You just knew this was coming.
Lane Kiffin acknowledged to reporters covering his Florida Atlantic football team that he had turned to Art Briles, ousted as BU’s head football coach in the midst of the sexual assault scandal, for help and advice when it comes to the Owls’ offense, stating that "[e]very once in a while, I’ll text or call him and bounce something off of him.” The backlash over Kiffin even informally consulting with the disgraced coach was immediate, prompting him to clarify the state of his relationship with Briles.
“Somebody texted me and wanted to know why I hired Art Briles, and I was like, ‘What?’” Kiffin told ESPN.com‘s Chris Low. “He’s absolutely not a consultant and has never been to practice or spoken to our team. That’s classic ‘somebody trying to make it a story’ because it’s Art Briles and Lane Kiffin. ...
“Kendal sent his dad our spring game to let him see how he was calling plays and running the system. I have not spoken to [Art Briles] about him watching that film. It was just his son sending his dad film so he could see what he was doing, nothing more than that.”
The Kendal mentioned would be Kendal Briles, Art’s son and Kiffin’s offensive coordinator. Over the weekend, the younger Briles acknowledged that he’s sent film to his father, saying "[h]e’s definitely involved and we talk daily.” From Low’s interview with Kiffin:Kiffin said he’s called Art Briles “probably twice” to let him know that Kendal was doing a good job.
“He’s a coach’s dad just like mine, and I told him that his son is doing a really good job, which all dads, especially coach’s dads, love to hear,” Kiffin said. “It’s no different than when you call a player’s parent and tell them their son is doing well. And in the course of that, I’ve asked him a few questions because it’s obviously his [offensive] system that he’s run for years. So I’ve asked him a couple of questions about alignments of players or something like that.So, there’s that. Hope it clears things up.