Starr got himself fired over the Fed required "misreporting" of sexual assault claims at BU over several years. The fact that some "powers that be" wanted him gone needed this event should not be forgotten. That no one else who was as deeply responsible for this got fired is telling to anyone paying close attention during those years.
McCaw resigned, surprisingly with little sticking to him personally.
Briles got fired largely due to his response to the revelations and comments from investigators who understood nada about college football, and maybe all college athletics. Tightly run program in terms of work ethic and execution? Yep. Loosely run program terms of both on-field and off-field actions? No doubt; well-recognized. I suspect Briles had no idea the serious nature of the environment at the time, and while he had dealt with the one player guilty of rape, he didn't manage other questionable folks well enough to offset public scrutiny and the leverage used against him. Not much can be done to a student's "activity" on their own time but you can establish the accepted culture for the team, with the appropriate "solutions" to "encourage" accepted norms. And you can establish said program even when your university ignores theirs and your AD doesn't have one in place.
Failure at every level in this unnecessary tragedy cannot be ignored nor discounted. Even in the face of quilt, most of this could have been avoided if Starr et al had taken the fall by bearing responsibility for its deceit, and Briles going repentant and saying less. I suspect both parties had some poorly-informed and unwise advice. Im not saying Briles should have kept his job at BU, but it was totally unnecessary to destroy his career based on the actions of one athlete and his own apparent naivet regarding the situation. This could have all been redeemed but at high cost to street credit within the academy; I suspect BU was unwilling to pay that particular cost. In the end, a football coach paid more heavily than the institution for the mismanagement of said university and its administration.
And all had skin in this guilt game. And everyone is punished. But only one permanently.
McCaw resigned, surprisingly with little sticking to him personally.
Briles got fired largely due to his response to the revelations and comments from investigators who understood nada about college football, and maybe all college athletics. Tightly run program in terms of work ethic and execution? Yep. Loosely run program terms of both on-field and off-field actions? No doubt; well-recognized. I suspect Briles had no idea the serious nature of the environment at the time, and while he had dealt with the one player guilty of rape, he didn't manage other questionable folks well enough to offset public scrutiny and the leverage used against him. Not much can be done to a student's "activity" on their own time but you can establish the accepted culture for the team, with the appropriate "solutions" to "encourage" accepted norms. And you can establish said program even when your university ignores theirs and your AD doesn't have one in place.
Failure at every level in this unnecessary tragedy cannot be ignored nor discounted. Even in the face of quilt, most of this could have been avoided if Starr et al had taken the fall by bearing responsibility for its deceit, and Briles going repentant and saying less. I suspect both parties had some poorly-informed and unwise advice. Im not saying Briles should have kept his job at BU, but it was totally unnecessary to destroy his career based on the actions of one athlete and his own apparent naivet regarding the situation. This could have all been redeemed but at high cost to street credit within the academy; I suspect BU was unwilling to pay that particular cost. In the end, a football coach paid more heavily than the institution for the mismanagement of said university and its administration.
And all had skin in this guilt game. And everyone is punished. But only one permanently.
