I don’t know Art Briles personally. Maybe he’s taught his players some good life lessons on the way to building a successful program. But who cares? Who cares if he doesn’t bother holding them accountable for their actions? That’s one of those things that isn’t found in a textbook or a playbook, but it’s an essential part of becoming a productive member of society. I know schools have long put up with a little more crap from their athletes: poor academics and all manner of personal failings. But that’s a ridiculous double standard, one that any university should unequivocally reject.

If the coach’s name was Dave Roberts or Kevin Steele or Guy Morriss, he’d have been gone long before now. They were all losers by football standards. I was there when they fired a guy they never should have hired named Dave Bliss. They knew he was slimy when they hired him. His history of ethical violations was well-documented. But they believed he was a winning coach, and let him operate a corrupt program that eventually blew up in his face with a scandal involving murder, slander, blatant rule violations, and shady financial dealings.

Let me let you in on a little secret, Baylor. In the grand scheme of things, football doesn’t matter. And if you’re serious about this Christian focus you talk about (although you never seem to explain just how this faith matters to your educational pursuits), football really doesn’t matter. It’s foolishness. It’s a violent game that draws its vast appeal by wrecking the bodies and minds of those who play it.

Yeah, maybe a winning football team builds camaraderie and excitement. It increases visibility. It brings in tons of cash. But it doesn’t matter to Christ’s kingdom. Not in the least, especially if you’re failing at the important stuff.

If you can’t care for innocent victims of sexual assault for fear of losing the money, the power, the prestige, it’s time to give up the idol. If you can’t run a clean program, with clear standards and accountability, you should just shut the whole thing down, and keep it that way until the heart of the campus becomes a place where money isn’t allowed to corrupt, and where abuse is taken seriously.

And let the McLane stadium complex stand empty, an awkward, embarrassing, painful reminder of how you compromised your identity as a faith-based institution. You played the part of the rich fool. You tore down your barn to build a bigger, $266 million barn. Let it sit there, and let all of us bow our heads in repentance every time we pass by.

Otherwise, don’t bother calling yourself top tier.

And while you’re at it, forget about the “Christian” part, too.

Photos:
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