AFCA cancels Art Briles' session at convention
Art Briles is no longer speaking at the American Football Coaches Association Convention in Charlotte on Tuesday.
The AFCA made an announcement Monday morning saying that Briles’ session at the conference had been canceled because of “concerns.”
“The AFCA has always taken great pride in making sure we provide the best educational experiences for our coaches,” AFCA president Todd Berry said in a statement. “We always appreciate our coaches and their willingness to share their experiences — on and off the field — to help educate the rest of our membership in their pursuit of professional growth. Art Briles was scheduled to speak at the 2018 AFCA Convention. However due to concerns we have decided to cancel his session. I’m saddened that our coaches have lost an opportunity.”
The Athletic revealed Sunday that Briles was set to speak in a session titled “Standing Strong / Game Management.” Briles hasn’t coached football since he was fired from Baylor in May of 2016 after an independent investigation into the way officials at the school handled sexual assault allegations. Among the accusations against the former coach, he allegedly openly questioned why a woman was with “bad dudes” from his football team after hearing of an alleged gang rape.
Adding Briles as a speaker was a curious choice — to put it quite mildly — and the AFCA shouldn’t be surprised in the slightest there was backlash to Briles’ session after it was revealed. Berry justified the decision to let Briles speak to the Athletic was in part because “he can share an experience no one else can with our group, so that we can avoid issues down the road.”
Briles’ son Kendal was hired Saturday as Houston’s offensive coordinator. Kendal Briles was hired at Florida Atlantic in 2017 after coaching the 2016 season at Baylor.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
