2016 College Football Chatter

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L.T. Fan

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If they kick them out the conference is over and half of the conference will be scrambling to find a landing place.
Yep. The big 12 is already shy on teams even to the extent that they are being pressured to have a playoff championship. Texas and Oklahoma are nowthe anchor teams and the conference cannot survive without either. The conference will either need to bring in enough solid teams to put pressure on Texas or have everyone run elsewhere. Neither of these moves however will get the job done with Texas stronghold on the network ownership.
 

Clay_Allison

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If anyone is going to twist Texas' arm it's going to be OU. They are a more important school than ATM and would have no trouble finding a landing spot in the Pac or Big conferences, even with little brother OSU tagging along.
 

Simpleton

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This new coach at Maryland is already killing it in terms of recruiting and it's only been about 3 months, if he can coach half as good as he can recruit he'll probably be gone in 3-5 years to one of the power programs but at least we'd finally be an attractive job.
 

Jiggyfly

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The Texas A&M athletics department led the NCAA in annual operating revenue for 2014–15, hauling in $192.6 million, according to USA Today.

The total is the third-highest single-year operating revenue for a school, and the first time that the Aggies have led the NCAA, since USA Today began reporting financial data for Division I public schools.

Just under half of the total revenue, $92 million, came in the form of donations to the athletics department. $58.5 million of this was earmarked for the redevelopment of Kyle Field, according to athletics department CFO Jeff Toole.


$45.8 million in revenue came from ticket sales, of which football made up 70% of the total. Kyle Field currently holds 102,733, making it the fourth largest stadium by capacity in the NCAA.

The school reported $109.3 million in expenses, but Toole estimated that the actual annual surplus was about $7 million once spending on projects was taken into account.

The Aggies surpassed in-state rival Texas on the total revenue list. The Longhorns reported total revenue of $183.5 million for 2014–15.

Of the 231 public schools in Division I, 24 reported operating revenues of at least $100 million.
 

skidadl

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Freakin weirdo Aggies made a good move and it paid off.
 

