Art Briles Probably Should Quit Trying to Coach
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Art Briles should just quit trying to get a coaching job that anybody has to know about.
Briles will no longer be the offensive coordinator at Grambling State, according to a statement obtained by Sports Illustrated.
“Thanks for giving me the opportunity to be part of your coaching staff at Grambling State University,” Briles said in the statement. “Unfortunately, I feel that my continued presence will be a distraction to you and your team, which is the last thing that I want. I have the utmost respect [for] the university and your players.”
He is the father of Razorbacks offensive coordinator Kendal Briles.
Raymond Carlin III / USA TODAY Sports
Grambling and coach Hue Jackson received major backlash for hiring the former Baylor coach, who hasn’t coached college football since 2016.
Briles was fired along with Baylor administrators in a scandal with sexual assault allegations against players over several years.
A law firm hired by Baylor to examine its handling of sexual violence found that the football program and athletic department had failed to “identify and respond to a pattern of sexual violence by a football player.”
Two players were ultimately arrested. Tevin Elliott was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, while Sam Ukwuachu was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 10 years of probation.
On Friday, Jackson released a public letter defending his decision to hire Briles, pledging to “support Coach Briles and all victims of assault, violence, social and racial injustices.”
Three days later, Briles is out of the job.
Briles' name has come up surrounding numerous jobs over the past few years, but when he has reportedly been under consideration to get, it was dismissed after public backlash.
Reinhold Matay / USA TODAY Sports
Kevin Jairaj / USA TODAY Sports
The same happened when he was hired by a Canadian football team and quickly dismissed. Now Grambling State took just three days and former player and coach Doug Williams throwing a public fit.
This is likely never going away. When Briles was ousted at Baylor, the general thought was he is done coaching and that has held true.
Briles was cleared by the NCAA of violating any of that kangaroo court's policies, but they made it clear he should have done more, in their opinion, than what he did.
Briles may want to coach, but he is effectively cancelled and will likely never get to do that again.
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