You could see and smell this outcome coming a mile -- or kilometre -- away regardless of what side of the border you were on.
Monday morning, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League announced that it had hired disgraced former Baylor head football coach Art Briles as the CFL team’s “Assistant Head Coach Offence.” The reaction to the hiring of the coach who oversaw a BU football program rocked by a widespread sexual assault scandal was immediate and swift, with even one of the team’s sponsors publicly and very emphatically denouncing the move.
“We strongly condemn and urge the team’s management and ownership to immediately sever any ties they may have,” Barry’s Jewelers said in a statement on a hiring that was announced on the same day a women’s football clinic was scheduled to be hosted by the pro team. “Mr. Briles may or may not have a valid coaching track record, but to choose the chance of winning football over the importance of values goes beyond our core values and is absolutely not acceptable.”
Not long after that company released its statement, the league and the team released a joint statement announcing that Briles is once again no longer employed.
Good for them. Finally, and after a bit of a public push, common sense prevailed. And that’s about all that needs to be said about that.