Baylor, Art Briles reach contract settlement

Well, that moved quickly.

A day after filing a motion accusing Baylor of wrongful termination, former Bears head coach Art Briles has reportedly reached a contract settlement with the school. Details of the settlement, which was first reported by Bleacher Report’s Jason King, are not yet known. KWTX and KCEN also reported news of a settlement, confirming Briles will not return to the university. USA Today reported Friday afternoon that the settlement was complete and a vote could be held that afternoon.

Both ESPN and USA Today reported the motion Briles filed against Baylor on Thursday had been withdrawn.

	Jason King @JasonKingBR
Baylor has reached a contract settlement with former football coach Art Briles, sources tell B/R. Details unclear. 6:30 AM - 17 Jun 2016 from Olathe, KS

Briles was “suspended with the intent to terminate” on May 26 after Baylor’s board of regents released findings from an investigation (by Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton) into the school’s handling of sexual assault accusations, including several against Baylor football players (two have been convicted of rape).

A woman who was raped by former Baylor player Tevin Elliott is suing the school – and Briles. In Thursday’s motion, Briles indicated he had no plans to settle in that lawsuit and sought representation in the case separate from the school. Briles’ attorney, Ernest Cannon, said the school (and its regents) was using Briles as a scapegoat to “disguise and distract from its own institutional failure to comply” with federal civil rights protections.

Briles’ attorney also demanded the school turn over the “entire contents of each and every one of their litigation files,” including those used in the Pepper Hamilton investigation. So far, Baylor’s board of regents has only released a 13-page “Finding of Facts” from Pepper Hamilton after the firm presented the information to the regents in an oral presentation.

According to the Finding of Facts, the Pepper Hamilton investigation found “specific failings within both the football program and athletics department leadership” and said there were “significant concerns about the tone and culture within Baylor’s football program as it relates to accountability for all forms of student-athlete misconduct.”

In addition to the removal of Briles, the investigation led to the Ken Starr losing his position as president of the school. Starr initially kept his role as chancellor, but he resigned a few weeks later. Athletic director Ian McCaw also resigned after assisting in the effort to hire former Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe as acting head coach for the 2016 season.

As for Briles, who led the Bears to a 65-37 record and two Big 12 titles in eight seasons, he is reportedly owed approximately $40 million from the 10-year contract he signed after the 2013 season. Previous reports indicated the school could be on the hook for at least half of that sum, $20 million, though it's unlikely a figure would be confirmed by either side.