Damming texts reveal insight into Briles’ role

A day after Art Briles dropped the defamation lawsuit he previously had filed against four Baylor officials for making false accusations against him, the university released a series of damning text messages and emails that allege the former football coach was directly involved in covering up criminal acts by his players.

In response to a separate libel lawsuit filed by former football director of operations Colin Shillinglaw, who was fired in May at the height of an investigation into the school’s improper handling of sexual assault cases, a group of regents filed a document Thursday in a Dallas County court. They claim Shillinglaw worked with Briles to keep his players’ illegal activities quiet, as well as detailing an incident in which Briles talked callously about alleged gang rape.

In April 2011, three years into Briles’ term at Baylor, he sent a text message to an assistant coach expressing hope the police wouldn’t “recognize” the “name” of a freshman tackle who had been cited for illegal consumption of alcohol, the lawsuit claims.

“Did he get ticket from Baylor police or Waco? … Just trying to keep him away from our judicial affairs folks...” Briles wrote, according to the report, as published by TMZ.

In a Sept. 13, 2013, incident, Shillinglaw allegedly sent Briles a text after learning that a player had “exposed himself” in front of a female masseuse and “asked for favors,” which the woman’s lawyer asked the football coaches “to handle with discipline and counseling.” When Briles asked if the woman was a “stripper” and Shillinglaw informed him she worked at a spa, Briles allegedly responded, “Not quite as bad.”