Grambling State news: Hue Jackson's bizarre defense of hiring Art Briles might just feature a bit of tax evasion

Grambling State HC Hue Jackson bizarrely defended his hiring of Art Briles while inviting questions into possible tax evasion in the process.

Former Cleveland Browns head coach and current Grambling State Tigers leader Hue Jackson was in the news recently for accusations that he was forced to tank during his time with Cleveland. Now, Jackson is in the news once again, this time for his recent Grambling State hire of controversial coach Art Briles, who was accused of ignoring sexual assault committed by his players during his time at Baylor. Jackson penned a letter via his foundation defending the hire of Briles. The letter, while bizarrely strong in its defense of Briles, also seemed to indicate some questionable findings when it came to Jackson's foundation.

The Hue Jackson Foundation collected $158,000 in 2019 (the most recent tax info available). It paid out $115,000 to its sole paid employee and spent another $15,000 on travel. It looks like they gave out roughly $4,000 in grants. https://t.co/cnR5AvWuP9

— Dan Murphy (@DanMurphyESPN) February 28, 2022

Hue Jackson brought in Art Briles to be Grambling State's offensive coordinator, a move that was met with criticism by many, most notably Tigers' legend Doug Williams. The former Browns coach had a response to the criticism, which was outlined beautifully by NBC Sports.

Jackson attributes the decision to three key factors: Forgiveness, redemption, and enlightenment.

The letter concludes with what seems to be a plea to not criticize or even debate the topic because “people can and often do become re-traumatized and re-victimized by statements which may or may not be accurate.”

Jackson may have good intentions with bringing Briles in, but his explanation for doing so is a particularly weak one. Not only that, but some, including ESPN's Dan Murphy, have dug a bit deeper into the Grambling State coach's foundation, which seemed to pay out an exorbitant amount of funds to its sole employee while paying very little to the causes it was created to serve.

It's very possible that these things don't mean that Jackson did something wrong. However, aside from obvious morality issues, there appear to be some strange things going on with Hue Jackson's foundation.