skidadl

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#baylorproud

I was looking for this and couldn't find it, so I just made it. Copy and pasted from all the news articles and just rearranged by time period. This goes back to the first thing I found on Elliott. I wanted to see how all this lines up because I was getting the cases themselves confused in my own mind.
Looking at all this that was pretty much going on concurrently, it is baffling to me that there was really nothing done unless it was carried out by the actual police department. The volume of incidents seem to indicate that it's unlikely that ignorance was the issue, but rather a total refusal to acknowledge the problems.
I know there is a contingent of Baylor fans that might feel that this is unnecessary piling on, and you can choose not to read it, but I am firm believer that more information is better. Again, this is all pulled from various media reports (most are linked).
October 2009
A female athlete, who graduated from Baylor in 2010, testified that Tevin Elliott sexually assaulted her after she passed out drunk at her apartment in 2009
November 2011
Baylor judicial affairs officials were aware of a misdemeanor, sexually-related assault citation against Elliott in November 2011
February 2012
Oakman is kicked off the Penn State football team for attempting to steal a sandwich and allegedly assaulting a female cashier who tried to stop him – accounts vary from him simply grabbing her wrist to get her card back (his) or more violently shoving her against the wall (hers). He was charged with some misdemeanors and it was reported publicly.
April 2012
A Baylor freshman (“Tanya”) reported to police being at a party and being raped twice by Elliott, who she hadn’t met before
Days later, Tanya said she went to Baylor's campus police department, asking officers if there was anything they could do for her, because she'd been assaulted by a fellow student but was told that counseling or other resources were unavailable
She was placed on probation when her grades dropped, lost her academic scholarship and left Baylor in 2013.
Two weeks before Tanya filed her police report against Elliott, another Baylor athlete (“Kim”) reported to Waco police that Elliott had forced her to have sex with him. A few weeks later, the woman and her mother said they also reported the assault to Baylor's ombudsman office and were sent to meet with the school's chief judicial officer, Bethany McCraw
Both women said McCraw's response noted that Kim, also a Baylor athlete, was the sixth woman to report such an incident involving Elliott. Kim alleges that McCraw acknowledged that Art Briles was aware of all the prior accusations
Baylor coach Art Briles announced that Elliott was suspended indefinitely for violating an unspecified team policy. He didn't elaborate and said he'd have no further comment.
Later it is reported that Elliott was arrested and charged with sexual assault, which is the first time news of any of the incidents is made public.
July 2012
Oakman transfers to Baylor, and his past incident was apparently public knowledge.
2012 Football Season
Oakman sits out at Baylor due to transfer rules
Sam Ukwuachu has a freshman All-American season for Boise State
January 2013
Police were called to an incident of alleged domestic violence between Oakman and his ex-girlfriend. A written police report was filed accusing Oakman of assault, noting evidence of bruising and including an account from the victim of being thrown around the apartment. The victim declined to press charges
According to the report that came out today, there is evidence that Baylor was aware of the incident
No disciplinary actions were taken and the incident did not make it to the media
April 2013
Ukwuachu had an altercation with his then-girlfriend and roommates, detailed here.
Ukwuachu is dismissed from the Boise State team and transfers to Baylor (this is when all communications between Peterson and Briles would have occurred -- the debate around which is regarding how much Peterson knew and/or disclosed)
April 2013 (Cont.)
Tre'Von Armstead and former practice squad player Myke Chatman are accused in a sexual assault report. Police report here.
Observations by officers at the scene and a rape exam at a hospital revealed bruises, a bite mark and scratches, and witnesses told police they believed they had heard, from downstairs, noises indicative of an assault. But the woman declined to press charges due to her level of intoxication, and Waco police effectively ended the investigation. The police report notes that it informed Baylor officials about the incident.
Police told the victim that Baylor officials had been contacted and to wait for them to contact her, but she never received a call or email from anyone at Baylor
2013 Football Season
Ukwuachu is ineligible to play for Baylor in 2013, as Boise State did not support any waivers to allow Ukwuachu to play the 2013 season.
Oakman played in 13 games as a backup defensive end, recording 33 tackles and 2 sacks
Armstead saw limited action in the 2013 season
October 2013
A couple months after Ukwuachu arrived on campus, the sexual assault on Jane Doe occurs; Jane Doe goes to the hospital and a rape kit is performed, reported the incident, and in subsequent months is treated for PTSD
Sometime in the months following, the Ukwuachu incident is investigated by the school as required. A few interviews are done of the victim, the accused, the accused's roommate, and potentially other friends. The school finds it more likely than not that the incident did not occur. Rape kit is not checked and the school counselor assisting her with PTSD was not interviewed. Baylor PD does not pursue any further
December 2013
Cordell Dorsey, an Abilene Cooper high school football player who was committed to play for Baylor, was arrested for alleged aggravated sexual assault of a child, an 11-year-old girl who claimed Dorsey molested her multiple times during the summer.
According to the arrest report, a sexual assault nursing exam supported the girl’s allegations
Dorsey's charges were later dropped, and was allowed to enroll at Baylor and join the football team in 2014 (transferred to ACU in 2015).
January 2014
Tevin Elliott is sentenced to 20 years in prison as a result of the incidents with Tanya
In all, five women who reported to police that they were either raped or assaulted -- in incidents from October 2009 to April 2012 -- by Elliott.
June 2014
Waco DA deems enough evidence to bring charges and Ukwuachu is indicted on charges of sexual assault; the indictment is sealed and Ukwuachu name is redacted on public indictment reports; the school does not re-open its internal Title IX investigation.
The indictment is not public knowledge or reported on by any media
Summer/Fall 2014
Ukwuachu, under indictment, is not playing for the football team, with coaches citing "some issues", but remains on scholarship and attends the university
Victim is told that it is her responsibility to alter class schedules to avoid Ukwuachu.
Jane Doe suffered an injury, preventing her from playing soccer, cited difficulties in rehab due to emotional/psychological issues, and saw her scholarship reduced.
2014 Football Season
Armstead is the starting TE during the 2014 season and earns All-Big 12 honors
Oakman earns first team Big 12 honors
Ukwuachu sits out the 2014 season
Spring 2015
Ukwuachu graduates from Baylor and is accepted into graduate school there; Jane Doe transfers to another school to play soccer because of scholarship reduction and other issues
Ukwuachu is participating in strength & conditioning workouts with the team and is mentioned in interviews during summer 2015 as expected to return to play the season
August 2015
Ukwuachu is convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to 10 years of probation.
The victim files a lawsuit against Baylor for their handling of the case
September 2015
Baylor's investigation of the allegations against Armstead and Chatman related to the April 2013 incident didn't begin until the alleged victim, encouraged by a friend who had attended a recent sexual assault prevention training program at the school, asked Baylor officials about her case in late 2015.
September 3, 2015
Ken Starr issues a statement defending Art Briles related to the accusations of prior knowledge of Ukwuachu's alleged history of violence.
2015 Football Season
Oakman earns 2nd team All Big-12 honors and is Baylor’s all-time sack leader
Baylor kicked Armstead off its football team early in the 2015 season following the results of the investigation. When Baylor coaches announced his suspension from the team, they said it came as a result of a "team rules violation."
December 31, 2015 (New Years' Eve)
It is announced that Baylor and the victim in Ukwuachu's case reached a settlement on her lawsuit with the school. No additional details were provided, presumably as a condition of the settlement
February 2016
Armstead was expelled from school in February 2016 over the 2013 allegations.
Armstead maintains his innocence and has said he is contemplating a lawsuit against the school for their handling of the incident.
February 7th, 2016 (Super Bowl Sunday)
Ken Starr issues a statement detailing the measures Baylor is taking to improve the safe-guarding of its students against sexual violence, in light of recent publicized shortcomings
March 31st, 2016
The rape victim for whom Tevin Elliott was convicted filed a lawsuit against Baylor, naming the school and several officials, including Art Briles.
The suit claims Baylor did not take any action whatsoever to investigate her claim. It failed to offer her counseling or help as she struggled academically after the assault.
April 7, 2016
Starr makes his first comments in public since the scandals surrounding the Ukwuachu case broke in August 2015 at the 29th annual Christian Prayer Breakfast Fort Worth/Tarrant County. His comments noted that sometimes there is an uninformed public perception of timelines and what constitutes publicly available information around these incidents, but also said he invites criticism for mistakes and wants transparency
Just hours after Starr's comments, the reports of the alleged Oakman sexual assault began circulating.
April 2016
Oakman, having graduated, is arrested in Waco and charged with sexually assaulting a Baylor student who went home from the bar with him
The woman went to the hospital after the alleged assault and was examined by a sexual assault nurse examiner, according to the court records.
 

