified, as you can hear in the audio clip.

“So what you’re saying is, all those sexual assaults, they didn’t happen. Those women do not exist. Somebody else was responsible, not you. You knew ‘nothing’ about it.” Creighton continued by defending the victims, “Those very words are to me are a direct insult to every single woman who had to go through what they went through at that school. Because I’m sorry, you do not get to be the head coach of a program and not know what your players are doing.”

“You did nothing!” Exclaimed Creighton. “And you’re telling me you did never anything illegal, immoral, or unethical? Everything that went on between those players and those women was illegal, immoral, and unethical.”

Briles likened being out of a job and football to losing his dog. But most responsible dog owners know that if you lose your dog, it’s because you took your eye off of it.

The fact is, Briles squandered the opportunity to be great by choosing winning — at any cost — over the urgency to instill values, leadership, and integrity into the young men that entered his program.

Earlier, I mentioned that Art Briles was unfit to be a coach, and I say this because he’s out of touch with the reality of the situation. He chose winning over integrity, and how can we trust him to lead and produce responsible young men with values?

Throughout the scandal, there have been several questions asking how Baylor is responsible for Art Briles and the systemic failure of those involved. I took the liberty of combing through the NCAA’s 2015-16 Bylaws, and Article 19 highlights just how serious the situation is:

19.01.2 Accountability. The infractions program shall hold institutions, coaches, administrators and student-athletes who violate the NCAA constitution and bylaws accountable for their conduct, both at the individual and institutional levels.

19.1.1 severe Breach of Conduct (Level i violation). A severe breach of conduct is one or more violations that seriously undermine or threaten the integrity of the NCAA Collegiate Model, as set forth in the constitution and bylaws, including any violation that provides or is intended to provide a substantial or extensive recruiting, competitive or other advantage, or a substantial or extensive impermissible benefit. Among other exam- ples, the following, in appropriate circumstances, may constitute a severe breach of conduct: (Adopted: 10/30/12 effective 8/1/13, 7/31/14)

(a) Lack of institutional control;

19.1.2 significant Breach of Conduct (Level ii violation). A significant breach of conduct is one or more violations that provide or are intended to provide more than a minimal but less than a substantial or extensive recruiting, competitive or other advantage; include more than a minimal but less than a substantial or extensive impermissible benefit; or involve conduct that may compromise the integrity of the NCAA Collegiate Model as set forth in the constitution and bylaws. Among other examples, the following may constitute a signifi- cant breach of conduct: (Adopted: 10/30/12 effective 8/1/13)

(a) Violations that do not rise to the level of Level I violations and are more serious than Level III violations;
(b) Failure to monitor (such violations will be presumed Level II but may be deemed to be of a Level I nature if the failure is substantial or egregious);
(c) Systemic violations that do not amount to a lack of institutional control;

I imagine the NCAA is working behind the scenes and with all parties involved to ensure the right actions are taken. But all things considered, Art Briles needs to end his publicity tour and take this time to reflect on the choices he’s made that have led him to this point.

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If Briles truly loves football, he needs to accept that his dog may not come home again, and realize that it might be time to move on.

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