Everything that happened from the moment Art Briles was hired to be Grambling State’s offensive coordinator Thursday until the separation Monday wasn’t merely predictable, it was inevitable.
Just when you thought Football Man, Inc., had finally been cured of its obsession with redeeming the disgraced former Baylor coach, here came Hue Jackson taking his at-bat, thinking that he would be the one to finally convince the world that Briles was worth another chance.
But just as the best salesmen in the world would find it impossible to take dog food and convince anyone it’s filet mignon, even the most respected members of Football Man, Inc., cannot leverage their reputations to make hiring Briles seem acceptable. The difference between the two is the dog food salesmen wouldn’t have the ego to try.
There is nothing particularly new or profound about saying Briles cannot be hired in college football again. This was true on May 26, 2016 – the day Baylor got rid of Briles – and has remained true every day since. The facts of the sexual assault scandal at Baylor and Briles’ culpability in creating that culture within the football program were extremely bad then, and they’ve not gotten any better with age. He’s radioactive.
What’s remarkable is that Football Man, Inc., keeps trying to act as if it’s not so.
Let’s get this straight: Briles was not “canceled.” He was fired at Baylor because he didn’t fulfill his responsibilities in reporting sexual assault allegations, showed indifference and outright disregard toward player behavior that put women in danger and had no real sense of accountability when given an opportunity by the Baylor regents to defend himself.
Art Briles, shown coaching Baylor on Oct. 24, 2015.
Since then, Briles and his defenders have spent years spinning a yarn about how he was done…
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