Cotton

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How is anyone supposed to read that?
 

Cotton

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First you learn the alphabet, sounding out words, reading words and finally reading sentences.
:lol

Well, if there were decipherable sentences in that post it would make it easier. :flip
 

skidadl

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Bullet points don't copy and paste when you're on your phone apparently. Sorry for the inconvenience.
 

Cotton

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I was looking for this and couldn't find it, so I just made it. Copy and pasted from all the news articles and just rearranged by time period. This goes back to the first thing I found on Elliott. I wanted to see how all this lines up because I was getting the cases themselves confused in my own mind.
Looking at all this that was pretty much going on concurrently, it is baffling to me that there was really nothing done unless it was carried out by the actual police department. The volume of incidents seem to indicate that it's unlikely that ignorance was the issue, but rather a total refusal to acknowledge the problems.
I know there is a contingent of Baylor fans that might feel that this is unnecessary piling on, and you can choose not to read it, but I am firm believer that more information is better. Again, this is all pulled from various media reports (most are linked).
[HR][/HR]October 2009

November 2011

February 2012

  • Oakman is kicked off the Penn State football team for attempting to steal a sandwich and allegedly assaulting a female cashier who tried to stop him – accounts vary from him simply grabbing her wrist to get her card back (his) or more violently shoving her against the wall (hers). He was charged with some misdemeanors and it was reported publicly.
April 2012

