MOUNT VERNON, Texas — Art Briles was back at his roots on Monday, coaching a high school football team in Texas following a season in Italy and more than three years after the two-time Big 12 champion coach was fired by Baylor in the wake of a sexual assault scandal.
Briles is now coaching at Mount Vernon, a school just off Interstate 30 in East Texas between Dallas and the Arkansas line. He last coached high school 20 years ago, winning four state championships in Stephenville, which is located on the other side of Dallas.
“I knew there was a yes out there somewhere, because I found a lot of nos. But I was just thankful that the yes was here,” Briles said.
While expressing his gratitude about being home in Texas, where all of his coaching career has been except for the time in Italy, the 63-year-old Briles didn’t discuss in depth his time at Baylor or departure from the school.
Attorneys Darrell Barger and Ernest Cannon said in a written statement handed out before Briles’ post-practice availability that he “understands and appreciates the public’s interest in what occurred at Baylor University.” But they said Briles is a defendant in a civil lawsuit brought against him in July 2018 related to 2014 incidents “that the plaintiff alleges were physical (nonsexual) assault by her former boyfriend.”
Briles was hired by Mount Vernon on a two-year contract in May, after the school’s previous coach left for his alma mater. Briles was still in Italy when he was initially contacted about the possibility by a woman from Mount Vernon who once worked with him at Baylor.
Before that, Briles hadn’t been able to land a job in coaching in the United States since being let go by Baylor, although the coach said on Monday that he had “three or four opportunities” in late February. Briles didn’t elaborate, other than to say they were in Texas.
Southern Mississippi coach Jay Hopson wanted to hire Briles as offensive coordinator in February, but the school’s athletic director quashed the idea. He was hired as an assistant by Hamilton in the Canadian Football League in 2017, but after public backlash the Tiger-Cats quickly rescinded the move.
Briles was fired at Baylor after an external investigation revealed in May 2016 that the school had for years mishandled numerous sexual assault allegations by students, including some against football players. The Pepper Hamilton firm’s investigation found at least 17 women who reported being sexually assaulted by 19 football players.
Briles has insisted he did not cover up reports of assaults by players.
Baylor, which is still waiting for the outcome of an NCAA investigation into the school’s conduct, declined to comment on Monday night.
Along with the statement, Barger and Cannon handed out a copy of a May 2017 letter from Baylor’s general counsel that the attorneys say is “a letter of exoneration from wrongdoing in any sexual assault case.”
The attorneys also cited in their statement a 115-page independent investigation by Title IX consultants Margolis-Healy in September 2014 citing no such failings in the football program, but identifying “problems within Baylor’s campus safety leadership.”