# Is Art Briles First WINNING College Coach to Lose Job Solely Due to Scandal? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 27, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819 "2016-05-27T15:35:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/1 "2016-05-27T15:35:12Z")
I will assume most sports fans know who Art Briles is and why he was fired. If not, just Google “BAYLOR RAPE SCANDAL” and you’ll learn all you need to know. Briles richly deserved to be removed as coach, and Ken Starr richly deserves to be ousted as school president. No argument at all there. No debate necessary. But this got me thinking. Has ANY other coach with a record as good as Briles’ ever been fired JUST because of a scandal? I can think of plenty of bad or mediocre coaches who were fired over scandals. But WINNING coaches, guys who were still winning conference titles and getting their team to bowl games? Some may point to Joe Paterno, but Joe was NOT on top of the heap any more when the Sandusky report cost him his job. The Nittany Lions were no longer an elite team, and Joe was widely perceived as over the hill, and the administration had been hoping to get him to retire for years before the Sandusky scandal exploded. In every case I think of, it turns out that scandal was just a handy excuse for firing a coach the administration already wanted to dump. What other WINNING coaches have been fired due to scandal? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/2 "2016-05-27T15:44:14Z")
Look at the records for those two: they look comparable for the last few years of the careers for each. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art\_Briles#College\_2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Briles#College_2) > **[Joe Paterno | Head coaching record](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Paterno#Head_coaching_record)** > > At the time of his death, Paterno had accumulated a record of 409 wins, 136 losses, and 3 ties. However, on July 23, 2012, the NCAA officially vacated 111 of Paterno's wins based on the findings of the Freeh report regarding his involvement in the Penn State sex abuse scandal. All wins dating back to 1998 were vacated, the year Paterno was first informed of Sandusky's suspected child abuse. Based on the criteria used by the NCAA, Paterno no longer held the record for most victories by ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/3 "2016-05-27T16:15:20Z")
I don’t know whether it counts as “scandal”, but Woody Hayes was fired for punching an opposing player. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/4 "2016-05-27T16:33:35Z")
How about [Jim Tressel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Tressel)? He resigned, but he was about to be fired. Is cheating a scandal? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/5 "2016-05-27T16:59:52Z")
Gary Barnett at Colorado. Went 7-5 in his final season at Colorado before being fired for a “scandal” that wasn’t. It’s one of those things that will never go away, but there was no scandal. Not a single player or recruit was ever indicted for anything, let alone charged. There were many false and well documented accusations. The whack-a-doo DA (the same one who sent a police officer to Thailand to arrest an innocent man in the Jon-Benet Ramsey case) kept trying to pin something on the football team but her deputies kept telling her she had no case. Barnett did call his female kicker (a publicity stunt he inherited from Rick Neuheisel) “terrible”, which she was. She could barely hit 50% of her extra point attempts in scrimmages with no rush. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/6 "2016-05-27T17:21:57Z")
Maybe North Carolina State Jimmy Valvano was caught up in a scandal over player Chris Washburn who scored 470 on his SATs (400 is the starting point). It had been seven years sine the Wolfpack won the NCAA and his record was only 18-12 the last season. But we tend to forget he was forced out because of his early death. > **[Jim Valvano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Valvano#Controversy)** > > James Thomas Anthony Valvano (March 10, 1946 – April 28, 1993), nicknamed Jimmy V, was an American college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. > Valvano had a successful coaching career with multiple schools, culminating at North Carolina State University. While the head coach at NC State, his team won the 1983 NCAA Division I men's basketball title against improbable odds. Valvano is remembered for his ecstatic celebration after winning the national championship game against the heavily-fa... ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/7 "2016-05-27T18:31:26Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > How about [Jim Tressel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Tressel)? He resigned, but he was about to be fired. Is cheating a scandal? I was going to say Tressel. He was, for all intents and purposes, fired. He’d probably still be there if not for tattoo-gate. Bobby Collins also “resigned” from SMU right before the shit hit the fan there back in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/8 "2016-05-27T19:10:43Z")
Bobby Knight wasn’t “winning” in the sense he was making it the Final Four every year, but he had been to the tournament 15 years in a row when he was fired. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/9 "2016-05-27T19:17:32Z")
How about [Bobby Petrino](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Petrino) getting fired from Arkansas? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/10 "2016-05-27T21:26:22Z")
You don’t even have to look outside Texas. Bobby Collins was 43-14-1 at SMU when the NCAA handed down the [death penalty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Methodist_University_football_scandal) in 1987. Technically, Collins resigned rather than being fired. However, he got an $850,000 severance package, so I’m going to count it as being fired. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/11 "2016-05-27T22:37:51Z")
Mike Price was undefeated and untied when Bama fired him for excessive partying. ETA: Actually, I can’t guarantee he was untied when he got the phone call. You’ll have to ask Mistress Tiffany. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/12 "2016-05-28T17:09:12Z")
Jerry Tarkanian (different sport, but still) comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/13 "2016-05-28T23:10:34Z")
I think you need to differentiate between “scandals” where the coach was caught red-handed being directly involved (Petrino, Knight, Woody Hayes, Larry Eustacy, etc.) and those that happened on his/her watch that they were not directly involved in, or at least have plausible deniability. There’s not much choice for a University if you’re caught on live TV punching a player or getting into a motorcycle wreck with a female employee that you hired on your bike. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/14 "2016-05-28T23:50:42Z")
Jim Harrick was fired at UCLA in BB when he was still winning. He was fired about lying over NCAA issues. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-briles-first-winning-college-coach-to-lose-job-solely-due-to-scandal/755819/15 "2016-05-31T16:01:40Z")
Mike Leach was fired from Texas Tech at the end of the 2009 season allegedly for an incident involving a player: wide receiver Adam James, son of ESPN’s Craig James, had a concussion. Leach had James stay in an equipment/electrical shed near the field rather than staying with the team during practice; Leach later said that he figured the cool darkness of the shed would be beneficial. Texas Tech went on to fire Leach, despite his overall record of 84-43, 10 consecutive winning seasons, 5 bowl game victories, and being named Big 12 Coach of the Year for 2008. Of course, speculation was rampant at the time that Leach was just unpopular with the Texas Tech higher-ups, and that they were looking for any excuse to fire Leach before they had to pay about $2.3 million that would be due to him if he were still employed at the end of 2009. There was even a [book](https://amzn.com/B0060C4J0Y) written about it. End note: the funniest costume I saw the following Halloween was a guy wearing an Adam James jersey, with a little shed on his head.