Baylor made "sweeping personnel changes" at the school Thursday amid "an ongoing sexual assault scandal, including the removal of Ken Starr as president and Art Briles as head football coach," according to a front-page piece by Phillip Ericksen of the WACO TRIBUNE-HERALD. Philadelphia-based law firm Pepper Hamilton released a report that described a "'fundamental failure' across campus to handle allegations of sexual assault and failures to report cases stemming from the athletics department." Baylor AD Ian McCaw will "remain in his position but has been sanctioned and placed on probation." Starr has "agreed to remain as chancellor on terms still being discussed." He also will "remain a professor in the Baylor Law School." Other "administrators and staffers in the athletics department beyond Starr and Briles also were fired, but would not name any others." The dismissals "were the culmination of months of controversy and media reports regarding how the school has handled alleged sexual assaults, including several reports involving football players." Since '14, two former Baylor football players "have been convicted of sexual assault, and last month another was arrested on a sexual assault charge." Others were "named in police reports alleging sexual assault and physical violence." A Baylor statement released Thursday said that the school is "focused on restoring 'accountability' to its football program" (WACO TRIBUNE-HERALD, 5/27). In Austin, Suzanne Halliburton in a front-page piece writes the results of the Pepper Hamilton report were "so stunning that regents unanimously voted to dump Briles, who turned a once-moribund football program into a national power." Starr "had tenure, so he could not be fired." Baylor Board of Regents Chair Richard Willis declined to reveal details about McCaw's punishment, but said that McCaw "would lead the search for a new football coach" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 5/27). In Houston, Jerome Solomon writes McCaw somehow "managed to show he was blind to the rampant ridiculousness within the football program" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 5/27).
FALLEN STARR: In N.Y., Marc Tracy in a front-page piece notes Starr has been "credited with raising hundreds of millions of dollars for Baylor" in part by "yoking its fortunes to football." Much fundraising was "centered on building a gleaming on-campus home field, McLane Stadium," which opened in '14 (N.Y. TIMES, 5/27). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Belkin & Futterman note Baylor's football team over the course of Starr's tenure "went from a weak competitor to a regional powerhouse, bringing in millions of dollars in broadcasting revenue as it improved." Starr "reveled in the glow of the team’s success, often running out onto the field with students before home games" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/27).
TURNING A BLIND EYE: In Waco, Brice Cherry writes Briles "took a devil-may-care approach to his football philosophy," which is "fine" as an on-field strategy. However, when "chasing victory becomes more important than student safety, the program has failed." When "keeping a talented player around is of greater concern than a sexual assault allegation against said player, the system is corrupt" and it is "broken." Cherry: "Winning should never matter that much" (WACO TRIBUNE, 5/27). In Austin, Kirk Bohls writes Briles "looked the other way," which was the "wrong way." Briles "hurt a lot of people while damaging an entire university" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 5/27). SI.com's Michael Rosenberg wrote an 11-1 record is "not worth a damn if this is how you do it" (SI.com, 5/26). YAHOO SPORTS' Pat Forde wrote under the header, "Baylor Sold Its Soul To The Devil For Gridiron Glory" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/26). In Dallas, Chuck Carlton writes Baylor will "now be a cautionary tale of what happens when winning trumps everything else" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/27). ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said, "It makes you wonder about schools that get so good, so quick in big-time sports" ("PTI," ESPN, 5/26).
WINNING ISN'T EVERYTHING: In Dallas, Tim Cowlishaw writes Briles "allowed the program to spin out of his control." If a coach wins football games, a "certain number of crimes committed by your players is acceptable." But once those crimes "become tied together" and the "manner in which a football program and an administration demonstrate a lack of caring about the female students on their campus being raped, that's an entirely different thing." Briles was "tone deaf to what was happening around him" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/27). USA TODAY's Dan Wolken writes, "This wasn’t about one monster running rampant; it was about a culture sanctioned by the coach, his assistants and other administrators indicating that if players ever ran afoul of a woman’s right to say no, they would be backstopped by the influence of the biggest game in town" (USA TODAY, 5/27). USA TODAY's Nancy Armour writes Baylor's "entire campus was shrouded in a culture of secrecy and shame that made women who were brutalized feel marginalized and alone" (USA TODAY, 5/27). In K.C., Vahe Gregorian writes, "If Briles weren’t 50-15 the last five years and infusing swagger into a blah program that was able to unfurl a new $266 million stadium two years ago, you can believe that he would have been gone long ago under the crush of allegations" (K.C. STAR, 5/27).
WINDS OF CHANGE: In Austin, Cedric Golden writes it is "refreshing to know that for once, common decency won out over the never-ending chase for the dollars and the glory that come with championships" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 5/27). espnW's Jane McManus said, "To see a university like Baylor actually taking action and firing a head football coach, especially one of the caliber of Art Briles when it comes to what he has been doing on the field, is very unusual and it’s pretty stunning. It’s pretty clear that what they’re saying is that football is not the most important thing to them when it comes to their university" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 5/26). ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel wrote, "Someone in the gridiron-industrial complex stood up and said some standards are more important than winning." Baylor asking Briles to leave "is like Facebook turning on Mark Zuckerberg." Both of these CEOs "created something where nothing existed" (ESPN.com, 5/25). In Ft. Worth, Gil Lebreton writes Briles "had to be fired" even though coaches who "win as much as Briles did just don't get fired." He "likely figured he was untouchable," but Baylor regents "must have rightly felt that the soul of the university itself was being compromised" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 5/27). In Dallas, Sharon Grigsby wrote Thursday was a "far bigger win than any or all those exciting football games" under Briles. The school has "done plenty wrong, much of it irreparable, but it seems to have pulled itself out of the football-is-king ditch" (DALLASNEWS.com, 5/26). A DALLAS MORNING NEWS editorial states the firing of Briles "was a bombshell -- and an encouraging one, at that." The editorial: "Winning, for a change, wasn’t the only thing" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/27).
