A PRAISEWORTHY STAND
By omitting Briles as a coaching candidate, UH makes a statement that campus rape is to be taken seriously
The University of Houston deserves a round of applause.
Cougars everywhere, you should take a minute or two to be extra proud of your school today.
In the midst of social media rumors and national media reports about the university interviewing the embattled Art Briles for its coaching vacancy, UH athletic director Hunter Yurachek shut it all down by releasing a statement Saturday making it clear Briles is not on any list of potential candidates.
Kudos to Yurachek, to UH president Renu Khator and to the rest of the university leadership that decided not to take a chance on Briles.
Briles was fired from Baylor in May after reportedly mishandling reports that several of his players had raped women.
Since then, more information has emerged about the football team under Briles’ leadership.
And it’s not good. According to the university, Briles (among others in the athletic department) knew about a gang rape involving five of his players. He failed to report the crime, which is required by federal law.
Liberty should be ashamed
One of the others who knew and did nothing — former Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw — was hired last week by Liberty University.
Leadership at Liberty, a “Christian” institution should be ashamed. There is no way to justify hiring a man in a leadership role when he ignored rape allegations.
That hire was discouraging, disrespectful and disgusting. It was a slap in the face to victims of the crimes that happened under McCaw’s watch at Baylor.
Days after that, reports of Briles interviewing at UH surfaced.
Imagine if it were true — if the university really did go through with an interview, then with hiring him.
Everything the victims have fought for and spoken out against, everything they’ve had to suffer through … it would be for nothing.
And it would be at the hands of a school that has spent the last several years building a wellrespected program.
Briles coached at UH and had success there. No one can deny he is a good football coach.
But hiring him would send the wrong message.
What happened at Baylor is inexcusable. Every university athletic department in the country should be doing everything it can to ensure that rape on campus ends.
The second Briles ignored claims, turned his head and looked the other way, he failed to do his part to end the rape epidemic across the country.
It doesn’t matter if he can coach, if he can win. He failed to do the right thing. He made a mistake, one that cost him his job and the respect needed to be put in a role to lead young men.
And while it’s acceptable to forgive Briles for his mistakes, it’s not acceptable to put him in a position in which repeating those mistakes could be detrimental to students on a campus and to the reputation of an entire university.
Taking the high road
Any school committed to doing its part to make campuses safer places for women simply cannot put someone with his history in a leadership role.
Any university that does — Liberty, for example — is making it clear it has no intention of protecting, caring for or helping victims of sexual harassment or assault.
On Saturday, UH made the kind of statement we need to see more of. UH became a shining example.
According to the statement from Yurachek, Briles expressed interest in the job earlier in the week. After discussing with university leadership, the school came up with a list of candidates and Briles was not on it.
“I want to be clear that University leadership was unanimous regarding this decision,” Yurachek added on Twitter.
With the statement, UH made it clear that character is a priority.
It also reinforced that hiring Briles right now is too controversial. It would bring the wrong kind of attention to a program that has spent a lot of time and money to earn respect on the national stage.
This move pushed the university a step further in that regard.
The respect it earned by deciding not to interview Briles goes beyond the football field. UH made the right moral decision.
Now the Cougars can focus on other coaching targets. Whether it’s Les Miles, Lane Kiffin or one of the existing coordinators, the new Cougars head coach can be confident he took a job at a university with strong leadership. Way to go, UH. Hopefully, your example will be followed.