At what point does winning mean more than integrity of self and the safety of others?
Mount Vernon ISD could soon find that out following one of the more baffling high school coaching hires in recent history.
To say MVISD’s board of trustees gaffed in its hire of controversial former Baylor football coach Art Briles late Friday is akin to proclaiming fire is hot.
The most stunning part is MVISD officials this week attempting to defend the hire of a man who was complicit in cultivating a culture of rape in the Baylor football program, all for the sake of wins.
Count me in the column of those disgusted with MVISD’s decision to weigh victories more than the well-being and safety of women. It’s emboldened by the seemingly lack of a vetting process that didn’t include talking to survivors at Baylor or anyone who might have been impacted by the actions of Briles and former higher-ups at good ol’ BU.
But by God, if you talk to former Baylor football coach Grant Teaff, then you’ve done your homework, right?
Throw in the knowledge that Briles will be in charge of people who are more impressionable than collegiate athletes and you’ve got the makings of a volatile and potentially dangerous situation in the works.
Yes, America is a place of second and third chances. But what Briles did was unforgivable.
Franky, the man should never be allowed to coach football again.
Perhaps the troubling part in all of this is the speedy – read: subversive – way the MVISD board moved to make this happen.
Pulling the trigger hours before the start of a holiday weekend, with much of that search process done in the shadows, is a key cause for some of the heartburn many across the state are feeling.
Maybe it’s time Texas lawmakers start thinking about making such hiring processes much more transparent to the taxpayer? Not only just for positions such as a head football coach or athletic director, but also for superintendents and their staff?
One would think if MVISD stakeholders knew who the district was eyeing as possible head coaching candidates, it could have prevented this whole fiasco from happening.
Giving power to the people to offer their input and further vet someone who will be in direct charge of their children should be a requirement, not a voluntary action.
After all, it’s the public that stands to be impacted the most by these decisions. Should we all have a say in these processes, too?
