Art Briles text messages should keep him from coaching again

Art Briles on Wednesday dropped his libel lawsuit against several Baylor officials and regents, and now we know why.

Three of the regents filed a legal document that proves Briles and his Baylor staff knew about multiple violations committed by their players and in some cases conspired to bury the matters. They argue that this evidence was enough to convince them they needed to clean house with the football program.

Here are many text messages uncovered by the Pepper Hamilton law firm as part of their independent investigation into allegations of sexual and domestic assaults committed by Baylor players going unchecked by the school.

Some Briles' texts: pic.twitter.com/zn0y6Q1SKp

— Jenny Dial Creech (@jennydialcreech) February 3, 2017

The text messages range from showing that Briles and his staff tried to keep things from reaching police; keep wrongdoings from being reported to Judicial Affairs; and Briles actively trying to bury problems.

Briles is also accused of personally intervening on behalf of former player Tevin Elliott to get his case heard by the school despite him being caught cheating. He was eventually dismissed but only after being accused of assaulting a woman. He also had been accused of rapes before that.

Briles settled a wrongful termination suit with the school last year and has not been hired for a new job since then, nor should he be. These text messages proving the lengths to which he and his staff conspired to cover up serious wrongdoings by their players should keep him from ever being a head coach again. His priorities are so misplaced — a lawsuit says 52 total assaults by 31 players in his program were committed between 2011-2014 — that he should never be allowed to coach again.