Baylor coach Jim Grobe says Baylor could be model for reform

— -- BRISTOL, Conn. -- Baylor coach Jim Grobe said Wednesday that he's in favor of creating national policies to help schools better handle situations such as the sexual assault scandal that has plagued his school.

"I don't think it's the NCAA's responsibility," Grobe said during interviews at ESPN while visiting with Big 12 coaches. "but I do think that presidents and universities should share information and put together policies that are pretty similar."

He said Baylor could serve as a model for reform.

The school hired Grobe in May after football coach Art Briles was suspended and later fired as a result of the arrests of three players accused of sexual assault on campus. Baylor president Kenneth Starr and athletic director Ian McCaw also departed amid the uproar.

Also Wednesday, Grobe clarified comments he made Tuesday, when he said there was not a "culture of bad behavior" at the school, and said he remains sensitive to the victims.

"You don't want to in any way to downplay the importance of the issues we're talking about," the coach said. "And you have to talk about changing the system we were in to make sure we're able to adequately deal with the problems going forward.

"But the message for me is to try to get out there that the kids I've been associated since I've been at Baylor are fantastic."

Last month, Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton issued 105 recommendations for Baylor to improve its investigative atmosphere. The Big 12 board of directors on Tuesday offered a statement of support in response to a meeting with Baylor officials to discuss the university's plan as it moves forward.

"I think it would probably be good if every university found out what those recommendations were and adopted them," Grobe said, "because I've got a pretty good feeling that Baylor's better than it's ever been, and it's on the front line in dealing with these issues."

He reiterated a message from Tuesday at Big 12 media days that the current Baylor players do not deserve to be punished for the misdeeds of former teammates.

"Their parents are upset," Grobe said, "because all that's being said, all we talk about, are the issues that led to Art losing his job and the AD and the president, and there's not much said about all the good kids who are here."

Grobe also said he believes there's a national culture in which women are not respected.

"Women are mistreated," Grobe said, "and the issues aren't dealt with in the proper way. So on campuses and in the national perspective, there probably should be some common practices on how to deal with these things."