NCAA’s Committee on Infractions release decision regarding Baylor, Art Briles

A Division I Committee on Infractions hearing panel announced on Wednesday afternoon that they could not conclude that Baylor violated NCAA rules when it failed to report allegations of and address sexual and interpersonal violence committed on its campus.

However, the panel did find other violations that occurred between 2011 and 2016 under former head coach Art Briles. The violations include: impermissible benefits were provided to a football student-athlete who was not reported for failing to meet an academic performance plan following an academic violation and the university operated a predominantly female student-host program that did not align with NCAA recruiting rules. Additionally, a former assistant director of football operations did not meet his obligation to cooperate and violated ethical conduct rules when he did not participate in the investigation.

As a result, the penalties for the violation include four years of probation, recruiting restrictions, a vacation of records and a five-year show-cause order limiting all athletically related duties for the former assistant director of football operations.

“Baylor admitted to moral and ethical failings in its handling of sexual and interpersonal violence on campus but argued those failings, however egregious, did not constitute violations of NCAA rules. Ultimately, and with tremendous reluctance, this panel agrees,” the panel said in its decision. “To arrive at a different outcome would require the [committee] to ignore the rules the Association’s membership has adopted — rules under which the [committee] is required to adjudicate. Such an outcome would be antithetical to the integrity of the infractions process.”

Current NCAA rules do not call for the Committee on Infractions to adjudicate how schools respond to such issues as sexual violence on campus.

In 2016, Baylor made sweeping changes to it’s athletic department as a result of a sexual assault scandal involving numerous football players. After eight seasons, head coach Art Briles was fired. School president Ken Starr was removed from his post and transitioned into the role of chancellor. Starr later resigned from his position as chancellor. Athletic director Ian McCaw resigned in late May of 2016.

Pepper Hamilton, an outside law firm hired by Baylor, found that the school “failed to take appropriate action to respond to reports of sexual assault and dating violence reportedly committed by football players. The choices made by football staff and athletics leadership, in some instances, posed a risk to campus safety and the integrity of the University.”

The report stated that Baylor administrators actively discouraged some complainants from reporting or participating in student conduct processes and in one case constituted retaliation against a complainant for reporting sexual assault.

At the time of Briles’ firing, he had come under fire after two players, Tevin Elliot and Sam Ukwuachu were convicted for sexual assaults. Allegations swirled against other players as well. Notably, former player Shawn Oakman was arrested on sexual assault charges (In 2019, Oakman was found not guilty.)

In 2017, a new lawsuit alleged that in four years, at least 31 Baylor players committed at least 52 acts of rape.

In Briles’ tenure, Briles led Baylor to a 65-37 record. The Bears won the Big 12 in 2013 and 2014 under Briles and made the College Football Playoff in the 2014-2015 season.