Art Briles had a historic run on the field while at Baylor but the former head coach's tenure in Waco, Texas, is remembered by many for very different reasons.
Briles was fired in June for his role in Baylor's years-long sexual assault scandal. Briles has since tried to clear his name by filing a motion to dismiss the Title IX lawsuit brought on by a Baylor rape survivor and declaring that he lived his life in "a righteous manner."
But on Wednesday in an interview with ESPN, Briles apologized for his role in Baylor's sexual assault scandal.
"I made mistakes. I did wrong, but I'm not doing this trying to make myself feel better for apologizing," Briles told ESPN's Tom Rinaldi. "I understand I made some mistakes. There was some bad things that went on under my watch. I was the captain of this ship. The captain of the ship goes down with it.
"So, I understand that I made some mistakes, and for that I'm sorry. But I'm not trying to plead for people's sympathy. I'm just stating that, 'Hey, I made some mistakes. I was wrong. I'm sorry. I'm gonna learn. I'm gonna do better."
This is a pretty big turn from Briles' comments in early August when he declared, "I've never done anything illegal, immoral or unethical." So what's changed in that time? Well, Briles did hire a new agent in hopes of landing a job in college coaching.
Many such as Tim Cowlishaw have written that for Briles to get that second chance in coaching he will need to show accountability for his actions in Waco. This is a good first step in that direction, though even Briles admits he needs to be more forthcoming about what happened at Baylor.
