Former Baylor basketball coach Dave Bliss to coach NAIA school

Disgraced former Baylor coach Dave Bliss will return to the collegiate basketball sidelines next season

Disgraced former Baylor coach Dave Bliss will return to the collegiate basketball sidelines next season as the head coach of Southwestern Christian University, according to a report by NewsOK.com. 

A spokesman for the NAIA school formerly known as Bethany Nazarene said, " SCU officials believe in redemption and believe Bliss has been transformed," according to the report. 

“Coach Bliss fits well within our mission and culture and embraces what a Christian-based education is all about," University president Reggies Wenyika said. 

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Under Bliss' watch, Baylor player Carlton Dotson murdered fellow player Patrick Dennehy. After the murder, Bliss admitted to making improper tuition payments for Dennehy as well as another player. 

When asked how Dennehy, who was not on scholarship, had paid his college tuition, Bliss claimed Dennehy was a drug dealer and told his players to tell this to investigators.

He resigned from Baylor in 2003. In addition to numerous sanctions, the school was given a 10-year show-cause penalty in 2005, meaning no school could hire him until the 2015 season without taking on Baylor's sanctions themselves. 

Bliss coached at Southern Methodist, New Mexico and Oklahoma in addition to Baylor, amassing a 525-328 career record. 

- Will Green