Months after he was fired at Baylor, Art Briles is having trouble finding work. For former ESPN insider Brett McMurphy, he believes there are only two schools that could take Briles in — Alabama and Liberty.
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On a potential jump to Alabama:
Let me stress: I don't think he would end up at Alabama, but if Nick Saban wanted Art Briles on his staff in some capacity - Saban has been a wayward home for some of the top discarded offensive minds in the past like Kiffin and Sarkisian - Saban has the power to bring him on board. That would never happen, because if Saban hated the distractions that Kiffin brought, having Briles in Tuscaloosa would be 100 times worse.
On Liberty:
The school's new athletic director is Ian McCaw, who just happened to be Briles' boss at Baylor. When McCaw was hired at Liberty in November, Liberty president Jerry Falwell Jr. said: "Ian's success really speaks for itself. You look at what Baylor was able to do during his tenure, it fits perfectly with where we see our sports programs going."
(He) conveniently didn't mention the horrific sexual assault culture on campus while McCaw was in charge of the athletic department.
Briles most recently was heading to the Canadian Football League, joining the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as an Assistant Head Coach Offense, per a team-issued release. Later in the same evening, the team made a decision not to bring Briles in, via a CFL-issued presser.
"Art Briles will no longer be joining the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a coach. We came to this decision this evening following a lengthy discussion between the league and the Hamilton organization. We wish Mr. Briles all the best in his future endeavours."
The Sun Sentinel originally reported former head coach Art Briles was serving as an "informal advisor" to Lane Kiffin's FAU. Kiffin pushed back against that idea, per ESPN:
"Somebody texted me and wanted to know why I hired Art Briles, and I was like, 'What?'" Kiffin said. "He's absolutely not a consultant and has never been to practice or spoken to our team. That's classic 'somebody trying to make it a story' because it's Art Briles and Lane Kiffin."
Kiffin said he's called Art Briles "probably twice" to let him know that Kendal was doing a good job."
Kendal Briles, Art Briles' son, is the offensive coordinator at FAU, serving under Kiffin's first tenure. Here's what was reported by the Sentienl:
"Obviously, he has ideas," Kendal said. "He wants to know personnel and different guys and making sure we're getting those guys in the right spots and getting them touches and all that stuff. He's a football coach, that's all he's ever been. He's definitely involved and we talk daily."
Art Briles has reportedly not been on FAU's campus. Kendal said he's sent film to his father and Kiffin has spoken to him "a couple times."
More from ESPN on that:
"Kendal sent his dad our spring game to let him see how he was calling plays and running the system," Kiffin said. "I have not spoken to [Art Briles] about him watching that film. It was just his son sending his dad film so he could see what he was doing, nothing more than that."
This normally wouldn't be a big deal, but Kiffin taking his Last Shot U mentality to even associating himself with Art Briles is not the type of look he should be aiming for at his fresh start.
Baylor made a decision to fire Art Briles after plenty of controversy had taken over the Bears football program.
Soon after the decision was announced, 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."
Art Briles served as a head coach at Houston and Baylor over 13 seasons. He was reported as a candidate for Houston as head coach and Auburn as offensive coordinator. Houston released a statement saying Art Briles was not a candidate, and he did not get the Auburn job.
