Jim Grobe's awkward comments include defense of Baylor's assistants

There is plenty still to resolve at Baylor, but the Bears' active coach did not help things on Tuesday

DALLAS -- The Baylor narrative didn't exactly start trending positively Tuesday at the 2016 Big 12 Media Days.

Acting coach Jim Grobe explained why he retained the entire staff that seemingly has been accused of as a group of wrongdoing in the ongoing sexual assault scandal.

"We do not have a culture of bad behavior at Baylor University," Grobe said making his first public comments since replacing Art Briles in May.

If there is one thing most folks can agree on these days, there is a significant culture issue at Baylor. The university is facing several lawsuits from women who alleged they've been assaulted. There is a federal Title IX investigation. It's still unknown if the NCAA might start a formal investigation.

Most disturbing was Grobe's explanation of why the entire staff was retained following damning allegations from the school's independent investigation.

So far, only coach Art Briles and two off-field administrators have been fired in the aftermath of the scandal. However, the Pepper Hamilton report and Baylor's Findings of Fact -- now two months old -- states in part that "... choices made [by] football staff and athletics leadership ... posed a risk to campus safety and University integrity."

"For me to come in and make changes without reason doesn't make any sense to me ...," Grobe explained Tuesday.

"If I felt like there was misconduct on the part of any of my coaches, I would have no problem dealing with that. ... I was assured I could make any changes with the coaching staff I needed to make."

This from the 67-year-old former Wake Forest coach who confirmed to CBS Sports that he once turned down interest from Nebraska because the school wanted to keep three of its assistants.

The question now is whether those three fired persons represent the "football staff" continually mentioned in the Findings of Fact.

Until some or all of those are involved are identified, though, they have to live with those blanket conclusions. One Big 12 source suggested the reason the staff remains intact is legal concerns.

That source said, if Baylor attempted to fire any assistants for cause, the school might be sued because those individuals aren't identified in the Findings of Fact. A lawsuit, then, would allow documents and testimony to become public.

Most assistants work on one-year contracts, making it easier for Baylor not to renew the contracts of any assistants at the end of the 2016 season.

One of those already-terminated Baylor staffers posted on Facebook he was "wrongfully fired."

"I have to push back again and tell you that is not a culture at Baylor University," Grobe told a roomful of reporters. "We don't have a culture of bad behavior."

Grobe reiterated he was given the freedom to make any changes in the staff.

"When I got here, I had nobody tell me about assistant coaches' misbehavior," Grobe said. "If anybody can come to me and point out the coaches have behaved properly, I would have no problem making changes."

The Findings of Fact specifically states, "In certain instances, including reports of a sexual assault by multiple football players, athletics and football personnel affirmatively chose not to report sexual violence and dating violence to an appropriate administrator outside of athletics. In those instances, football coaches or staff met directly with a complainant and/or a parent of a complainant and did not report the misconduct."

In addition, "football coaches and staff took improper steps" in disclosing sexual assault or dating violence.

Because the football program dismissed players for unspecified violations and helped them transfer, the report states "the football coaches and staff abdicated responsibilities under Title IX ... to student welfare, to the health and safety of complainants."

Baylor interim president David Garland indicated Monday those individual coaches likely would not be identified. The Pepper Hamilton report was delivered orally to Baylor's board of regents, thus no paper trail exists and no names were mentioned in the findings of fact.

Grobe added that scholarship numbers are down to 70. (The max is 85.) Half of the 2016 recruiting class is gone since the scandal after several asked to released from their scholarships. The 2017 class has one commitment, according to 247Sports.

"If I was a young man out there realizing that Baylor dealt with some issues ... that maybe aren't being dealt with some other places," Grobe said. "I think we should hit a home run with the next recruiting class."