Briles drops libel suit against Baylor, “wants some peace in his life”

Fired Baylor head football coach Art Briles dropped a libel lawsuit against the university Wednesday without any settlement or the payment of any damages.

The university had no comment on the decision Wednesday.

Briles' attorney, Ernest Cannon of Stephenville, said the lawsuit was never about money.

"All he wanted was his good name." Cannon said.

“I'm sorry we didn't get this resolved for all the Baylor people, so they could know the truth,” Cannon said.

“A man can only carry so much.”

“They overloaded him in an endless supply of money, lawyers, resources, and no restraints on anything they'll do to achieve their goals,” Cannon said.

“Art wants some peace in his life for him and his family, and to put as much distance between him and his family and Baylor as he can, and I wholeheartedly agree with him.”

Briles filed the suit in December in state district court in Llano County alleging that three Baylor regents and a university official aided by a California public relations firm so damaged his reputation with “false information and defamatory statements” that he may never again hold a head coaching job.

The suit, which named Board of Regents Chairman Ronald Murff, Regents J. Cary Gray and David Harper, and Senior Vice President for Operations and Chief Financial Officer Reagan Ramsower, sought unspecified damages in excess of $1 million.

The suit alleged that Briles was fired in May 2016 “without explanation to him or the public” and that despite repeated requests was never provided with the “so-called facts” that were the basis of the 13-page Findings of Fact the school released.

The suit was filed in Llano County because Briles was in residence there at the time of the alleged defamation.