  • A Baylor freshman (“Tanya”) reported to police being at a party and being raped twice by Elliott, who she hadn’t met before
  • Days later, Tanya said she went to Baylor's campus police department, asking officers if there was anything they could do for her, because she'd been assaulted by a fellow student but was told that counseling or other resources were unavailable
  • She was placed on probation when her grades dropped, lost her academic scholarship and left Baylor in 2013.
  • Two weeks before Tanya filed her police report against Elliott, another Baylor athlete (“Kim”) reported to Waco police that Elliott had forced her to have sex with him. A few weeks later, the woman and her mother said they also reported the assault to Baylor's ombudsman office and were sent to meet with the school's chief judicial officer, Bethany McCraw
  • Both women said McCraw's response noted that Kim, also a Baylor athlete, was the sixth woman to report such an incident involving Elliott. Kim alleges that McCraw acknowledged that Art Briles was aware of all the prior accusations
  • Baylor coach Art Briles announced that Elliott was suspended indefinitely for violating an unspecified team policy. He didn't elaborate and said he'd have no further comment.
  • Later it is reported that Elliott was arrested and charged with sexual assault, which is the first time news of any of the incidents is made public.
July 2012

2012 Football Season

  • Oakman sits out at Baylor due to transfer rules
  • Sam Ukwuachu has a freshman All-American season for Boise State
January 2013

  • Police were called to an incident of alleged domestic violence between Oakman and his ex-girlfriend. A written police report was filed accusing Oakman of assault, noting evidence of bruising and including an account from the victim of being thrown around the apartment. The victim declined to press charges
  • According to the report that came out today, there is evidence that Baylor was aware of the incident
  • No disciplinary actions were taken and the incident did not make it to the media
April 2013

  • Ukwuachu had an altercation with his then-girlfriend and roommates, detailed here.
  • Ukwuachu is dismissed from the Boise State team and transfers to Baylor (this is when all communications between Peterson and Briles would have occurred -- the debate around which is regarding how much Peterson knew and/or disclosed)
April 2013 (Cont.)

  • Tre'Von Armstead and former practice squad player Myke Chatman are accused in a sexual assault report. Police report here.
  • Observations by officers at the scene and a rape exam at a hospital revealed bruises, a bite mark and scratches, and witnesses told police they believed they had heard, from downstairs, noises indicative of an assault. But the woman declined to press charges due to her level of intoxication, and Waco police effectively ended the investigation. The police report notes that it informed Baylor officials about the incident.
  • Police told the victim that Baylor officials had been contacted and to wait for them to contact her, but she never received a call or email from anyone at Baylor
2013 Football Season

  • Ukwuachu is ineligible to play for Baylor in 2013, as Boise State did not support any waivers to allow Ukwuachu to play the 2013 season.
  • Oakman played in 13 games as a backup defensive end, recording 33 tackles and 2 sacks
  • Armstead saw limited action in the 2013 season
October 2013

  • A couple months after Ukwuachu arrived on campus, the sexual assault on Jane Doe occurs; Jane Doe goes to the hospital and a rape kit is performed, reported the incident, and in subsequent months is treated for PTSD
  • Sometime in the months following, the Ukwuachu incident is investigated by the school as required. A few interviews are done of the victim, the accused, the accused's roommate, and potentially other friends. The school finds it more likely than not that the incident did not occur. Rape kit is not checked and the school counselor assisting her with PTSD was not interviewed. Baylor PD does not pursue any further
December 2013

  • Cordell Dorsey, an Abilene Cooper high school football player who was committed to play for Baylor, was arrested for alleged aggravated sexual assault of a child, an 11-year-old girl who claimed Dorsey molested her multiple times during the summer.
  • According to the arrest report, a sexual assault nursing exam supported the girl’s allegations
  • Dorsey's charges were later dropped, and was allowed to enroll at Baylor and join the football team in 2014 (transferred to ACU in 2015).
January 2014

June 2014

  • Waco DA deems enough evidence to bring charges and Ukwuachu is indicted on charges of sexual assault; the indictment is sealed and Ukwuachu name is redacted on public indictment reports; the school does not re-open its internal Title IX investigation.
  • The indictment is not public knowledge or reported on by any media
Summer/Fall 2014

  • Ukwuachu, under indictment, is not playing for the football team, with coaches citing "some issues", but remains on scholarship and attends the university
  • Victim is told that it is her responsibility to alter class schedules to avoid Ukwuachu.
  • Jane Doe suffered an injury, preventing her from playing soccer, cited difficulties in rehab due to emotional/psychological issues, and saw her scholarship reduced.
2014 Football Season

