Written by Chuck Carlton at SportsDay.com
While Baylor regents discussed suspended football coach Art Briles on Monday night, boosters and key alumni endorsed a possible return.
One idea would have Briles sit out just one year for his part in how Baylor handled sexual assault charges and allegations, including those committed by multiple football players, according to a source familiar with the process. HornsDigest.com first reported Monday that the Baylor regents would look at bringing Briles back.
Whether the board would actually vote to reinstate Briles or to give him a hearing at a later date was unclear. Either way, what seemed like message board speculation as late as the weekend has developed into something far more real.
With the reports swirling, prominent Baylor donor Bob Simpson, whose name is on the building that houses the school’s athletic offices, said he would welcome Briles’ return in a brief phone interview.
“We don’t know yet. We’d like to see that,”said Simpson, also a co-owner of the Texas Rangers.
He’s not alone.
Two former Baylor regents chairmen, Dary Stone and Gale Galloway, endorsed Briles’ return to the Waco Tribune-Herald.
“One of the finest men I’ve known is Art Briles,” Galloway told the newspaper. “He certainly deserves to be reinstated. This [his firing] is heartbreaking and an overreaction.”
Briles delivered two Big 12 titles in 2013 and ’14 and 50 wins the past five seasons. Since his suspension, Baylor’s 2016 and ’17 recruiting classes have begun to dissolve.
In an interview with WFAA-TV, interim Baylor President David Garland said he was caught off-guard by the rumors and said the regents’ meeting wasn’t about Briles while acknowledging that a group of fans, alumni and donors want him back. He indicated that the prospects for a return faced long odds.
“A lot of fans love what the coach did on the football field, and you can understand that,” Garland told the Dallas TV station. “But other factors have to be taken into consideration.”
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