After a significant amount of backlash in the short time since he was hired, Art Briles will not be the offensive coordinator at Grambling State.
The backlash to Briles being hired was swift. To try to ease the tension, Briles gave an interview regarding the massive sexual assault scandal and coverup that happened while he was at Baylor, which led to his dismissal. Grambling coach, Hue Jackson issued a statement, as well. But none of that did any good. In fact, Jackson might have made matters worse for himself.
Hours after Jackson’s statement, Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that Briles will not be the Tigers offensive coordinator, after all.
Source: Art Briles will no longer be the offensive coordinator at Grambling.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 28, 2022
In a statement obtained by ESPN, Briles thanked Grambling for the opportunity: "Unfortunately, I feel that my continued presence will be a distraction to you and your team, which is the last thing that I want. I have the utmost respect (for) the university, and your players." https://t.co/eFCcBxGf3r
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 28, 2022
While there were a lot of reactions to the news, most fell into one of two categories.
The first category was people who couldn’t help but laugh at Briles’ remarkably short tenure with the Tigers.
Grand opening grand closing https://t.co/LWe5HCfsPi
— Davis Bevill Biv Devoe (@Hummmmer) February 28, 2022
Art Briles’ tenure at Grambling, basically. pic.twitter.com/WBoUbvrwos
— Kimberley A. Martin (@ByKimberleyA) February 28, 2022
Art Briles didn't even last a Scaramucci.
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) February 28, 2022
The second category was people who were critical of Jackson and Baylor, pointing out that Briles should never have been hired to begin with. There were plenty of those.
In case you’re keeping score at home, trying to sneak in an Art Briles coaching hire during one of the biggest geopolitical conflicts in decades did not work.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) February 28, 2022
https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1498431610924015616
Attention all athletic directors: The best way to avoid taking a public beating for hiring Art Briles, only to undo it a few days later, is to never hire Art Briles. https://t.co/mwDlQdxzj8
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) February 28, 2022
Grambling tries to news-dump Briles on the day of Mardi Gras break, also first day of a war.
Doug Williams blasts them in the Washington Post.
Hue Jackson's tax practices become public business
Proud program embarrassed. Middle finger to students.
Gonna be bad for Hue too
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) February 28, 2022
it’s a good idea to keep art briles away from your program and if your head coach and athletic director try to sneak him in they probably go
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) February 28, 2022
It was bad enough Hue Jackson brought Grambling bad PR when he created the mess with the Browns, and how tone deaf was he to even consider Art Briles? That arrogance led to even more negative attention w/Doug Williams – the school's best player weighing in. Way to go Hue…SMH.
— OGhoopsprguy (@exhoopsPRguy) February 28, 2022
I wonder when people will realize it’ll never be a good idea to hire Art Briles?
On behalf of this survivor, thank you to everyone who keeps the pressure on. In the world of sports and sexual violence – we don’t see a lot of wins, but this counts as one. #SetTheExpectation https://t.co/aQ825JEq6V
— Brenda Tracy (@brendatracy24) February 28, 2022
So just to recap:
– Grambling hired Art Briles
– Then asked not to talk about it for the sake of the victims
– Then implicated their coach in a tax fraud scheme
– Then lost Art BrilesI’d say that went about as well as hiring Art Briles can go.
— David Gardner (@byDavidGardner) February 28, 2022
the art briles era at grambling ain’t even last a week. to add to it, hue jackson also implicated himself in a *potential* financial oopsie with his foundation. just a banner week for a storied hbcu, all during black history month smh
— mike taddow (@MikeTaddow) February 28, 2022
This was a disaster in every sense of the word. If there’s one positive to draw from, it’s this. Despite the unavoidable news going on in Ukraine, the decision to hire Briles did not fly under anyone’s radar. It was noticed and criticized to a point that just days after he was hired, Briles left. Every other university (and any other football team, for that matter) no doubt took notice of this and saw how much scrutiny they got.
If any decision-makers for colleges or other football teams were considering hiring Briles, they now know the backlash that will come. More likely than not, that means that Briles will not be hired to coach football again. If he is, it will demonstrate even worse judgment than what Jackson and Grambling showed.
