News

CFL commish “continuing discussions” with Ticats regarding Art Briles

by
3Down Staff
August 28, 2017

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced the hiring of former Baylor University head coach Art Briles on Monday.

The league office had been mum on the decision until Monday evening:

The Commissioner is in continuing discussions with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats regarding the hiring of Art Briles as a coach. We will have no further comment until those discussions have concluded.

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Ticats CEO Scott Mitchell defended the hiring.

Briles gained notoriety for turning around the Baylor University football program after inheriting the worst Big 12 team when he was hired as the Bears head coach in November 2007.

In all, Briles took Baylor to six straight bowl games.

Then, scandal struck. Briles was fired in May 2016 after an independent investigation found that football coaches and athletics administrators had run their own improper investigations into rape claims and that in some cases they chose not to report such allegations to an administrator outside of athletics.

“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.

Briles denied covering up sexual violence by his players or trying to obstruct the investigations. A number of lawsuits against Baylor are still pending and Briles has been out of football since.

-with AP files