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Seven years after being fired as head football coach amid Baylor’s sexual assault scandal, Art Briles took the stand Thursday to say he had “no awareness” of Title IX policies at the time and that he “would certainly think” it was the university’s responsibility to train him.
Former Baylor student Dolores Lozano filed a Title IX and negligence lawsuit against Briles, former athletic director Ian McCaw and the university in 2016. Her complaint involves three alleged physical assaults from 2014 by her ex-boyfriend, former Baylor football player Devin Chafin. Chafin has denied all allegations of physically assaulting Lozano.
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Briles’ first season with Baylor football was in 2008. He said the program was in a “mediocre state” at the time of his arrival. In the following years, the team improved its record, claimed its first Big 12 championship title and moved into the newly built $266 million McLane Stadium.
In the plaintiff’s opening statement on Monday, Lozano’s attorney Zeke Fortenberry said “that football was king, and the Baylor way was to look the other way.” Throughout the trial, he has noted how there was a lack of disciplinary action against players because of the team’s success.
Under questioning from Fortenberry, Briles said his disciplinary role varied depending on the severity of the allegation. He said he was made aware of major incidents, but a strength coach handled minor incidents, usually requiring “running, getting up early and doing extra weight work.”
When asked if there was conflict between the football program and Judicial Affairs, Briles said there may have been “a little bit of a misunderstanding” early on, but he didn’t think the football program had a separate disciplinary system. He noted that both entities punished players for the same offenses when the violations warranted it.
Fortenberry also brought up Briles’ and Don Yaeger’s 2015 book entitled “Beating Goliath: My Story of Football and Faith.” The book mentions how Briles was in the “kid-saving business.” Although written in first person from Briles’ point of view, Briles said Yaeger did all the writing, and he has never read it himself.
Fortenberry then shifted to the discussion of the lawsuit at hand. According to Briles, he was not informed of any alleged incidents involving Chafin and Lozano until news broke in May 2016 — something that surprises him now. However, Briles did suspend Chafin from the team in March 2016 after learning of his arrest for possession of marijuana.
When asked if he had previously claimed he was the last to know things, Briles was briefly silent. After being prompted again, he said, “Anything after May 26, 2016 … [I] was a different guy.” When asked why he was a different guy, he said, “I’m going to let you work on that one.”
In May 2016, the Baylor Board of Regents brought in the Pepper Hamilton law firm to present its findings on an internal investigation it had conducted into the university’s Title IX compliance. The board had hired Pepper Hamilton following the sexual assault convictions of football players Tevin Elliott and Sam Ukwuachu.
On Monday, then-Regent James Cary Gray testified about the contents of the presentation and said, “It’s beyond — it’s really hard to describe how horrible it was.”
Briles said he was not aware of the meeting between the board and Pepper Hamilton until several regents called him over the following days.
According to Briles, then-Regent Jay Allison was not at the meeting and called to say, “I let you down. They’re going to fire you.” In response, Briles said, “They’re just going to fire me and not tell me why?”
After hearing from a few regents, Briles set up a meeting with the board, which lasted about 45 minutes. He said “there wasn’t really a lot of dialogue” and “it wasn’t a pleasant meeting.”
“I never heard from them again,” Briles said. “I tried getting ahold of [McCaw] the next day. … Nothing. Couldn’t find him. … And then, Thursday morning, the 26th, [McCaw] called me … and said, ‘Can you meet in my office?’ And I said, ‘Is everything OK?’ … And he said, ‘I’m fine.’ But he said, ‘Coach, they’re going to fire you. … They said you aren’t the right man for the job.’”
Briles was suspended with intent to terminate on May 26, 2016.
Under cross-examination from his attorney, J. Reid Simpson, Briles said he never saw any indication that Chafin was a violent person.
“My knowledge with him is on the football field and in the locker room,” Briles said. “I haven’t seen Devin in years, but I think — I know — he’s a real genuine person, real trustworthy and in my opinion extremely honest.”
Finally, Briles confirmed he has never talked to Lozano, and the first time he heard of her was when he was named in the lawsuit. He also said he didn’t cover up sexual assaults and never discouraged victims from coming forward.
Earlier in the day, McCaw took the stand. He assumed his position as athletic director in September 2003.
Under questioning from Fortenberry, McCaw discussed the communication lines for code of conduct violations. He said the liaison between athletics and Judicial Affairs was Paul Bradshaw, who currently serves as the associate athletics director for governance and regulatory affairs. According to McCaw, Bradshaw learned about code of conduct violations directly from coaches as well as through other means, such as reports from police or the Health Center.
McCaw said he first learned of Lozano’s alleged assault by Chafin sometime in April 2014 during a weekly meeting with executive associate athletic director Todd Patulski and associate athletic director Nancy Post.
On Wednesday, Post testified that she learned of the alleged assault from acrobatics and tumbling coach LaPrise Williams, and she reported the incident to the two men immediately after learning Chafin was a football player.
McCaw said he did not notify Bradshaw, and neither did Patulski or Post. However, he said Lozano had already been directed to the Health Center and the police, and going to those entities would have notified Judicial Affairs.
“In subsequent meetings, I asked [for updates],” McCaw said. “We were waiting to hear updates, and there were none that were forthcoming.”
McCaw said he made no report or documentation on the event.
“The athletic department is not an investigative agency,” McCaw said.
Fortenberry then brought up the Margolis Healy report — a fall 2014 report resulting from a consulting firm’s assessment of Baylor’s campus safety.
“I wasn’t able to view the report at that time,” McCaw said. “But [I] learned through consultants there was a lot of work to be done.”
McCaw said the report brought to light that Baylor needed greater awareness of its Title IX policies as well as a formal Title IX coordinator. He said the first Title IX training was in September 2014, but prior to that, there was “nothing meaningful.” He also said Baylor hired Patty Crawford as its first Title IX coordinator in 2015.
When asked if the university was at fault for him not having adequate Title IX training, McCaw said, “It’s their responsibility, yes.”
Following the Pepper Hamilton presentation to the Baylor Board of Regents, McCaw said then-Regent Milton Hixson offered him advice on his upcoming meeting with the board.
“[Hixson said] that they received a very emotional report and received it with great seriousness and that I need to be prepared for a difficult room,” McCaw said.
McCaw was sanctioned the same day Briles was fired. He remained at Baylor briefly but resigned by the end of the spring semester.
“After the Board of Regents fired coach Briles on the 26th, we commenced a search to hire his successor,” McCaw said. “At the end of May, I decided I couldn’t support what the Board was doing and resigned.”
During cross-examination, Simpson asked McCaw if he believed it was right that Briles “took the fall.”
“I thought that was irresponsible, and I couldn’t support it,” McCaw said. “Our poor leadership let all the blame fall on one program.”
During cross-examination, his attorney, Thomas Brandt, presented a stack of 48 papers that constituted the factual background of the lawsuit. He noted that McCaw’s name does not appear at all in the papers.
Proceedings will continue at 11 a.m. Friday.
