Football Team in Italy Hires Ex-Baylor Coach Art Briles
Former Baylor coach Art Briles is set to coach an American football team in Italy, reports the Fort Worth Star–Telegram.
The Estra Guelfi Firenze American Football team based in Florence, Italy confirmed the hiring on Thursday.
"We are thrilled that Coach Briles has accepted our offer and will be our Head Coach for the 2019 season. We are all excited by the possibility of having a professional of his caliber as our Coach and we can not wait to welcome him in our Guelfi Family starting from the Offseason," Estra Guelfi Firenze general manager Edoardo Cammi said.
Briles was fired in May 2016 by Baylor after an investigation by a Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton found the school botched several sexual assault cases, including some involving football players.
Briles and other Baylor officials reportedly failed to take disciplinary action against several football players accused of rape despite being aware of the allegations.
The massive sexual assault scandal and the ensuing review led to the departures of Baylor University President Kenneth Starr and athletic director Ian McCaw.
Baylor has settled five Title IX lawsuits, and more than a dozen other former students who have said they were sexually assaulted have pending lawsuits against the school.
Briles was hired by the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats last August, but the organization quickly changed their minds less than 12 hours after his hiring and went in another direction.
"I’m a football coach and it’s all I’ve ever done and all I’ve ever really had a passion to do; this gives me a chance to be on the field and between the lines,” Briles told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “(This is) a situation where I can build a team over there and it’s inspiring to me. ... It’s a situation where I can stay active this fall as a coach and as a person be involved in the game."
Guelfi Firenze's season starts next spring.
