@Baylor Art Briles in the house. pic.twitter.com/0v6hpD9xmb
— SicEm (@BearNTex) September 17, 2016
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Yes, courtesy of a fan at the game, that is indeed former Baylor head coach Art Briles in the stands at Rice Stadium watching his old team. Biles was fired from the school in May after an investigation by law firm Pepper Hamilton found the football program did not properly handle allegations of sexual assault involving several players on the team.
Having Briles show up to the game looks like the latest stop in the coach’s image rehabilitation tour. He was interviewed on ESPN last week apologizing for mistakes during his tenure and has been seen at a number of other college campuses and NFL training camps in the past few months.
It should be noted that the ex-coach showing up for a game is not completely unexpected considering his son Kendal Briles is the program’s offensive coordinator while his son-in-law Jeff Lebby is the Bears’ running backs coach.
Still, the appearance of Briles at a Baylor game is bound to raise a few eyebrows and cause folks to wonder if he’s there to see old players and coaches or even if he might be a little interested in scouting Rice should that head coaching job come open at the end of the year.