It is scary that some universities these days hold football in higher regard than the safety of their women students. It is scary that covering up a football players sexual assault crime so that they can continue playing is more important than creating a safe college campus for all students, men and women alike. Football is great, and it is hands down my favorite sport around, but not when coaches, coaching staffs and university athletic supporters are using football as the cover up or excuse to ignore a players misconduct off the field.

Baylor University in Waco, Texas is currently at the center of attention due to allegations made against coaching staff and athletics officials for covering up football players misconduct off the field the past few years. Recent reports have shown that a handful of Baylor University football players accusations of sexual assault went without a punishment or even acknowledgement of their misconduct by university officials and Baylor football coaching staff. Baylor had a slow, if not any reaction to this news initially. A report by law firm Pepper Hamilton said they, "created a cultural perception that football was above the rules," and this is something that just wasn't okay with Baylor University as a whole.

Amid all the discussion on the handling of these issues within the football and greater athletic department, Baylor University decided to fire their head football coach Art Briles this week. Now just looking at Art Briles as a football coach, he is great at his job. In his eight seasons with the Baylor Bears the team was 65-37 overall. But throughout the past five seasons he built them up to go 50-15. Within these past five seasons he also led the team to two Big 12 Conference Championships, a pair of New Years Six Bowl Game appearances and produced a Heisman winning quarterback which was a first for the Bears. Now this is all mighty impressive for the Bears who under previous Coach Guy Morris (coached 2003 to 2007 with the Bears), had a continuous losing record each season under Morris.

So beyond Briles as the successful head 'football' coach, he obviously wasn't doing a good job at being the strong leader coach young adolescent males need. His position as head football coach made him a staple name and a leader on the Baylor campus, and he failed in this position. It is hard to understand how is it possible to have 3 plus players on your team with allegations made against them of sexual assault or further how do you stand by knowing this but not taking any action. Power, success, pay bonuses, outside pressure? I am not saying that Art Briles is the whole reason and sole person to blame on why these sexual assault allegations against Baylor football players were ignored, but he is one piece of the puzzle that needed to be taken out. I understand the thought process behind firing Briles. He is the king pin of the team. He sets the attitude, the culture, and the values of the team. Officials probably believed if they took out the man who ran the show, then maybe the culture of the team would change for the better. To be a team who always treats women with respect and further a team who's leaders have the morals to punish and bring to light players who don't play by the rules off the field.

Again I love football, but I would much rather see my football team suffer by losing a few players due to their actions, than watching another innocent woman become the victim of sexual assault at the hands of someone looked upon by many as a leader.

Now many are probably upset or mad that Baylor fired the head ball coach who turned Baylor football from the laughing stock of the Big 12 into one the top dogs. But look at it this way Baylor got it right. Baylor University made the best decision possible amid all this drama. They held and showed everyone that student safety on their campus was more important to them than the success of their football team. There was and will be no easy way to fix and restore the image of Baylor football to the glory it once had right now, but firing the head coach is a start. You can't have successful student athletes on and off the field, if your head coach isn't instilling into players how they should act and treat people outside of football.

So football fans everywhere grumbling about why firing Art Briles 'isn't fair' or 'not the best choice' remember football should never be held above student safety. Baylor got this decision hands down right. It was definitely not an easy one, but it was the best one to restore Baylor's image to a school that values the safety of its students over the success of their football team. Because in the end football is not something that should ever be held above the serious issue that is sexual assault.