Cleveland Browns: Why is Art Briles in Berea?

There may be reasons for Hue Jackson and the Cleveland Browns to allow Art Briles to be a guest coach in practices, but they aren’t good enough to justify it.

Hue Jackson has invited former Baylor head coach Art Briles to come to Berea and be a guest coach for the Cleveland Browns this week. Briles is currently on a redemption tour as he tries to get back to being a viable coach after being in charge of one of the worst atmospheres college football has ever seen. While there are potential benefits for Jackson and the Browns, it may be difficult to for the benefits to outweigh the costs and horrible optics this situation creates.

What Briles allowed to happen in Waco under his watch is deplorable. Not only allowing an atmosphere where women were victimized, but helping to create it. Briles and other members of the school worked to cover up crimes against women while threatening and shaming the victims. And they still haven’t reached the bottom of this scandal as victims continue to come forward and the school continues to handle the situation poorly. Forget being a head coach again; the case can be made that Briles should serve time in prison for what he did at Baylor.

Briles still maintains his innocence and hopes to be formerly hired in a coaching capacity by December. Jackson has had a lot of praise for Briles as an offensive mind and that he’d love to learn from him. But the head coach also sort of downplayed the visit as it being mostly Briles seeing his former players and seeing how the Browns do things. The Browns have Robert Griffin III, Corey Coleman, and Spencer Drango on the active roster among Briles’ former players at Baylor.

Male and female fans alike have every right to be disgusted by the fact that Briles is in Berea, working with Browns players and wearing their colors. With that in mind, it begs the question: why is Hue Jackson doing this?

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There are a few reasons. First, while Briles has behaved like human filth, he is a good coach on the field. His offense at Baylor was extremely potent and it didn’t require a significant amount of technique and polish from players to put up a ton of points. The scheme creates space so that great athletes have room to look that way, especially in terms of speed. Without a ton of success in the draft, they’ve been one of the most potent offenses in college football the past decade.

While it’s incredibly unlikely Briles would be hired as an assistant for the Browns—because that’s not what he wants to do and the Browns shouldn’t want to do it because of his baggage—coaches know coaches. If the Browns come calling to some assistants, they may call Art Briles and he may have a lot of positive to say about Jackson and what he’s trying to do in Cleveland. It’s simple recruiting.

As bad as the optics are to the general public, the players could potentially have an even worse reaction. Jackson has laid down the law in terms of what he expects from players on and off the field. They’ve purged a number of players with significant missteps off the field as he tries to build a roster of reliable players.

While that effort is laudable, it’s difficult to hold players to that kind of standard and then turn around and have Briles come in and coach in any capacity, guest or otherwise. The mere fact that Briles hasn’t been charged with a crime doesn’t make what happened at Baylor any less horrifying or disgusting. It also doesn’t change how much involvement he had.

Johnny Manziel was released because he was unreliable, an addict, and he was accused of assaulting his now ex-girlfriend. Armonty Bryant was released after a felony drug arrest last year as his latest misstep in his career. He also had a DUI as a rookie and arrests in college. Josh Gordon has been put on a reserve list as he enters drug rehab after an NFL career with one drug related suspension after another. He will ultimately be released.

Sep 25, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrance Williams (83) meets with his former coach Art Briles prior to the game against the Chicago Bears at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

If all those things were done by a single player, it wouldn’t come close to what Briles is alleged to have done at Baylor. What has happened on that campus under Briles’ watch makes all of these issues combined look like shoplifting. It doesn’t make their releases any less prudent as the team searches for reliable players, but the hypocrisy of the team bringing in Briles for anything is difficult to swallow.

Jackson said he doesn’t condone anything that happened at Baylor but deserves the opportunity to do what he does. If having him come put on your colors and coach your players doesn’t condone what Briles has done and is accused of doing, it is at least tolerating it. That in itself sends a message and not the one Jackson or the Browns should want.

Perhaps the most surprising part of this story is the fact that it has been relatively ignored by the media. It seems like it would warrant a number of pointed questions at Hue Jackson as well as harsh criticism of the move in print. Beyond getting an explanation of it initially, the press has mostly moved on and treated it like business as usual. The Baylor sexual assault scandal has still not ended and the stink seems to be staying on the school rather than the coach.

The media in Cleveland has been hammering the Browns almost every week for passing on Carson Wentz. It’s been the easiest story to write as he keeps putting up great numbers and winning as a rookie. It’s eerily quiet when it comes to Art Briles coming in to be a guest coach for the team. The Briles topic is more important as it involves right and wrong as opposed to opinions on how a rookie is playing.

It’s difficult to imagine how Hue Jackson gets enough benefit out of Briles coming in as a guest coach to warrant the move. He’s lucky to this point that it hasn’t been made a bigger issue, which would be completely understandable. One cannot help but wonder if there will be a ripple effect within the locker room as there may be players genuinely uncomfortable with having Briles in Berea; especially players with wives and daughters. If Jackson and the Browns continue to struggle, this will be revisited as one of the mistakes that come up in arguments for him to be fired.