Art Briles hasn't run a college program since 2016, and the decade since has been a string of near-misses and doors slammed shut. Brett McMurphy flagged Briles' new sit-down with On3, where the former Baylor coach opened up about the firing, the jobs that fell through, and how he wound up at a D-II school in Portales, New Mexico.
Art Briles sat down w/@On3 for his most extensive interview since Baylor - about the firing, the teams that rescinded offers, coaching in Italy & why he ended up at a D-II school in Portales, New Mexico w/a $2 million buyout https://t.co/tq2JFYe9EI
The Baylor fallout is well documented at this point. An independent investigation by the law firm Pepper Hamilton found the football program operated above the rules, with coaches and staff learning of sexual assault allegations against players and failing to report them. Briles was fired in 2016, president Ken Starr was demoted and later resigned, and Baylor reportedly paid Briles more than $15 million on his way out.
What's followed has been a decade of Briles trying to work his way back into football and getting yanked out just as fast. He was hired as offensive coordinator of the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2017, only for the team to rescind the offer hours later. In 2022, he took the same title at Grambling State and resigned after just 4 days once the backlash hit. In between, he found steadier ground overseas, taking multiple stints coaching Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League, going a combined 17-5 there.
That long, winding path is how a two-time Big 12 champion ends up as the head coach at a Division II school. Eastern New Mexico hired Briles in late November on a 2-year deal reportedly worth $140,000 annually plus incentives, with a $2 million buyout attached if he leaves before it's up — the same number McMurphy pointed to in his post.
For a coach who once had Baylor playing for Big 12 titles and filling a brand-new stadium, coaching in Portales is about as far from the sport's spotlight as it gets. But according to the On3 interview, Briles sounds less interested in relitigating the last decade than in just being back on a sideline somewhere that will have him.