Baylor and Art Briles officially part ways
Baylor and Art Briles are officially done with each other.
The two parties released a joint statement Friday evening announcing their separation. Briles had been suspended with intent to terminate as an independent investigation regarding the school’s handling of sexual assault cases had been released in May.
Baylor University and Art Briles have mutually agreed to terminate their employment relationship, effective immediately. Both parties acknowledge that there were serious shortcomings in the response to reports of sexual violence by some student-athletes, including deficiencies in University processes and the delegation of disciplinary responsibilities within the football program. Baylor is addressing these shortcomings and making ongoing improvements.
Baylor wishes Coach Briles well in his future endeavors. Coach Briles expresses his thanks to the City of Waco and wishes the Baylor Bears success in the future.
The school announced acting head coach Jim Grobe would take over on Memorial Day, so an announcement of Briles’ departure from the school at 7 p.m. local time on a Friday wasn’t a surprise. The official news of the separation comes a week after reports emerged that they had reached a settlement regarding the remaining balance of Briles’ contract with the school.
Briles lost his job after a summary of the report outlined transgressions within the football program when it came to sexual assault accusations. According to the report, Baylor staff members had “innapropriate involvement” with disciplinary matters.
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Two players who were members of the Baylor team while Briles was coach are currently serving prison sentences for rape while other former players have been accused of sexual assault.
Briles had a record of 65-37 in his eight years at Baylor and the Bears were 10-3 in 2015. Given the circumstances surrounding his departure, it’s hard to envision him ever getting a prominent coaching role again.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
