BAYLOR BEAR-ING FRUIT OF BRILES LABOR

BAYLOR BEARS

2013 Projected Conference Finish: 5th

 

 

BEARS @ A GLANCE:

 

HEAD COACH:  Art Briles (entering 6th season 33-30)

STADIUM: Floyd Casey Stadium 50,000 / Waco, TX

2012 RECORD  8-4 (4-5)

   HOME                                  5-1

   AWAY                                  1-4

   COWBOYS STADIUM/BOWL    2-0

BOWL GAME: Yes, beat #17 UCLA in the Holiday Bowl

RETURNING STARTERS:  13

   OFFENSE   6

   DEFENSE   7

BEAR ESSENTIALS:  Must improve the defense. In the games against Texas & West Virginia, the Baylor offense scored 113 total points (avg 56.5 ppg) and lost

KEY GAME @ K-State Oct 12th. The Wildcats want revenge for last year's loss in Waco that possibly cost KSU a berth in the BCS Championship game.  The winner of this early game helps themselves big-time in the Big 12 race.

 

2013 vs OU: November 7th - Waco.  The Sooners last trip to Floyd-Casey

 

DID YOU KNOW?

That this is the last season for the Bears at Floyd-Casey Stadium their home since 1950?  After this season, Baylor will move into their new $250 million home on the Brazos.  The new facility will hold 45,000, with 39 suites, 74 semi-private boxes, 1200 outdoor club seats and a designated student section that holds 6700 Baylor undergrads.

 

 

 







 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEAR-LY RECOGNIZABLE

 

I'm not going to lie to you, I don't care for Waco, Texas...and I feel pretty certain that the feeling is mutual.  I mean let's face it, any place that strongly frowns on drinking and dancing, probably won't be thrilled with too many of the other traits that come standard with Buddy Putty.  With all of that in mind, I decided a long time ago to do us both a favor and spend as little time in Waco as possible.  Hey, The OAS is nothing, if not reasonable, right?  But if having fun is hard to do in Waco, then winning football games there would have to rate as...

 

In my opinion, anyone who took the Baylor head football coaching job was basically committing career suicide.  Baylor is a small private school...a little orphan Andy compared to the big, rich and powerful Daddy Warbucks' like A&M and Texas.  Waco would be a tough sell if it was in Malibu, but being stuck half-way between Dallas and Austin, and little more than an hour from College Station, was like being in the Bermuda Triangle of recruiting.  If for some reason a top recruit passes on the two state heavy-weights, there are still 6 other Division I schools just in Texas that Baylor has to compete with to sign a top talent.  Throw in perennial poachers of Texas talent like OU, OSU and LSU and you could see where Baylor might be a tough place to build a program.  In fact, if you ask the four guys who tried to do it following Grant Teaff's retirement in 1992 they might call the task...impossible.

 

(Queue the music please)...But then Baylor hired Art Briles.  The turnaround that Briles has orchestrated in Waco is very Bill Snyderesque. While most would agree that Baylor hadn't become quite the joke that the KSU program Snyder took over was, the Bears were certainly 'knock-knocking' on the door of it.

 

What kind of turnaround job has Art Briles done at Baylor?

These were the facts before Briles arrived- from 1996-2007 (12 seasons):*usa today college football report

1.  Baylor won only 35 games total
2.  Won only 11 conference games
3.  Played in zero Bowl Games
4.  Produced only 3 All-Americans
5.  Had only 3 players taken in the NFL draft. Not first round, the entire draft!

 

These are the facts since Briles took over in 2008 (5 seasons)

1. Baylor has won 33 games
2. Has won 17 conference games
3. Has won 2 bowl games
4. Has produced 13 All-Americans, including a Heisman Trophy winner
5. Has had 14 players taken in the NFL draft.

Art Briles is building the Baylor program for the long haul.  His background as a Texas high school football coach has served him well in the state's recruiting circles.  He has an offensive system in place that hardly lost a beat after RG3 graduated.  Most importantly, he has the backing of the big donors and the powers that be in Waco...to build the facilities necessary for him to compete with the big schools. 

Under Briles guidence, Baylor is no longer the football doormat of the Big 12 Conference; or a team that conference powers can annually chalk up as a W...just ask OU in 2011 and #1 ranked K-State last year.  But before Baylor can talk championship, conference or otherwise, they will need to play some better defense. 

 

2013 Baylor Bears

Downside...the defense doesn't improve and Bryce Petty doesn't turn out to be the projected star QB that everyone thinks he is...Baylor falls to 6-6 and the second division of the Big 12.
Upside: Defense causes turnovers, and the Baylor offense rolls behind the legs of Heisman RB candidate Lache Seastruck and the arm of QB Petty to a 10-2 / 11-1 season...
Reality: I think 8-4 and 5th in conference is the call for the 2013 Bears. 

There is no doubt about the fact that things in Waco are good these days when it comes to Baylor football.  There is a new stadium on the Brazos, a Heisman in the trophy case, and a spirit of hope and anticipation about Baylor Bear football not seen in some time, if ever.  Art Briles has changed the culture and attitude of those in the Baylor program which has resulted in the program being viewed differently by those outside of it. Yes, Art Briles has made it fun to be a Baylor Bears fan....now if he could only do something about Waco.

Just the opinion of one mildly interested fan

The Overweight Armchair Sooner

Buddy Putty