  • Armstead is the starting TE during the 2014 season and earns All-Big 12 honors
  • Oakman earns first team Big 12 honors
  • Ukwuachu sits out the 2014 season
Spring 2015

  • Ukwuachu graduates from Baylor and is accepted into graduate school there; Jane Doe transfers to another school to play soccer because of scholarship reduction and other issues
  • Ukwuachu is participating in strength & conditioning workouts with the team and is mentioned in interviews during summer 2015 as expected to return to play the season
August 2015

  • Ukwuachu is convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to 10 years of probation.
  • The victim files a lawsuit against Baylor for their handling of the case
September 2015

September 3, 2015

  • Ken Starr issues a statement defending Art Briles related to the accusations of prior knowledge of Ukwuachu's alleged history of violence.
2015 Football Season

  • Oakman earns 2nd team All Big-12 honors and is Baylor’s all-time sack leader
  • Baylor kicked Armstead off its football team early in the 2015 season following the results of the investigation. When Baylor coaches announced his suspension from the team, they said it came as a result of a "team rules violation."
December 31, 2015 (New Years' Eve)

February 2016

  • Armstead was expelled from school in February 2016 over the 2013 allegations.
  • Armstead maintains his innocence and has said he is contemplating a lawsuit against the school for their handling of the incident.
February 7th, 2016 (Super Bowl Sunday)

  • Ken Starr issues a statement detailing the measures Baylor is taking to improve the safe-guarding of its students against sexual violence, in light of recent publicized shortcomings
March 31st, 2016

  • The rape victim for whom Tevin Elliott was convicted filed a lawsuit against Baylor, naming the school and several officials, including Art Briles.
  • The suit claims Baylor did not take any action whatsoever to investigate her claim. It failed to offer her counseling or help as she struggled academically after the assault.
April 7, 2016

  • Starr makes his first comments in public since the scandals surrounding the Ukwuachu case broke in August 2015 at the 29th annual Christian Prayer Breakfast Fort Worth/Tarrant County. His comments noted that sometimes there is an uninformed public perception of timelines and what constitutes publicly available information around these incidents, but also said he invites criticism for mistakes and wants transparency
  • Just hours after Starr's comments, the reports of the alleged Oakman sexual assault began circulating.
April 2016

 

skidadl

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I've been a Briles fan and defender over the years. This crap just has me baffled.
 

Cotton

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I've been a Briles fan and defender over the years. This crap just has me baffled.
Yeah, it is pretty baffling. Looking from the outside in, I would have assumed Briles ran a very clean program.
 

skidadl

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yikes

http://rosterwatch.com/alex-dunlap-on-the-baylor-scandal


We all know this happened but Dunlap, citing a source inside Baylor, states that the outside investigative report will show unequivocally that Briles and the administration knew about all of these previous crimes and accusations. Furthermore, after threats against his and his families lives and being doxxed by Baylor supporters, he will no longer be personally reporting on the story.

"It’s clear that someone, somewhere, realized that I had gone from a pesky pain in the ass to a “Holy shit, this guy has the goods on us”-type of presence and they unleashed the hounds.

It goes to show (yet again) Baylor’s lack of ability to conduct a reasonable investigation on its own. My best “source” in all this has yet to be contacted or bullied – and, in fact, might just be someone they see every day.

Maybe there is at least one decent person around there, after all.
Here is what needs to be known for the media and investigators who’ll continue digging, free of the personal restraints I now feel myself bound by:

This is a fact:

The results of a private investigation Baylor has hired an outside firm to conduct will show that Baylor and Head Coach Art Briles were aware of alleged violent incidents involving players who were kept on the football team; and who later went on to commit or be accused of subsequent violent acts against female Baylor students.

If these damning details are not made available in the version of the investigation results Baylor chooses to dispense, it means they have been removed in an attempt to protect Briles, the athletics administration and BU president Ken Starr."
 

skidadl

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San Antonio!!!


Alex Dunlap on the Baylor Scandal
ALEX DUNLAP 27 APR 2016 UNCATEGORIZED
I’m sure that the Baylor fans, alumni and stakeholders who’ve threatened my life, my family and made our private records and personal matters public in recent days over my reporting of BU’s horrifying (and ongoing) scandal will feel that they’ve “won,” but they haven’t.

