Tiger-Cats CEO: 'Tsunami of Negativity' Led to Decision Not to Hire Art Briles

Scott Mitchell, CEO of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, acknowledged public outcry led to the CFL team's reversal of the decision to hire former Baylor Bears head coach Art Briles.

"We underestimated the tsunami of negativity that was going to happen, and we made a mistake in trying to contemplate a second chance versus the impact of what had happened at Baylor," Mitchell said in an interview with SN590 The Fan in Toronto on Tuesday (h/t ESPN.com). "... I think as the day went on, it just became very clear that despite the fact that most people in life believe in second chances, it just became very clear that this was just not acceptable to people."

Hamilton owner Bob Young wrote a statement Monday confirming Briles wouldn't be joining the team's coaching staff, saying the Tiger-Cats "made a large and serious mistake":

Hamilton had announced earlier that day in a since-deleted press release Briles was coming on board as an assistant to head coach June Jones.

The decision received immediate criticism on social media given the circumstances that led to Briles' departure from Baylor.

Baylor brought in law firm Pepper Hamilton to evaluate the university's handling of sexual assault allegations. Upon the conclusion of the firm's investigation, Baylor announced it had suspended Briles with the intent of firing him.

"Leadership challenges and communications issues hindered enforcement of rules and policies and created a cultural perception that football was above the rules," the Baylor Board of Regents wrote in a findings of fact. "In addition to the issues related to student misconduct, the University and Athletics Department failed to take effective action in response to allegations involving misconduct by football staff."

Briles' son, Kendal, who is the offensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic University, told Matthew DeFranks of the Sun Sentinel he had informally discussed the Owls offense with his father. Kendal also said he had sent Art film of FAU to gauge his opinion.

FAU head coach Lane Kiffin downplayed Art's role with the team, telling ESPN.com's Chris Low that Briles is "absolutely not a consultant and has never been to practice or spoken to our team."