Incredulous!
That was my reaction when I learned that the Tiger-Cats had hired scandal-plagued coach Art Briles to be their new assistant head coach.
If you’d never heard of Art Briles before, you most certainly know of him now because of the outrage that exploded with the Tiger-Cat announcement.
Briles was never criminally charged in the massive sexual assault and gang rape investigations involving football players at Baylor University, but because he had knowledge of those horrific events and didn’t report it to the proper authorities, he was an enabler.
So why would the Tiger-Cats hire someone who was embroiled in such a despicable scandal and why, in the face of such massive negative reaction, would they boldly try to defend the move?
I don’t know June Jones or Kent Austin, but I know Scott Mitchell and Bob Young well enough to know that they are men of high character and compassion and I can’t believe that somewhere along the chain of command, someone didn’t foresee the anger and disappointment that hiring Briles would bring.
Late last night, the Tiger-Cats and the CFL issued a joint statement that Briles would not be hired by the Cats, but for many, that announcement was too little, too late.
The die has been cast and it’s going to take awhile for the fans and the community to get over their anger and their disappointment.
Bill Kelly is the host of Bill Kelly Show on AM 900 CHML and a commentator for Global News.