Grambling State Hires Art Briles as Offensive Coordinator, Despite Refuting Reports
Despite shooting down the rumors late Wednesday night, Grambling State has moved forward with hiring Art Briles as its next offensive coordinator, according to a university spokesperson.
The school shot down rumors late Wednesday night regarding a report that surfaced that the school was potentially going to hire Briles to be its offensive coordinator for the upcoming season.
“There is no truth to this rumor,” a Grambling spokesperson said in a text message to the News-Star. “And I will not provide a statement regarding any false hires.”
Now, Briles is confirmed to be the next play-caller for the Tigers. Things sure do move quickly in college football.
Briles, now 66, resigned from Mount Vernon High School (Texas) in 2020 after two seasons as their head coach. During his eight seasons with the Bears, Briles compiled a 65-37 record, went 3-3 in bowl games, and led the Bears to their first two Big 12 Championships in school history.
Unfortunately, that success will forever be overshadowed by what allegedly happened under Briles’ watch: a massive sexual assault scandal in which one lawsuit stated that were 52 rapes committed by at least 31 different Baylor football players between 2011 and 2014. In August of 2021, Briles was cleared of all allegations following a five-year investigation that “could not conclude that Baylor violated NCAA rules.”
The case, and ensuing investigation, are still a point of contention among those that follow the sport and it will always cause a stir when anyone that was with the Baylor program during that time is hired elsewhere.
After his firing at Baylor, Briles was away from coaching for a few years before he was hired in the Canadian Football League. Briles also coached in the Italian Football League prior to his most recent high school football stint. Now, Briles will journey back into the ranks of college football for the first time since he left Baylor half a decade ago.
