FRISCO, Texas -- First-year Baylor coach Matt Rhule said Tuesday that he's determined to meet the challenges posed by the fallout from a sexual-assault scandal at the university and investigations that continue into the school's football program.
"That which we don't acknowledge, we're doomed to repeat, right?" Rhule said during his initial news conference at Big 12 media days. "At the end of the day, I don't know everything that happened, but I just know something happened that was wrong."
Rhule, 42, was hired at Baylor in December to succeed interim coach Jim Grobe, who directed the Bears in 2016 after the May firing of Art Briles. A dozen women have filed lawsuits that claim the school mishandled or ignored rape claims against Briles' players and other students.
Baylor is currently the subject of an NCAA investigation into the matter. It also faces several federal civil rights investigations and a state criminal investigation.
Under Rhule, the healing has begun, he said.
"We're not running from the past," he said during a prepared opening statement, "but rather we're learning from it. We're truly committed to getting the wrongs of the past corrected and to a bright new future. Together, we are committed to our continued cooperation with external and internal reviews of past conduct."
Rhule said he's confident that the steps taken by Baylor to correct its problems will lead to a stronger university. As for football, Rhule said he and his staff are "trying to build a program, not a team."
"We're trying to do that one man at a time," he said. "We're trying to make sure our kids know what it means to be a man."
Formerly the head coach at Temple, Rhule said he and other leaders at Baylor want the school to serve as a national leader in preventing sexual assault and raising awareness.
"If we don't talk about and we don't learn from it, then what was the point of it?" Rhule said. "I want to move forward. But I want to move forward always acknowledging the past. And you know what, this issue of sexual assault and gender violence, this isn't a Baylor issue; this isn't a college football issue. It's everywhere. It's a higher education issue."
Rhule spoke to Baylor boosters Monday night in Frisco. For supporters of the program, the past year has been emotional and difficult, he said. Rhule assured them, he said, that he trusts in Baylor's ability to correct its course.
"I try to make sure I let them know that this wasn't my only option," Rhule said. "I came to Baylor because I knew this was the right place for me and I believed in it."