The Art Briles Era
Well, I'm still not 100% sold, but I must admit, I did like what I saw in the press conference.
Taking Singletary out of the equation, I like what I see in Art Briles. I've been making posts along with reading a lot of them on various websites. It seems like there is a lot of opinions, pro and con, regarding Briles. Most of the people who seem to be familiar with Briles really think Baylor made a good move. Now, with that being said, I will still believe that Singletary should have been the one. I am holding Ian McCaw responsible for screwing it up. However, since we don't have a choice, I WILL get on the Briles Bandwagon.
He has come up through the ranks and been successful at each level. He took a Stephenville HS team that had not made the playoffs in 37 years to being a powerhouse. 4 Texas state championships in 12 years of coaching there. A UHouston team that only won 8 games in 3 years to a bowl game in his first year. It seems like he is a motivator, which is definitely what we need. He is a Christian, which of course, fits in at Baylor. But, it appears he does things clean and correctly.
Apparently, he is good at adapting to a team's strengths, not trying to fit square pegs into round holes. He is very offense-oriented, and does his own play calling. I think that one of the stats said he led a Houston team to have a 1,000 yard rusher, a 1,000 yd receiver, and a 3,000 yd passer on one team, which has never happened in the NCAA before. A multi-dimensional offense, no doubt. Houston was 4th in Offense this year.
Even though he may not have the 'Wow' factor that Singletary has, I guess he is a real good recruiter. That is something we probably need most of all. He is a former head of the Texas HS Coaches Assoc, and has a lot of respect among HS coaches throughout the state. He already has good in-roads for recruiting. One thing that I didn't realize until yesterday, is that this looks like it is going to be a package deal. Briles had a verbal commitment to UHouston from HS QB Robert Griffin. It was alluded to in the press conference, but without mentioning names. I guess he IS switching his commitment to Baylor now. Rivals has him as a 4-star recruit and has him listed as the #3 Dual-Threat QB in the country. That's COUNTRY, boys! Holy Crap! One of the best quarterbacks in the country coming to good 'ole BU. I liked what Szymanski did against the smaller teams, but he didn't do squat against the big boys. I don't think he is the answer. This Griffin kid could probably come in and start as a true Freshman.
So, to wrap up this 'short' post, I am starting to warm up to Briles. I will probably always have Singletary in the back of my mind. (I hope I never meet Ian McCaw since it will be too hard to resist telling him my opinion.) However, I do think we got the best of what was available. I think Briles WILL improve this team. I think he will be a good fit at Baylor. And, yes, I will be supportive of Briles. But, hopefully, he will surprise me and prove me wrong and take us to the Big 12 Championship. Always hoping!
Sic 'em Bears!
Taking Singletary out of the equation, I like what I see in Art Briles. I've been making posts along with reading a lot of them on various websites. It seems like there is a lot of opinions, pro and con, regarding Briles. Most of the people who seem to be familiar with Briles really think Baylor made a good move. Now, with that being said, I will still believe that Singletary should have been the one. I am holding Ian McCaw responsible for screwing it up. However, since we don't have a choice, I WILL get on the Briles Bandwagon.
He has come up through the ranks and been successful at each level. He took a Stephenville HS team that had not made the playoffs in 37 years to being a powerhouse. 4 Texas state championships in 12 years of coaching there. A UHouston team that only won 8 games in 3 years to a bowl game in his first year. It seems like he is a motivator, which is definitely what we need. He is a Christian, which of course, fits in at Baylor. But, it appears he does things clean and correctly.
Apparently, he is good at adapting to a team's strengths, not trying to fit square pegs into round holes. He is very offense-oriented, and does his own play calling. I think that one of the stats said he led a Houston team to have a 1,000 yard rusher, a 1,000 yd receiver, and a 3,000 yd passer on one team, which has never happened in the NCAA before. A multi-dimensional offense, no doubt. Houston was 4th in Offense this year.
Even though he may not have the 'Wow' factor that Singletary has, I guess he is a real good recruiter. That is something we probably need most of all. He is a former head of the Texas HS Coaches Assoc, and has a lot of respect among HS coaches throughout the state. He already has good in-roads for recruiting. One thing that I didn't realize until yesterday, is that this looks like it is going to be a package deal. Briles had a verbal commitment to UHouston from HS QB Robert Griffin. It was alluded to in the press conference, but without mentioning names. I guess he IS switching his commitment to Baylor now. Rivals has him as a 4-star recruit and has him listed as the #3 Dual-Threat QB in the country. That's COUNTRY, boys! Holy Crap! One of the best quarterbacks in the country coming to good 'ole BU. I liked what Szymanski did against the smaller teams, but he didn't do squat against the big boys. I don't think he is the answer. This Griffin kid could probably come in and start as a true Freshman.
So, to wrap up this 'short' post, I am starting to warm up to Briles. I will probably always have Singletary in the back of my mind. (I hope I never meet Ian McCaw since it will be too hard to resist telling him my opinion.) However, I do think we got the best of what was available. I think Briles WILL improve this team. I think he will be a good fit at Baylor. And, yes, I will be supportive of Briles. But, hopefully, he will surprise me and prove me wrong and take us to the Big 12 Championship. Always hoping!
Sic 'em Bears!
posted by Bill Gohs at
3:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home