Rick Neuheisel makes a bold statement about Art Briles' future employment
There has been rampant speculation that former Baylor coach Art Briles would be back on a collegiate sideline sooner rather than later and former UCLA coach turned broadcaster Rick Neuheisel thinks Briles return could be next year.
Auburn is in a tough place right now. The team is 1-2 and with SEC play about to get into full swing, it doesn’t look like the Tigers will fare much better than their 2-6 conference record a year ago. If the university decides to pony up the reported $13.75 million to part ways with coach Gus Malzahn, it would need to find a coach that could bring the school immediate success and Briles has a proven track record of being that guy. But could the university reconcile the stigma that surrounds him and moreover, would it be able to generate support from a moral standpoint for his hiring?
Briles was fired last spring for his role in how Baylor handled (or didn’t handle) sexual assault allegations involving football players. Briles sued the school for wrongful termination, settled and has since been on a media tour to kind of apologize and kind of justify his actions. He’s also been popping up at various football practices and was seen at last week’s Baylor-Rice game.
As Yahoo Sports columnist Dan Wetzel pointed out Wednesday, there’s still little evidence about what Briles knew or didn’t know as it pertains to the actions of his players, though Baylor promised to release findings later this month that might shed some light on that subject.
Until that report comes out, Briles is in limbo. To hire him without knowing his exact actions – or as close as this investigation determined – is to walk in blind. It could be disqualifying. It could be worse than imagined. It could be so bad that he struggles to show his face again.
It could also, as Briles and his backers have argued, show far less culpability and poor decision making from the coach than expected. It certainly could provide him with the opportunity to defend his actions, point by point, which he deserves.
Either way, this is uncertain waters. While fans, desperate for the kind of winning they envision Art Briles could bring to their school, may want to dream of the best, in the real world he remains the third-rail of college coaches.
Briles has long maintained he was a scapegoat for Baylor as it combated lawsuits from victims and there’s seems to be some sympathy for that in coaching circles. But when it comes to hiring Briles, it’s definitely a slippery slope and one that a school like Auburn might not want to tread.
For more Auburn news, visit AuburnSports.com.
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
