Baylor has suspended coach Art Briles indefinitely and intends to fire him, the school announced on Thursday among sweeping changes.
Briles has been under fire amid a scandal at the school with regard to how it has handled allegations of sexual assault by football players. Other actions by the school Thursday included the reassignment of Baylor president Ken Starr, who will remain employed at Baylor's law school and has agreed to serve as chancellor. Director of athletics Ian McCaw has been sanctioned and placed on probation, per the school's release.
Richard Willis, chair of the Baylor Board of Regents, said during a teleconference Thursday that the school has been contacted by the NCAA and will cooperate with any resulting investigation.
Last fall, the school hired the Philadelphia law firm of Pepper Hamilton to conduct an independent review of its handling of sexual assault allegations.
"We were horrified by the extent of these acts of sexual violence on our campus. This investigation revealed the University's mishandling of reports in what should have been a supportive, responsive and caring environment for students," stated Willis in the school's release. "The depth to which these acts occurred shocked and outraged us. Our students and their families deserve more, and we have committed our full attention to improving our processes, establishing accountability and ensuring appropriate actions are taken to support former, current and future students."
According to a summary of Pepper Hamilton findings released by the school, Baylor's failures in responding to allegations of sexual assault were widespread. The athletic department and the football program were not only culpable, but as well, the school failed to adequately implement Title IX procedures as required by federal law, per the release.
"Based on a high-level audit of all reports of sexual harassment or violence for three academic years from 2012-2013 through 2014-2015, Pepper found that the University's student conduct processes were wholly inadequate to consistently provide a prompt and equitable response under Title IX, that Baylor failed to consistently support complainants through the provision of interim measures, and that in some cases, the University failed to take action to identify and eliminate a potential hostile environment, prevent its recurrence, or address its effects for individual complainants or the broader campus community," the summary read.
The school's summary of Pepper Hamilton's review of the football staff's response to sexual assault allegations revealed that football coaches and 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," and that "Football coaches and staff took affirmative steps to maintain internal control over discipline of players and to actively divert cases from the student conduct or criminal processes."
Briles informed players of his pending firing Thursday morning, reportedly via a group text that indicated the remainder of the BU coaching staff will likely remain.
Linebacker Taylor Young, one of the team's top defensive players, expressed displeasure with the decision and posted several messages supportive of Briles via Twitter.
"I don't think I can play Baylor football without having my headcoach back leading the charge coach Briles did everything by the books!!!," Young wrote in a Twitter post that was deleted.
ESPN's Outside the Lines reported last week on cases of alleged sexual assault and domestic violence by Bears players that had not previously received media attention.
The most widely publicized case of alleged sexual assaults was that of former Baylor DE Sam Ukwuachu, who was convicted last August. Former Bears defensive end Shawn Oakman, one of college football's most feared pass rushers the last two years, was charged with a sexual assault just two weeks before the 2016 NFL Draft. Oakman was not selected in the draft.
On the field, the Bears program blossomed under Briles. Baylor had suffered through 12 consecutive losing seasons upon Briles' arrival in 2008. After going 4-8 in each of his first two seasons, Briles has led six consecutive winning years. Baylor's presence in the NFL draft increased under Briles as well. The Bears had six players selected in the 2016 draft, and have had 26 selected since Briles took over the program. Just six Baylor players were picked in the draft in the eight years prior to Briles' 2008 arrival.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
