- - Eastern New Mexico reportedly set to hire Art Briles, the ex-Baylor coach fired amid sexual assault scandal

Ryan Young November 23, 2025 at 8:50 PM

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Art Briles was fired from Baylor in 2016 amid a massive sexual assault scandal within the program. (Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images) (Peter G. Aiken via Getty Images)

Art Briles is once again trying to make a return to college football.

Eastern New Mexico is expected to hire Briles as its next head coach, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Eastern New Mexico, a Division II program, could make the announcement as soon as Monday. Briles worked with Eastern New Mexico athletic director Kevin Fite at Houston, where he was the head coach from 2003-07.

Briles hasn’t coached in college football since he was fired from Baylor in 2016 amid a massive sexual assault scandal under his watch. He was hired at Grambling State briefly as their offensive coordinator, but he lasted just four days after immense criticism. He did return to coaching in 2019 at Mount Vernon High School in East Texas, though he resigned after two seasons.

Briles oversaw Baylor amid the sexual assault scandal that rocked the program during his time there. He coached the Bears from 2008-2016. A lawsuit filed in 2017 alleged that 31 Baylor football players committed 52 rapes over the course of four years. An NCAA investigation concluded that Baylor “failed to report allegations of and address sexual and interpersonal violence committed on its campus." Briles, the NCAA said, “did not report … potential criminal conduct” by one of his players when he learned of it.

"His incurious attitude toward potential criminal conduct by his student-athletes was deeply troubling to the panel," the report released in August 2021 said.

Though it’s been almost a decade since he lost his job with the Bears, the criticism surrounding Briles hasn’t really gone away. Briles was spotted on the sidelines of Oklahoma’s win over SMU in 2023. His son-in-law worked as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator at the time, but the school’s athletic director said he was “disappointed” to learn that Briles had been allowed on the field with other family members.

Briles spent eight seasons at Baylor, and compiled a 65-37 record. The Bears were repeatedly in the national conversation by the end of his time there, and they had four seasons with at least 10 wins in his final five years before he was fired.

Eastern New Mexico went 3-8 this past season, the third under head coach Kelley Lee, who was fired last week. While Briles found plenty of success on the field earlier in his career, that's undoubtedly been overshadowed by the sexual assault scandal in Waco. If Eastern New Mexico opts to move forward with Briles next fall, questions about that are sure to follow.

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Source: “AOL Sports”