Possible Poetic Justice on the Horizon for Jim Grobe and Baylor against Art Briles

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

After months of hearsay surrounding illegal actions taking place behind closed doors at Baylor, on May 26, 2016, Art Briles was suspended as the Bears head football coach with the intent to terminate. By June 24, an official announcement of a mutually agreed upon parting of ways was released by Baylor opening up an unknown era in Waco after several seasons of winning but at a horrible cost to those around the program.

Briles demise came after an investigation into several allegations of sexual assault that went unreported and unpunished. Baylor’s Board of Regents hired Pepper Hamilton Law Firm to handle an investigation into the sexual assault allegations releasing a 13-page report of facts critical of the handling of allegations citing “choices made by football staff and athletics leadership, in some instances, posed a risk to campus safety and the integrity of the University.”

Briles tried to fight the termination initially claiming wrongful termination filing an emergency motion to a federal court withdrawing the motion one day later. Briles released a statement on June 2, not apologizing for what happened during his tenure at Baylor but acknowledging that he could have done things better in hindsight. An actual apology came on Sept. 7, when the embattled former head coach spoke with ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi stating, “I made mistakes. I did wrong, but I’m not doing this trying to make myself feel better for apologizing.” Briles added, “I understand I made some mistakes. There were some bad things that went on under my watch.”

After compiling a 65-37 record at Baylor bringing the Bears’ program from the cellar to one of the elite football squads in the nation, Briles’ era ended under a dark cloud tarnishing all the hard work poured into his passion. With the hiring of interim head coach Jim Grobe, Baylor embarked on a new era.

One silver lining to the unfolding Baylor story on the field is Jim Grobe. There are a lot of hard working college football coaches out there that never get their due, but Grobe might be in the discussion as one of the best that got the most out of his players.

From 2001-13, Grobe fought tooth and nail trying to change around the fortunes of a downtrodden Wake Forest program. The Demon Deacons had five winning seasons under Grobe reaching a pinnacle in 2006 with an 11-3 mark, an ACC title, and a BCS Orange Bowl berth, the first and only for Wake Forest. By 2009, Wake Forest could not keep up with the growing talent throughout the ACC posting five consecutive losing seasons from ’09 through ’13. Wake Forest accepted Grobe’s resignation on Dec. 2, 2013.

A story of second chances, redemption, and perseverance is taking shape not only for Baylor and Grobe, but also for the Big 12. The Bears have started their 2016 season 5-0 surviving a 45-42 road scare in Ames against Iowa State on Saturday. The final five games of the regular season provides just one “gimmie” with Kansas on Oct. 15. Following a bye week, the Bears travel to Austin to face Texas, return home to play TCU, head to Norman for a showdown against Oklahoma, and play their last regular season home game at McLane Stadium against Kansas State. The final two games on the road could be shootouts against Texas Tech and West Virginia.

Baylor has a decent shot at finishing the regular season undefeated, but have been down this road several times in recent years. The Bears started the 2013 season 9-0 before falling on the road to Oklahoma State. In 2014, a 6-0 start lost national title hopes with a road loss to an unranked West Virginia team. Last season, an 8-0 start ended with a 10-3 season losing to Oklahoma, TCU, and Texas, all teams still left on the 2016 docket.

The College Football Playoff for FBS programs is still in its early stages but the first two years have been a no-go for Big 12 teams. An undefeated Baylor team should be able to crack the proverbial barrier forcing the selection committee to not only let a Big 12 team into the dance but give Baylor an opportunity to compete on the game’s biggest stage. Right now, Baylor appears to be the Big 12’s best shot at making the playoff.

The possible acceptance of Baylor into the playoff will not come without protest, speculation, and a lot of second guessing from fans across the country and those who feel the NCAA should have set sanctions on the program due to the sexual assault allegations.

The redemption comes for Grobe, a coach poised for a lucky break after years of hard work in Winston-Salem, and for the Bears’ players who did nothing wrong but have had to endure the shame and guilt associated with being on the team. There are a lot of games left to be played, but could college football give its form of poetic justice to Grobe, the Bears, and the ultimate “what could have been” for Briles should Baylor win the Big 12 championship and earn a spot in the College Football Playoff?

Will there be cosmic collegiate gridiron justice for those coaches and programs doing things the right way?

Photo credit: sportsday.dallasnews.com; Jim Grobe on the Baylor sidelines.