Art Briles has seen the light. Or a publicist. One of the two.
Speaking to ESPN's Tom Rinaldi, Briles admitted culpability in the Baylor rape scandal that swept himself, his president, his AD and, coming later this year, his staff out of jobs despite an unprecedented level of success for for former Big 12 doormat.
He said:
"I made mistakes. I did wrong, but I'm not doing this trying to make myself feel better for apologizing. I understand I made some mistakes. There was some bad things that went on under my watch. I was the captain of this ship. The captain of the ship goes down with it.
"So, I understand that I made some mistakes, and for that I'm sorry. But I'm not trying to plead for people's sympathy. I'm just stating that, 'Hey, I made some mistakes. I was wrong. I'm sorry. I'm gonna learn. I'm gonna do better."
Briles has always been forthcoming about one thing in the wake of his firing -- his desire to coach again, and soon. The prevailing thought around the industry is that a Power 5 school will oblige him.
ESPN will air the full Briles-Rinaldi interview Saturday on College GameDay. We'll have a better picture of Briles' genuine or professionally-motivated contrition then.