USA Today’s Dan Wolken reports that a “small minority” of Baylor donors are pushing for Art Briles to be given a one-year suspension that would reinstate him in 2017, but it’s unlikely to be successful.
That anybody is pushing for Briles, who fostered conditions inside the Baylor football program that led to many failures to take appropriate action on sexual assault, to return is absolutely ludicrous. But apparently football success is more important than accountability and meaningful change on a very, very serious issue to some (and hopefully nothing more than just a small number of people).
Wolken’s report -- which has more details than those summarized above, so read it here -- came after Horns Digest, Scout.com’s Texas site, reported Monday morning that Baylor regents were going to vote on levying a one-year suspension on Briles that would allow him to return in 2017. According to Horns Digest, the push for Briles to be given a one-year suspension is coming from donors who helped fund the university’s $300 million football stadium that opened two years ago.
Briles was suspended with an “intent to terminate” May 26, and former Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe was brought in to be the program’s interim coach for 2016.
Baylor still has not released to the public the findings of the Pepper Hamilton report.
UPDATE: One of Baylor’s donors talked to Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News:Bob Simpson, a key Baylor donor who is close to Art Briles, on the possibility of a return: “We don’t know yet. We’d like to see that.”
— Chuck Carlton (@ChuckCarltonDMN) June 13, 2016
And here’s Carlton’s article with the full quotes from Simpson, who’s a part owner of the Texas Rangers.