Earlier today Baylor head coach Art Briles denied any awareness of the violent past of defensive end Sam Ukwuachu. At one point he even seemed to shift some of the blame on former Boise State head coach Chris Petersen, saying Petersen never shared any information about Ukwuachu’s violent history that led to his departure from Petersen’s Boise State program. Petersen has a different story to tell.
“After Sam Ukwuchu was dismissed from the Boise State football program and expressed an interest in transferring to Baylor, I initiated a call with coach Art Briles,” Petersen said in a released statement Friday afternoon (via Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com). “In that conversation, I thoroughly apprised Coach Briles of the circumstances surrounding Sam’s disciplinary record and dismissal.”
Uh, your response Briles?
There are two sides to every story. We know this. Either Briles or Petersen is missing or misinterpreting some key pieces of information here, but Petersen wasted little time in addressing his role in this entire story. Now Briles would be wise to do the same.
On Thursday Ukwuachu was found guilty of raping a former Baylor soccer player. Briles needed to answer some questions, and he did that on Friday morning, but in doing so he drug Petersen into the mix. Ukwuachu transferred from Boise State to Baylor in 2013. After sitting out the 2013 season due to transfer rules, Ukwuachu also sat out the 2014 season while the legal process was continuing to play out.