Baylor University trustees had little choice but to fire head football Coach Art Briles in the end.
Several sources confirm that Briles was notified early Thursday morning that he was out as Baylor's 25th head coach. Several current Baylor players posted messages on Twitter expressing their disappointment about the decision.
The school suspended Briles "with intent to terminate" early Thursday in response to the sexual assault scandal rocking the program.
The school released a statement announcing the Briles action, along with several other decisions: Kenneth Starr was removed as university president, although he will remain as chancellor and a law school professor. Athletic Director Ian McCaw has been sanctioned and placed on probation. David Garland will be Baylor's interim president.
Also, defensive coordinator Phil Bennett, who previously was head coach at SMU from 2002-2007, will be named as the Bears' interim head coach, according to several players.
Briles, 60, had eight years remaining on a 10-year contract extension that he signed in November 2013. Baylor has never released the details of that contract, but it is believed that was he making nearly $6 million per year. That would make him the Big 12's highest-paid coach and among the highest paid in all of college football.
According to Baylor's most recent IRS filing, Briles' base salary in 2014 was $4.2 million, which was considerably more than Starr's base salary of $789,000 annually as university president that was provided in the same report.
Briles was hired in 2007 and led the school to a 65-37 record, winning the school's first Big 12 title in 2013 and earning a share of the title in 2014. He did it with an explosive offense that helped garner wide attention for the school. His .637 winning percentage was among the five highest ever at Baylor.
Briles' career at Baylor has been marked by the school's rapid ascension into the national football elite.
Before he arrived, the school had endured 12 consecutive losing seasons. After two more losing seasons, Baylor went 7-6 in 2010 and played in its first bowl game in 16 years.
Sports on 05/27/2016