Baylor to fire Briles, reassign president Starr

2:36 PM ET

Baylor University, in response to allegations of sexual assaults by students — including several football players — announced Thursday that football coach Art Briles has been suspended with intent to terminate, and Kenneth Starr will no longer serve as the president but will stay at the school.

Baylor’s actions come after the university’s board of regents received an independent report from a law firm that investigated the school’s response to sexual assault allegations.

Editor’s PicksMaisel: Firing of Art Briles a milestone in college football standards

Baylor fired a coach who turned a perennial loser into a national contender, proving good behavior is demanded now where it once wasn’t.

Timeline: The rise and fall of Baylor’s Art Briles

Art Briles took Baylor from doormat to championships, but his rise was undone by lack of discipline to athletes charged with sexual assault. Here’s a timeline of Briles’ career.

1 Related

“We were horrified by the extent of these acts of sexual violence on our campus. This investigation revealed the University’s mishandling of reports in what should have been a supportive, responsive and caring environment for students,” Richard Willis, chairman of the Baylor board of regents, said in a statement.

“The depth to which these acts occurred shocked and outraged us. Our students and their families deserve more, and we have committed our full attention to improving our processes, establishing accountability and ensuring appropriate actions are taken to support former, current and future students.”

Starr will transition into a role as chancellor and remain as a law school professor. Athletic director Ian McCaw was sanctioned and placed on probation.

Dr. David Garland, a former dean and professor at Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary, will serve as interim president. The school said in the release that additional members of the administration and athletics program have also been dismissed but declined to identify them.

Baylor officials said in a news release that the school had hired a New York law firm to contact the NCAA about potential rules violations.

Art Briles had a 65-37 record in eight seasons, transforming one of the worst FBS programs in the country — the team had 12 consecutive losing seasons before he was hired in 2008 — into a national power. Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports

Briles, 60, had eight years remaining on a 10-year contract extension that he signed in November 2013. Although Baylor, as a private school, hasn’t released the details of his contract, it is believed Briles was making nearly $6 million per season, which would have made him the Big 12’s highest-paid coach and one of the highest paid in the FBS.

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.

It is not known whether Briles has negotiated a buyout with Baylor. In most college coaching contracts, a university can fire a coach without having to pay the remainder of his or her contract if it has findings of cause.

Briles and McCaw have been criticized for recruiting players who were dismissed by their former schools and for the way they disciplined players who allegedly committed violent acts against women and other assaults.

The school said in the release that McCaw will work with university leadership and the board of regents “to implement the recommendations as they relate to the restoration of a tone of accountability within the football program, to effective oversight and controls of the Athletics Department, and to critically needed changes that will re-align the Athletics program with the University …

continue reading in source espn.go.com