Art Briles will no longer be the offensive coordinator at Grambling State after the stench of his shameful tenure at Baylor proved to be too much for everyone involved.
Incredibly, it’s the second time in five years that a Briles hire has collapsed under pressure in less than a week. The Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats made and rescinded an offer to Briles in a single day in 2017.
Briles was fired from Baylor in 2016 after an investigation found he and his staff had chronically mishandled cases where players were accused of sexual assault.
The disgraced coach had landed jobs in Europe and at the high school level since, but the Grambling job was set to be his return to college football.
“Unfortunately, I feel that my continued presence will be a distraction to you and your team, which is the last thing that I want,” Briles said in a statement Monday, just five days after Grambling announced the hire. “I have the utmost respect (for) the university, and your players.”
Grambling legend and Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams was said to be influential in Briles leaving. Williams, now an executive with the Washington Commanders, said he would not support the program as long as Briles coached there, and that the hire would have late coach Eddie Robinson “turning over” in his grave.
Hue Jackson, the former Browns coach who now is the Grambling State coach, put out a statement through his foundation Friday defending the Briles hire. The statement, signed by Jackson, ended by implying that criticizing the Briles hire could re-traumatize victims of sexual assault.
