Grambling State athletic director explains decision to hire Art Briles

Former Baylor Bears coach Art Briles was suddenly thrusted into the spotlight on Thursday when Grambling State announced the football program was hiring the former head coach its next offensive coordinator.

The move has already created a controversy considering Briles’ involvement with a national sexual assault scandal from his tenure leading the Baylor Bears.

Shortly after the announcement, Grambling State Athletic Director Trayvean Scott told ESPN that he wanted to give Briles “a chance to really redeem himself, after understanding where the facts lie.”

Art Briles hired as Grambling State OC

The Grambling State football team is set to make a move that will prove shocking to some fans of the program and college football at large. Sources close to the program told KTAL Sports on Wednesday night that the Tigers have hired former Baylor Bears head coach Art Briles as the team’s new offensive coordinator, but the original tweet and article were later deleted.

On Thursday, The Athletic’s Chris Vannini confirmed the report, with Grambling State confirming Art Briles will join the Tigers staff after all. Sam Rothman of KTAL Sports sat down with Briles for an exclusive interview that is scheduled to air at 5 p.m. CT.

This hire garners a large amount of attention due to the history of the former head coach. Briles was fired by Baylor in 2016 amid a campus-wide sexual assault scandal that involved members of his team. Since his termination at Baylor, Art Briles has not coached at the collegiate level. As a result of the investigation, the NCAA fined Baylor University $50,000 and placed them on a four-year probational period for their mishandling of the sexual assault reports.

Although the NCAA deemed that Briles and the Bears did not break any of its bylaws, the damage was still done to his reputation given his unacceptable behavior. Since the allegations, Baylor has been able to turn the program around. Under current head coach Dave Aranda, the Bears won their first-ever outright Big 12 championship. Afterward, the Bears went on to be the Ole Miss Rebels in the Sugar Bowl.

A day before the Art Briles news broke, Daingerfield (Texas) wide receiver Jakevian Rodgers has decommitted from Baylor, he announced Wednesday on Twitter.

Rodgers chose the Bears in December over another offer from UTSA, and he has recently picked up offers from Louisiana Tech and Louisiana-Monroe.

“I want to thank the Baylor coaching staff for recruiting me but I would like to see what other schools have in store for me,” Rodgers wrote. “Baylor will definitely be an option in the future but I want to take it one step at a time. I had long thought about this but I think this is best for me and my family. With that being said, I will be decommitting from Baylor.”