In a not-too-surprising but extremely disappointing move, Grambling hired disgraced coach Art Briles to be their new offensive coordinator last week. The move was met with a lot of negative reactions, thanks in large part to the fact that the school and head coach Hue Jackson did not hold any kind of press conference or speak with the media about it. Briles himself did one interview with a local TV station where he reiterated that he was “exonerated” from the Baylor scandal in which it was shown that he knew about sexual assault allegations and other issues and did not escalate accordingly to ensure the safety of Baylor students.
Jackson broke his silence on Monday in the form of a statement released via the Hue Jackson Foundation. As expected, the statement tries to paint Briles as a victim of the situation and expresses a need for redemption and forgiveness for him without expressly saying what kind of opportunities or recompense has been offered to the victims of the Baylor scandal.
Pleas Read this statement. #forgiveness #redemption#enlightenment #GramFam pic.twitter.com/XWstabSdll
— HueJacksonFoundation (@HueJacksonFDN) February 25, 2022
“The Hue Jackson Foundation has been dedicated to fighting against ALL forms of sexual abuse and exploitation as well as other forms of racial and social bias,” Jackson wrote. “We have a clear understanding of the role that coaches and others who have a position of trust play in the lives of those they meet.
“We also know and understand the process of identifying risks, helping others to heal, and the importance of prevention. We believe that through the hiring of Coach Briles and the well-developed programs we have in place, this hire will be instrumental in teaching others the importance of knowing how to prevent victimization, proper reporting procedures, provide adequate resources to individuals who have been victimized, and develop strong law enforcement partnerships within the community.”
Perhaps most disconcerting is the last paragraph of the statement, which implies that discussing what happened at Baylor under Art Briles would be a way of retraumatizing the victims. In other words, we don’t want to talk about it anymore.
If reactions from the college football world are any indication, the statement did not have the effect that was intended.
You're forgiving him? What'd he do to you? Or are you forgiving him for something he did to somebody else?
— Jason Kirk (buy my novel) (@JasonKirk_fyi) February 28, 2022
Here’s a thought: Maybe don’t hire someone who’s caused so much pain, therefore putting their name in the spotlight, and which then makes victims see their name. Re-traumatizing (in this instance), solved! #forgiveness #redemption #enlightenment https://t.co/A2ya35UEi5
— Brenna Greene (@BrennaGreene_) February 28, 2022
I read the statement, and the question I have is: What are you forgiving Art Briles for? Shouldn’t the decision to forgive be left up to the victims? https://t.co/x9Jo3B0TrT
— David Gardner (@byDavidGardner) February 28, 2022
Pleading for forgiveness, redemption, and enlightment implies at minimum recognizing you've done something wrong which Art Briles, who clearly sees himself as some kind of victim, adamantly has not. Hasn't even taken the first step. https://t.co/0FGtu9rqo1
— Matt Hinton (@MattRHinton) February 28, 2022
https://twitter.com/JulieDiCaro/status/1498335181446524930
You know what’s a critical step in redemption? Acknowledgement of wrongdoing. Which Briles hasn’t come close to doing. Spare me all of this. https://t.co/OCC9FHsr7K
— Nancy Armour (@nrarmour) February 28, 2022
You can’t just forgive someone for what they did to someone else and call it good. https://t.co/tf5tyRPeJd
— sarah kelly (@thesarahkelly) February 28, 2022
I just cannot fathom why Grambling let Hue do this. https://t.co/Wt4VNM8MpY
— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr) February 28, 2022
Perhaps understanding how this looks, Grambling took the time to publicly say that they had nothing to do with this statement.
Per Grambling spokesperson:
"The Foundation has their own publicist and is not an extension of Grambling State University. The letter is not a statement from the university and solely represents the head coach and leader of the foundation"
— Richard🇬🇾Johnson (human) (@RJ_cfb) February 28, 2022
The statement also has put a spotlight on the foundation itself and what it does with the money that it receives. Or perhaps more to the point, what it doesn’t do with the money that it receives.
The Hue Jackson Foundation collected $158,000 in 2019 (the most recent tax info available). It paid out $115,000 to its sole paid employee and spent another $15,000 on travel. It looks like they gave out roughly $4,000 in grants. https://t.co/cnR5AvWuP9
— Dan Murphy (@DanMurphyESPN) February 28, 2022
As always, it’s a good reminder that no one “deserves” anything in life regardless of their accomplishments. And there’s no requirement that Art Briles has to coach or be hired by a university. We all make choices in this life and those choices have consequences. At least, unless you win a lot of football games.
[HJF]