College football notes

BAYLOR

Briles drops lawsuit

WACO, Texas -- Former Baylor football coach Art Briles has dropped the defamation lawsuit filed against four university officials he accused of making false statements against him, according to attorneys in the case.

Briles in December sued the three regents and a university vice president for libel and slander, claiming they falsely stated that he knew of reported assaults and alleged gang rapes by players and didn't report them.

Rusty Hardin, an attorney for the regents, told the Waco Tribune-Herald that the suit was dropped Wednesday.

The lawsuit also asserted that Baylor officials conspired to damage Briles' reputation and keep him from getting another coaching job. It sought damages for emotional distress and likely ending his career as a coach "on any level."

Briles' attorney, Ernest Cannon, said Wednesday that the lawsuit was never about money.

Clemson

Staff given raises

CLEMSON, S.C. -- Clemson's board of trustees has approved staff raises for seven returning football assistant coaches.

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables earned a raise of $275,000, bringing his salary to $1.7 million next season. Venables' deal was extended a year through 2020. He was the winner of the 2016 Broyles Award, given annually to the top assistant coach in college football.

In all, the Clemson board Thursday approved $775,000 in raises for assistants who helped the Tigers win a national championship last season.

Co-offensive coordinators Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott received raises of $175,000, bringing their salaries to $800,000.

Offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell's salary increased $50,000 to $515,000, quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter's by $55,000 to $430,000; tight ends coach Danny Pearman's by $25,000 to $460,000, and cornerbacks coach Mike Reed's by $20,000 to $420,000.

New safeties coach Mickey Conn will make $350,000 while new defensive line coach Todd Bates will earn $250,000.

LSU

Coaching changes made

BATON ROUGE -- LSU Coach Ed Orgeron said running backs coach Jabbar Juluke has been re-assigned to a position within athletic department and wide receiver coach Dameyune Craig has been "relieved of his duties."

Orgeron, who announced the decision Thursday, said a search is starting immediately for replacements on what will be Orgeron's first staff since being named head coach after the 2016 regular season.

Orgeron has already hired a new offensive coordinator -- Matt Canada -- and made a change at special teams coach, firing coordinator Bradley Dale Peveto.

Last season, LSU's running game thrived, but the passing game struggled. The departures off Juluke and Craig provide opportunity to hire replacements closely aligned with Canada's approach.

SEC

League payout increases

The SEC increased the average payout to its 14 member schools by 23.5 percent in fiscal year 2015-2016, according to figures released Thursday by the conference office.

Each SEC program received an average payout of more than $40.4 million from the conference, up from an average of $32.7 million per program the year before.

An additional $18.3 million was distributed to programs that played in a bowl game to offset bowl trip expenses. Including bowl reimbursements, the revenue shared with SEC teams in 2015-2016 totaled $584.2 million, according to the league office.

In 2014-2015, the league shared $475.8 million before bowl reimbursements. The SEC's fiscal year ends Aug. 31.

The funds are an accumulation of revenue generated from the SEC's TV agreements, bowl game affiliations, participation in the College Football Playoff, NCAA postseason tournaments, the SEC Football Championship Game and the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament.

Information for this article was contributed by Matt Jones of WholeHogSports.com.

Sports on 02/03/2017

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