Art Briles no longer taking job as Hamilton Tiger-Cats assistant
— -- Former Baylor?football coach Art Briles will not be coaching in the Canadian Football League, according to a Monday night announcement.
Baylor fired?Briles last year after the university's investigation of its handling of allegations of sexual assaults by students, including football players. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats had hired him earlier Monday as assistant head coach for offense under head coach June Jones.
"Art Briles will no longer be joining the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a coach," the CFL and the Tiger-Cats said in a joint statement. "We came to this decision this evening following a lengthy discussion between the league and the Hamilton organization. We wish Mr. Briles all the best in his future endeavours."
Jones, the former Hawaii and SMU coach, was named the Tiger-Cats' head coach on Thursday.
Hamilton was 0-8 when former coach Kent Austin stepped down and Jones was promoted last week.
Briles, 61, has been out of coaching since May 2016, when Baylor officials suspended him with intent to terminate for his role in the school's sexual assault scandal. He later reached an undisclosed financial settlement with Baylor, where he coached from 2008 to 2015, posting a 65-37 record and winning a share of back-to-back Big 12 titles in 2013 and 2014.
Briles' hiring had drawn criticism from Canadian news outlets and on social media among people who identified themselves as Tiger-Cats fans.
Barry's Jewelers, one of the Tiger-Cats' sponsors, had denounced the hiring of Briles and urged the team to sever ties with the coach.
"We just thought it was a very serious situation, but we also felt that after talking to dozens of people, people we trust, people we admire, that Art Briles is a good man that was caught in a very bad situation," Mitchell said. "Clearly, some serious mistakes were made along the way, but we feel strongly that people deserve second chances and that's what we've decided to do with Art Briles."
ESPN's Mark Schlabach, Paula Lavigne and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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