Art Briles Sues Baylor Administrators for Libel, Slander

Former Baylor Bears head football coach Art Briles has sued three regents and a school vice president for libel and slander, Jim Vertuno of the Associated Press reported Thursday.

According to Vertuno, Briles has sued regents Chairman Ronald Murff, board members J. Cary Gray and David Harper, and Baylor Vice President Reagan Ramsower, alleging they falsely accused him of failing to report sexual assaults and gang rapes committed by football players during his time as the head coach.

In late October, the Wall Street Journal's Brad Reagan published a piece in which Baylor regents disclosed Briles was fired for failing to report alleged sexual assaults—including four gang rapes—that involved 17 women and 19 football players.

"There was a cultural issue there that was putting winning football games above everything else, including our values," Gray told Reagan. "We did not have a caring community when it came to these women who reported that they were assaulted. And that is not OK."

Briles was fired May 26, when the school announced leadership changes in the aftermath of the sexual assault scandal.

A comprehensive review of the situation concluded there was "a failure to identify and respond to a pattern of sexual violence by a football player and to a report of dating violence" by the program. 

Briles threatened to sue Baylor for wrongful termination after he was let go, but the two sides later agreed to a settlement, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald's Phillip Ericksen and J.B. Smith.