This will personally be the last piece of reporting I will be doing on this aspect of the Baylor Scandal.

This is not my beat. I was only pulled into this whole mess due to the fact that no one else seemed to care and I felt obligated to step forward and care. As I’ve spoken to crying victims late into the night or laid sleepless and fidgety in recent weeks, I’ve wondered, “How the hell did we end up here?”

For goodness sake, I’m a football analyst.

The reason I’m moving on from the story and taking a pause is not for concern over my own safety, as these threats are idle and made by cowards, the kind of cowards who not only circle the wagons to go after reporters looking for the truth and some semblance of justice, but also victims who’ve already been damaged beyond repair by this same mob’s lack of doing anything remotely similar in these victims’ darkest moments.

If Baylor stakeholders did the type of digging on the criminals Coach Art Briles harbored within his football program that they have done on me, none of us would be here right now.

Alas, the witch hunt has now extended from the people reporting on this crisis to those affected by it. Victims – some whose names have never even come out and just want peace as they recover (alone and unsupported) – are now receiving the same sorts of threats and bully tactics, as intimidating strangers wrongly accuse them of being involved with me and lord only knows what else.

The reason I know this is happening is because I know numerous sexual assault survivors who attended Baylor. Many of them I met at a prayer vigil held on BU president Ken Starr’s lawn last year. Some of these people I’ve kept in touch with and consider friends, but certainly have never relied on for source-material. These women are again being victimized, now via unfounded threats and accusations related to me.

Lawyers I have never met are being reported to the bar association for contact with me that never occurred. The reason struggle has been brought to these innocent people is because of cowardly responses to my reporting, which I can’t handle having on my conscience.

It’s clear that someone, somewhere, realized that I had gone from a pesky pain in the ass to a “Holy shit, this guy has the goods on us”-type of presence and they unleashed the hounds.

It goes to show (yet again) Baylor’s lack of ability to conduct a reasonable investigation on its own. My best “source” in all this has yet to be contacted or bullied – and, in fact, might just be someone they see every day.

Maybe there is at least one decent person around there, after all.

Here is what needs to be known for the media and investigators who’ll continue digging, free of the personal restraints I now feel myself bound by:

This is a fact:

The results of a private investigation Baylor has hired an outside firm to conduct will show that Baylor and Head Coach Art Briles were aware of alleged violent incidents involving players who were kept on the football team; and who later went on to commit or be accused of subsequent violent acts against female Baylor students.

If these damning details are not made available in the version of the investigation results Baylor chooses to dispense, it means they have been removed in an attempt to protect Briles, the athletics administration and BU president Ken Starr.

The proof is everywhere. Baylor knows it. Now the question is, will it continue with the cover-up or come clean? In the end, it doesn’t really matter, as I’m quite sure the truth will come out either way.

It just won’t be coming from me.
 

skidadl

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Baylor craved a national football reputation – instead it’s drowning in repeated mistakes


Sharon Grigsby Follow @SharonFGrigsby Email sgrigsby@dallasnews.com
Published: April 27, 2016 12:18 pm

Baylor University has craved a national football reputation as long as I can remember. But at this cost?

By once again ducking behind its “the-report-is-yet-to-come” PR strategy — and refusing to answer questions about the latest (you need a scorecard to keep up) alleged assault by a Baylor football player — my alma mater gives every critic room to fill in the blanks to his or her liking.

Related
Infamous ’03 Baylor tragedy rears its head and offers grim parallels to current scandal
Baylor readies for release of sexual abuse report — but will school reveal its contents?
Do troubled transfer athletes deserve a second chance?
Editorial: Another Baylor football player’s sex-crime arrest raises tough questions
That strategy feels more ridiculously wrongheaded and fraudulent with every new report of alleged misdoing.

The latest involves Monday’s revelation about accusations made to Waco police in 2013 against defensive standout Shawn Oakman, who just last season finished his Baylor football career. This is the second time in April that Oakman’s name has been linked to assault allegations: Earlier this month, still in Waco as he prepares for the NFL draft, Oakman was accused of attacking a woman he met at a nightclub. (Here’s the latest on where things stand with the April arrest.)


