Ticats CEO Mitchell defends Briles hiring
Following an expected outrage from football fans in Canada and the United States, Hamilton Tiger-Cats CEO Scott Mitchell defended his team's decision to add disgraced former Baylor head coach Art Briles.
Mitchell says that Briles' relationship with Ticats head coach June Jones let the team feel more comfortable that the former Baylor coach's poor reputation was a product of bad circumstances, not bad character.
"We were very well aware of (Briles' history at Baylor) and it's been a long deliberation internally, collecting information, talking to as many people as possible, quite frankly getting the facts about things straightened away," Mitchell told Drew Edwards of 3 Down Nation. "The history is that June Jones and Art Briles have known each other for decades and June was very forthright about what the situation was and the more we contemplated it, deliberated over it - and obviously I spoke to (owner) Bob Young about it as well - we just thought it was a very serious situation but we also felt that after talking to dozens of people, people we trust, people we admire, that Art Briles is a good man that was caught in a very bad situation."
Briles was dismissed from his position at Baylor in the wake of a major sexual assault scandal in 2016.
Mitchell says the CFL was aware of the hiring before it was announced, and agreed to let Briles have a second chance in Hamilton. He also says that the team has not reconsidered the hiring despite reaction from fans and media.
"At the end of the day, it comes down to whether a person deserves a second chance. In no way, shape or form can you diminish the clearly institutional, horrific issues that went on at Baylor," said Mitchell. "But Art was exonerated by his own university, he certainly had nothing to do with no criminal discussions or proceedings. That doesn't excuse what went on there by any stretch or the horrific experiences that some young women went through.
"But as an organization we have to decide whether we're going to give people a second chance and judge them for their own character, morality, and ethics. I can tell you there wasn’t one single person that we spoke to who knows Art Briles that didn't think he deserved an opportunity to work in football."
While Briles was exonerated from criminal investigations, he and his coaching staff were deemed guilty of creating a culture that allowed that type of behavior. Mitchell says there are facts that haven't been made public that would lighten the conviction against Briles, but refused to discuss, saying only that the team had done its "due diligence."