I want to start this by saying I currently live in Waco, and have spent almost my entire life there (besides my time at LSU and Texas Tech). I genuinely believe that Briles helped in part create a culture that valued winning at any cost. I’ve heard countless stories about BU players fighting locals at Scruffs (Waco bar) and Baylor PD basically just escorts the players involved home and the whole thing goes unreported, and I have followed with great interest the scandal that has unfolded in my hometown. I’ve heard through a friend who has family ties to the Baylor board of regents that Briles had an e-mail exchange with Starr discussing an unreported rape by Tevin Elliot in which Briles is purported to have said something along the lines of ‘well if the police aren’t going to do anything and the family is happy with what’s happening then I don’t want to suspend him’… if that’s true it explains the sprawl of firing the AD, Head Coach, and the Chancellor/President in a week makes sense and also implies Baylor covered it all up and buried the proof…. and, that quickly brings me to the crux of this argument BAYLOR WAS SMART ENOUGH TO COVER IT UP… I’m not arguing that what happened under his watch wasn’t terrible, but I do think in all but a select few instances he really didn’t know and when he did know he took verifiable action. Yet, the AD and President/Chancellor when also presented with this information often redirected responsibility away from themselves and onto others in the athletic administration and title 9 office, its this deflection of responsibility that shows a clear pattern of non-responsiveness and moral hazard run amuck. This ethical failure by those at the top is why Baylor board of regents decided to only be given an oral recitation of the Pepper-Hamilton Report, because they knew that if you could prove administrators failed to act, and effectively made it easier for victims to be victimized then the NCAA could make essentially the same case they made against Penn State and if not outright shutdown the program for a few years they would sanction the hell out of it…Do I think Briles did wrong by not doing everything he could have, yes. But at the same time I do think he did go above and beyond what was actually required of him YES, He didn’t outright vilify any of his players as many victims and their supporters feel he should have
(I went to Texas Tech for undergrad and LSU for my masters…which btw HIRE LEACH and just give him an NFL level DC and LSU will explode he’s the coolest coach in the NCAA currently but he doesn’t really deserve the chance to take over LSU given his record against D-2 schools but I still love the guy and would be ecstatic even if he just became OC…sorry I digress from the leach distraction back to my point I wanted Briles gone more than maybe any one else I knew in Waco at the time because he was killing Tech and throwing all of the traditional balances in the BIG 12 off kilt. It’s because he was truly building a monster that UT and OU were so quick to vilify the situation and force Baylor’s hand by threating to have them removed from the BIG12 in the coming round of re-alignment, Bowlsby no shite threatened that and it sent chills down the back of every Baylor fans neck at the same time and they were forced to the same conclusion)
Despite lacking any proof (Because any proof that did exist was eradicated) BU was forced to fire a coach that pulled of a literal coaching miracle he took arguably the worst team in any power 5 conference and made them into a legitimate national title contender, Grobe is going to win 9 games at least using only 70 of briles recruits on scholarship (THAT’S THE SAME NUMBER AS USC HAD FOLLOWING THE REGGIE BUSH SCANDAL).
The point of that rather long rant is simple while the case as an opposing fan base is easy to make about briles it also lacks credibility. Baylor covered it up as a Wacoan I have had to uncomfortably accept that fact; Cover-ups are unfortunately nothing new to this town. And because BU did that Briles is tainted but not to the point that he doesn’t merit consideration for this job… He is going to be given another job again, and while its obvious he may have given one too many people a second chance I don’t think that precludes him from being given that same chance. There is no doubt Briles hire would draw national consternation and ire, yet this is the SEC and he could be one of the few coaches that are objectively better than Miles was, I think its worth it take a hit in the editorial columns for a while he is more than worth the risk. While I have oft fantacized about Leach or Kingsburry getting LSU level recruits but in my life that dream has never materialized in Lubbock…I know there is a litany of factors for why Baylor got so good but its undeniable that Briles (running a similar system to Tech) built a damn near perfect machine to play in the BIG 12, just imagine what he could do with LSU’s resources I truly think he is the best candidate for the job (I like herman but I am pretty sure UH is getting in the BIG 12 and he is going to try to be the next gary Patterson…if by the end of October UH has been told they aren’t getting into the BIG12 then fine make a concerted effort to get him, as I think he’s a close second in terms of potential but a much easier hire in terms of baggage, but I think its irrelevant because UH is the perfect stopgap to get any of the BIG 12 not leave the league before the current TV deal expires in a few years) ( I also like Shaw/Fisher/Petrino but you can’t guarantee they will be any better than miles was) I could understand Lane Kiffin but if you are going to take a risk hiring a piece of shite why not hire the piece of shite that has actually built something that no one thought was possible… just look at Baylor circa 2005 before Briles got there and look were they are now… I know that the projections of growth at LSU wouldn’t be that linear but I think it would be tremendous… and I will close with this I defy anyone reading this to find verifiable proof that briles did in fact know and did in fact do nothing (Find me that mythical email chain between briles and starr that if found completely dooms BU) and I will retract everything I’ve said and admit LSU is above that. Unfortunately I understand LSU as the University system that was willing to let the Studio Art Building use sticks to hold up the air conditioners outside of windows while also spending $60 million to bowl off the end zone of the stadium… So while I know we all want to say we care more about LSU than LSU winning should take a long deep look at what actually takes place on campus. I do not think Briles is the easy choice, but he is the right one.