According to Houston board of regents chairman Tilman Fertita, the school is in the process of narrowing its list to "5 or 6 names," and a decision could be made by the "middle of next week," per the Houston Chronicle.
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While plenty of candidates have emerged, the Houston Chronicle reports Art Briles has interest in returning to Houston, where he coached from 2003-2007. That interest may not be the same from the school, per Fertitta.
"There's a lot of administrator and ex administrators and board of regents from Baylor that say that Art Briles was a scapegoat at Baylor," Fertitta said. "I've had calls from ex chairman of the board of regents there, current big booster there, lawyers that represent Baylor. I have not had one negative call about Art Briles. But there still seems to be a clarity issue."
"I would love for Art Briles to be on our super-short list," Fertitta said. "But until, or if, or when we can ever get full clarity, I can't see us going there."
According to the report, West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen, Les Miles, Houston interim coach/defensive coordinator Todd Orlando, Houston offensive coordinator Major Applewhite, Oklahoma offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, Troy coach Neal Brown and Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson are all possible candidates as well.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, 17 women reported sexual or domestic assaults by 19 players since 2011 at Baylor under Briles' watch. Those incidents included four alleged gang rapes, per the report.
According to the report, head coach Art Briles knew about "at least one" alleged incident and didn't alert police, anyone on the judicial-affairs staff or the Title IX office.
This is just the latest after the school released a presser detailing the reasons the school took the steps it did.
Included, was a shocking few paragraphs that detailed the football coaches and staff took steps to disclose the sexual assault or dating violence allegations, thus not allowing the University to take the proper steps. Because the coaches did this, it reportedly "discredited" complaints and denied the accusers a right to "a fair, impartial and informed investigation."
Here's the entire section, via the report, per College Football Talk:
"Baylor failed to take appropriate action to respond to reports of sexual assault and dating violence reportedly committed by football players. The choices made by football staff and athletics leadership, in some instances, posed a risk to campus safety and the integrity of the University. In certain instances, including reports of a sexual assault by multiple football players, athletics and football personnel affirmatively chose not to report sexual violence and dating violence to an appropriate administrator outside of athletics. In those instances, football coaches or staff met directly with a complainant and/or a parent of a complainant and did not report the misconduct. As a result, no action was taken to support complainants, fairly and impartially evaluate the conduct under Title IX, address identified cultural concerns within the football program, or protect campus safety once aware of a potential pattern of sexual violence by multiple football players.
In addition, some football coaches and staff took improper steps in response to disclosures of sexual assault or dating violence that precluded the University from fulfilling its legal obligations. Football staff conducted their own untrained internal inquiries, outside of policy, which improperly discredited complainants and denied them the right to a fair, impartial and informed investigation, interim measures or processes promised under University policy. In some cases, internal steps gave the illusion of responsiveness to complainants but failed to provide a meaningful institutional response under Title IX. Further, because reports were not shared outside of athletics, the University missed critical opportunities to impose appropriate disciplinary action that would have removed offenders from campus and possibly precluded future acts of sexual violence against Baylor students. In some instances, the football program dismissed players for unspecified team violations and assisted them in transferring to other schools. As a result, some football coaches and staff abdicated responsibilities under Title IX and Clery; to student welfare; to the health and safety of complainants; and to Baylor's institutional values."
There's simply no way this man should be considered for a head coaching gig again.
And it's simply unfortunate that he'd even be considered for another coaching spot at this point.
