Baylor is screwed

[p1nyfan2021]

In my mind, Baylor is more deserving, and more likely to receive, the death penalty than Penn State ever was. While the PSU scandal was bad, it only involved a few select members of the coaching staff. What's happening in Waco involves Coaches, Players, AD staff, and the President. I'm not saying the NCAA WILL have the stones to hand it down to Baylor, I'm just saying they certainly deserve it.

[SmooBoy]

Welcome p1nyfan2021. Solid first post.

It also involves the police and coaches coercing victims. Despicable.

[JasonB]

Baylor will not make the same mistake that SMU did by imposing ridiculous academic standards on recruits-you can take that to the Bank-that was an incredibly stupid overreaction that SMU is still paying for today. To stop CHEATING you hire people with integrity that don't CHEAT. To stop CRIMINAL activity you don't recruit thugs with CRIMINAL records. Baylor will increase Title IX compliance too significantly. (and yes I've been concerned about how SMU handles this area too). SMU's scandal in the 1980s had nothing to do with higher academic standards and neither does Baylor's scandal now. What we saw at SMU was a vacuum in the athletic department for 1 full year, a discouraged and embarrassed alumni base and a power grab by academic interests before replacement athletic personnel were hired.

And... Baylor is in a place where the athletic leadership has been gutted and they won't find capable replacements anytime soon, they have a discouraged and embarrassed alumni base, they are going to have to pay a ton of extra cash in settlements, and donors are going to threaten to pull support. In a financial sense, they are much worse off than SMU was back in the day from this type of scandal.

How many major donors are screaming at them to get control of the athletic department "or else"?

There will be a power vacuum and who is going to bear the brunt of budget cuts forced by lawsuits and decreased donations? Athletics.

[stc9]

It's naïve and unrealistic to believe that everyone doesn't cheat. Get over it it's part of the process

There is cheating and then there is this... This isn't a case of an alumni helping Mom or Dad find a new job. This isn't the case of a $100 hand shake and this isn't a case of kids selling their tickets. This is a case of a University actively covering up MULTIPLE RAPES!

[One Trick Pony]

Yeah that never happened at SMU

[SMU Football Blog]

Stallion, what are your thoughts on the legal liability Baylor faces on this matter? Is it as dire as some earlier posters where BU may be liable for $100 million+ settlements?

I'm not stallion, but this is bad. Will it ultimately be that much? Probably not. A couple of women have already settled. Some may not pursue it. But once you include Baylor's attorneys' fees, it could get close to that.

Plus they are paying Briles something to go away. Some may think they can fire him for cause and not pay him the contract, but he will argue his superiors were aware of everything he did and approved/did not object. That is its own mess.

This affects nearly every woman on campus. Title IX goes beyond athletics. Baylor has admitted it did not take title IX compliance seriously. Are there women with no connection to athletics that were sexually assaulted or victims of domestic violence by some frat bro that never reported it? Well, now they can say they didn't report it because they knew Baylor didn't take it seriously. Could they sue? Possibly.

Could you see a billboard on 35 just north of Waco that says, "College student? Victim of sexual assault or domestic violence? Call [law firm]"? I think that is very possible. This could spread to other schools as well, like UT, A&M, TCU and SMU. Some lawyers may make this their bread and butter for a few years.

Title IX awards attorneys' fees. This litigation will generate a lot of publicity. Not huge incentive for plaintiff lawyers to settle quickly. If Baylor wants to end these suits quickly, it will have to overpay to settle, which I expect it will be reluctant to do. Not settling quickly will lead to a lot of discovery, which will be expensive and disruptive. Of course, in a season, the whole staff will have moved on and will be hard to control from a litigation perspective. Baylor, if smart, pays for lawyers for the staff that leaves and gets deposed. This gets expensive quick.

[Pony81]

NCAA won't touch BU over the rape issue. They see rape as a criminal issue beyond their purview as they had to retract sanctions against PSU under similar criminal violation situation.

So unless they find that players were being paid, favored academically, or other more "traditional" methods of cheating the NCAA will not get involved.

If it is only a criminal situation the NCAA doesn't need to get involved as the court process, settlement costs and reputational damage will hammer BU beyond recognition.

[stc9]

OTP,

This is bigger than football. Baylor went 4 years without reporting a single sexual assault (a stat on Mike and Mike this morning). So the problems on that campus transcend the athletic department. The only reason this is being discussed is because of the athletic department, which is scary.

[SMU Football Blog]

I know of nothing SMU related to the title IX compliance but I am reminded of Justin Willis punching a gay student and being suspended immediately and missing a game until the investigation was complete and didn't start the next game. I also recall a lineman during JJ era that was not participating in football activities and sat out until a trial was complete (he was acquitted if I recall). He wound up starting.

I will note the Justin Willis incident could illustrate that Bennett had been at a place where compliance was taken more seriously, and he should have known what was going on a Baylor was unacceptable.

[Pony81]

Thanks SMU Football. Legal fees, settlement costs, and Briles's contract settlement (he will go to the mat as he realizes he will never work again) can run up a significant tab. Then there is the drop in donor funding.

Thankfully, for BU they are in a P5 conference with considerable funding $$ regardless of on the field and off the field performance. Athletically funding from TV etc.. will remain.

It will take BU a generation to recover from this.

[One Trick Pony]

I know of nothing SMU related to the title IX compliance but I am reminded of Justin Willis punching a gay student and being suspended immediately and missing a game until the investigation was complete and didn't start the next game. I also recall a lineman during JJ era that was not participating in football activities and sat out until a trial was complete (he was acquitted if I recall). He wound up starting.

I will note the Justin Willis incident could illustrate that Bennett had been at a place where compliance was taken more seriously, and he should have known what was going on a Baylor was unacceptable.

[smusportspage]

http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-releases-list-higher-education-institutions-open-title-i

Wait, a school is missing. Probably for the first time it is good to be included on this list. It means actions were being taken.

[Mexmustang]

I have it from a good source, that the NCAA is going to be camping at Baylor. They are not investigating the criminal or Title IX violations, but looking into' pay for pay' and academic violations of football, men's and women's basketball... never a good idea to beat the Horns three years in a row if ESPN is losing $26,000,000,a year on the Longhorn network. Only time will tell if this has legs but, if it does Baylor athletics will not survive the penalties of these two sad events.

[smupony94]

Wow ESPN is paying Texas 26 billion???

[SmooBoy]

I think he meant bajillion.