Former Baylor great Shawn Bell joined the football staff in December 2016. He currently serves as tight ends coach.
After serving as an offensive analyst in 2017, he was elevated to offensive line coach in March 2018. He moved to tight ends under new head coach Dave Aranda for the 2020 season, and was named quarterbacks coach in January 2021. He was named to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football 40 Under 40 list in June 2021.
Bell broke in a new starting quarterback for the second consecutive year leading the unit, helping Blake Shapen develop into an offensive weapon. Shapen threw for the ninth-most yards in single-season history, completing 63.3 percent of his passes, the fifth-best total in school annals. He ranks second in Baylor career history by completing 65 percent of his pass attempts. Shapen threw for 18 TDs and sported a 137.7 passing efficiency mark on the year. His 345-yard outing vs. No. 7 Oklahoma State marked the 50th most pass yards in a single game.
In his first season at the helm of the quarterback room, Bell helped Gerry Bohanon finish with the season with 27 total touchdowns, which tied for the second-most in the Big 12 and earned him a spot on the All-Big 12 Honorable Mention team. Bohanon was also named a semifinalist for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award.
After Bohanon went down with a hamstring injury, Bell helped redshirt freshman Blake Shapen guide the team to a pair of wins in Bohanon’s absence, including the Big 12 Championship game. Against Oklahoma State, Shapen went 23-for-28 for 180 yards and 3 touchdowns, including a Big 12 Championship and AT&T Stadium college record 17-straight completions in the first half. Shapen was named the Big 12 Championship’s Most Outstanding Performer.
With Bell serving as the tight ends coach in 2020, Ben Sims recorded the most touchdowns by a Baylor tight end since 2007. Sims finished the season with 14 receptions for 164 yards and three touchdowns in only six games.
The former record-setting Baylor quarterback returned to his alma mater following 10 seasons on the sidelines at the high school level, the last eight as head coach at Cedar Ridge, Magnolia West and Clifton.
Bell spent the 2016 season at Cedar Ridge High School in Round Rock, Texas, where he was named District 13-6A Coach of the Year after leading the Raiders to an 11-1 mark and the school’s first-ever district championship.
From 2010 to 2015, Bell was head coach at Magnolia West High School in Magnolia, Texas. He led the Mustangs to the postseason every year and compiled a six-year record of 44-27.
His first head coaching stint was in 2009 at Clifton (Texas) High School. In 2008, Bell worked under his father, central Texas coaching icon and long-time China Spring head coach Mark Bell, on the CSHS staff. He began his coaching career in 2007 working with the wide receivers at Stony Point High School in Round Rock.
Bell rewrote the passing records during his time as Baylor’s quarterback from 2003-06, owning 28 school records at the conclusion of his career. His 5,666 career yards and 38 career TDs currently stand as the fifth most all-time.
He was a 2006 All-Big 12 honorable mention selection following his senior season. Bell’s legacy includes an unforgettable Baylor highlight when he threw consecutive completions to Dominique Zeigler for a touchdown and game-winning 2-point conversion in overtime to defeat No. 16 Texas A&M, 35-34, in 2004 in only his third career start.
Bell also was a 2006 NFF National Honor Society selection, two-time Baylor Dean’s list recipient, two-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 honoree and eight-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. He graduated in May 2006 with a degree in education and earned a master’s degree in sports management in 2007.
A native of nearby China Spring, Bell was an all-state QB under his father at China Spring High School and finished his prep career ranked third all-time in Texas history with 8,437 passing yards. He and his wife Hali are the parents of two sons, Cannon and Braxton, and a daughter, Saydi.