Ex-Baylor coach Art Briles says he has learned some lessons, thinks he’ll get another chance.
OXNARD, Calif. — Former Baylor football coach Art Briles is confident he will get another chance and said he learned some lessons after losing his job amid allegations that his program mishandled complaints of sexual assault.
In his most extensive public comments since leaving Baylor, Briles said Tuesday while visiting the Dallas Cowboys’ training camp that the circumstances leading to his departure were unfortunate for a lot of people, “victims first and foremost.”
“Things happen and that happened, and it’s unfortunate for a lot of people, not myself, being at the last, a lot of other people involved, victims first and foremost,” Briles said. “Then when you break down, assistant coaches that are involved, support staff, players, recruits, it’s unfortunate but that’s the path that was taken so we’ll all learn from it and be better for it. That’s going to be my goal.”
Briles, 60, said he had not thought about whether his former school treated him fairly but expressed confidence that he would get another coaching job.
“I know who I am, I know what I’ve been for 60 years. People may doubt what you say, but they’ll always believe what you do,” Briles said. “I’ve always lived my life in a righteous manner.”
Briles was suspended in May after the Pepper Hamilton law firm released a 13-page report that accused football coaches and staff of interfering with investigations into sexual assault complaints against some players, and even impeding potential criminal proceedings.
Baylor president Ken Starr was demoted, and athletic director Ian McCaw resigned before Briles reached a settlement with the school over his departure about a month after the report was released. Briles had eight seasons left on his contract
While Briles is gone, all of his assistant coaches remain at Baylor with acting head coach Jim Grobe. That group includes Briles’ son, Kendal, who is the Bears’ offensive coordinator, and his sonin-law, Jeff Lebby, also an offensive assistant.
Among some other topics Briles addressed:
• About his son and son-in-law still at Baylor: “They’ll coach their tail off. They’ll do great. They’re professionals. They’ll coach hard for Baylor.”
• He hopes to be in a new job by the end of the year. He left open the possibility of an NFL position.
Former coach Bill Dooley dies
Bill Dooley, a three-time coach of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference who won 162 games at North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, died. He was 82.
Dooley’s wife, Marie, said he died of natural causes at their home in Wilmington, N.C.
Dooley went a combined 162-125-5 in 26 seasons as a head coach with the Tar Heels, Hokies and Demon Deacons and took the three schools to a combined 10 bowl games.
Dooley was the younger brother of former Georgia coach Vince Dooley and the uncle of ex-Tennessee coach and current Dallas Cowboys assistant Derek Dooley.
Odds and ends
TCU football coach Gary Patterson signed a one-year extension that takes his contract through the 2021 season. Patterson, 56, is going into his 16th season as head coach of the Horned Frogs and is the program’s winningest coach with 143 victories. TCU is 23-3 over the past two seasons, with a 15-3 record in Big 12 games. … Purdue hired Georgia Tech athletic director Mike Bobinski less than a month before the struggling Boilermakers football program kicks off its fourth season under Darrell Hazell. The first challenge for Bobinski, who served as the chair for the NCAA men’s basketball committee during the 2012-2013 season, will be to evaluate a football program that is 6-30 under Hazell, whose contract runs through the 2018 season.