News about the 2013 accusations — and Waco Police Department statements that officers might well communicate informally with Baylor officials in such a case — led us all back to the administration to try to get a simple answer to a simple question: Did anyone at the school know of the allegation?

And again Baylor is hiding behind the “university cannot address any specifics of any individual case,” citing federal privacy laws. Baylor is simply taking the most expansive, and sketchy, reading of that statute to hide the facts. But exactly how long does Baylor think it can hide this stench?

What began as a small cesspool has spread into a full-blown swamp. Does the administration not see that Baylor’s reputation — not to mention its fundraising and its enrollment — are drowning in this unseemly episode? And, more important, what does this kind of non-response do for the safety of its students?

When we first got a whiff of the cesspool back in August, it was in regard to the Sam Ukwuachu trial and what a reasonable person might consider a cover-up of his impending sexual assault trial by the Baylor athletic department.

Maybe with one public incident, Baylor thought it didn’t need much of a PR strategy. But then the number of allegations grew … and grew … and national outfits such as ESPN came calling.

This morning, listening to The Ticket Musers devote an entire segment of the most popular hour of North Texas’ most popular morning radio show to Baylor’s reproachful behavior, I was struck by the comparisons Craig Miller and George Dunham made between what’s allegedly happening on the Waco campus and what happened near the end of Barry Switzer’s time at the University of Oklahoma.

Sorry I don’t have the transcript of the entire Dunham and Miller conversation, but this quote from Craig summarizes it nicely: “My feeling is that the ‘monster’ that is big-time college football has a sad way of consuming a school, and the school — from the top down to the fans — will do whatever it takes to keep the program elite, even if it means covering up awful stuff. Unfortunately, winning 10 games a season becomes much more important than the well being of their students — those who have been assaulted, or those who are put at risk by the football program accepting and keeping players who are shady, or just plain bad, people.”

That sentiment took me back to what I wrote last August, when this scandal first broke: “Sexual assault case proves football has gotten too big at Baylor.” Sadly, these past nine months or so have done nothing but add evidence to my first commentary.

What parent would consider sending a child to Baylor next fall when the university hides behind this months-long investigation — an investigation that it says it might or might not make some parts of public? And what would-be donor can feel good about sending money to a school conducting itself so shabbily?

Baylor’s circle-the-wagons response is not unique to one school. It’s what lots of people and institutions do when the tide runs against them. (You need look no farther than the dubious strategy of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has faced a growing number of controversies since taking office. Paxton, coincidentally, is a Baylor grad. Is “backing one’s self into a corner” a required course down there these days?)

Baylor students are increasingly expressing frustration with their administration’s responses. The Waco Tribune Herald wrote another commendably tough editorial about the issue in today’s paper.

My email inbox is showing a shift: fewer fans who want me to leave Baylor’s football team alone and more self-identifying Baylor students and alums who believe someone needs to be fired over this – and not a lower-level fall guy.

The Tribune Herald has submitted open records requests to try to find out what Baylor won’t reveal: What did Waco police tell Baylor employees, if anything, in the aftermath of the 2013 incident report involving Oakman? (That accusation was subsequently dropped because the claimant decided not to press charges.)

While Baylor Coach Art Briles hasn’t returned calls seeking specific information, he recently responded to a general question about the sexual assaults that have occurred on the football team by saying, “I’m always concerned anytime when anything of that nature transpires.”

Oakman apparently didn’t get the message in his last year on the squad. Why are we to believe that anything trumps fielding a winning football team heading into August?

Only when Coach Briles and Baylor President Ken Starr get concerned enough to step out and tell us the full story about what happened in the past will we believe their statements that they are dealing with it appropriately now. We can only hope such a plan for an extended answer-all-questions interview is in the works.
 

skidadl

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5 Star QB Tate Martell Dcommits from Aggots

What's up with the QB program there?
 
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Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
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5 Star QB Tate Martell Dcommits from Aggots

What's up with the QB program there?
 

Cowboysrock55

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It's a child, people need to keep that in mind when this stuff happens. We all love our sports teams but I don't think there is any reason to be a dick to a child because he can't make up his mind.
 
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