Dec. 23, 2001
Editor's Note: Articles such as this one by Dave Campbell appear in each edition of the Baylor Bear Insider Report, available upon membership in the Baylor Bear Foundation. For information on joining the Bear Foundation, click here.
One day in early December Kevin Steele's assistants were on the road recruiting -- no fewer than four of them were pursuing talent out of state -- but Steele himself was at home base, engaged in a higher call.
He was working to nail down the services of the coach who will be his new offensive coordinator.
That position became vacant on Nov. 26, two days following Baylor's season-ending runaway victory over Southern Illinois, when Greg Meyer announced his resignation after three years on the job.
Meyer, who came to Baylor as a key member of Steele's original staff, made his decision "to resign and pursue other things" following a meeting with Steele as part of the head coach's review and evaluation of the entire football program. The Bears finished the season 3-8 overall, 0-8 in conference play.
STEELE'S MOOD CAN BE summed up in one word: urgent.
After back-to-back-to-back seasons of winless football in Big 12 play, Steele freely admits that 2002 is the red-letter year on Baylor's football calendar. All the slack is gone. The bottom line now comes down to one unquenchable requirement: victory. Steele's fourth season at Baylor now approaches and the coach knows he has to win not just non-league games but also showdowns in the Big 12 Conference.
Steele is (pick one or pick all) deeply disappointed, frustrated, angry that his 2001 team did not win at least five games minimum. The opportunity was there, the means were there.
He agrees that 2002 now has to be the season the Bears make up for lost time.
Hence the decision to say goodbye to his long-time friend Greg Meyer, a guy "who will be successful in life, he's very loyal, he does things the right way. Much of the improvement we saw in our offense this year goes to Greg's tireless work ethic," Steele said.
And hence his decision to promote secondary coach Paul Jette to be co-defensive coordinator with the coach who also has held that key defensive job for the past three seasons, linebackers coach Brick Haley.
LIKE MEYER'S OFFENSE, Haley's defense showed dramatic improvement at times and in certain areas and in the statistical categories. But Jette, who only joined the staff last spring, has a much longer and more imposing record as a defensive coordinator at four different schools (Oklahoma State, Miami, Texas and East Carolina), and Steele has to feel that experience can be put to more beneficial use in the new setup.
"I think this sharing of responsibilities will give us more focus," he told the Insider, "and also make for more development opportunities for various positions." And he noted "Brick and Paul have developed an outstanding rapport in the past year."
He could have noted that 2001 Big 12 champion Colorado and 2000 conference (and national) champion Oklahoma also have co-defensive coordinators. If Steele is following a trend, he's following a good one.
Now the prime objective defensively has to be two-fold: finding and signing the three or four players the Bears still need to be a first class defense in Big 12 play, and the development of certain players already on campus who can move into important (depth) roles next season.
BUT THE OVERRIDING objective is also two-fold: one, making sure next February's recruiting harvest is far and away the best one the Steele regime has signed, and two, getting the right new offensive coordinator sold, signed and delivered.
Concerning recruiting, Steele said that "for the first time, we're pretty balanced across the board in terms of numbers and maturity," but the junior class does "need to be replenished" in those aspects. The cornerback and safety positions need "some immediate help" in terms of numbers, and linebacker positions "need a little more maturity." And more speed is a priority all over.
Dec. 19 is the first day that junior college transfers eligible for January admission to senior college can be signed. Look for Baylor to sign three transfers. Those three would count against the 2001 total, which means Baylor could sign 25 more prospects in February.
And mark this down: they will sign 25, giving them a total of 28 new faces for the 2002 campaign. Earlier, the probable total of signees had been set at 19. Subsequent developments have raised that number significantly. (I told you there is a new sense of urgency, didn't I?)
Steele insists Meyer's resignation has not caused a void in Baylor's recruiting efforts. He said his two coordinators, Meyer and Haley, had shared Central Texas as their recruiting territory. Haley has now taken over that entire area himself. (Also, while Waco and the Central Texas area are not barren in good prospects this year, they do not offer the happy hunting ground they did a year ago.)
STILL, BLUE-RIBBON skill position players (quarterbacks, running backs, receivers) may be reluctant to cast their lot with a football program not knowing who the offensive coordinator will be. Thus that word urgency rears its head again. Even so, no question, this has to be the right hire, urgency or no urgency. A great majority of Baylor fans have felt for too long that the Bear offense has been a dull weapon. Like those fans, Steele is determined that situation has to change.
Thus, at the time of the Meyer announcement, he told news media representatives that while the process of hiring a new coordinator had been slowed somewhat because of all the "makeup" games being played around the country that weekend (24 games involving Div. 1-A teams were being played), and the potential candidates being involved in some of those games, "the process has not been slowed in terms of conversation or interest, of guys we're interested in that we've sent tapes to so they can assess where we are (offensively) and the talent pool."
And he told the Insider that the new coordinator definitely will be a coach who not only has posted an attractive record at running an offense but someone who has an imposing record at developing quarterbacks.
He stressed that he means developing quarterbacks at more than one school.
"YOU WANT A COORDINATOR who has called the plays and has produced and at more than just one place. You start looking and you see guys that no matter where they went, they made it better. And when they left, it dropped off some. That's one of the things we're looking for," Steele said.
At the same time, other sources have told the Insider that while Meyer essentially was "a victim of circumstances," they also emphasized that Baylor quarterbacks "just didn't get better."
That has to change. And thus Steele's decision to make a change.
"We are going to have a new and proven quarterback coach who is going to be able to come in here, get them (the quarterback candidates) out there, sort them out and pick the guy he wants to run the team. And when that happens, we're going to be all right," Steele said.
And, yes, the Insider has been told that the money will be there for Steele to go out and get the coordinator he wants.
While the Clemson-type offense the Bears ran this past season could change, Steele said the team definitely will continue to use a spread offense.
"We have to stay spread out," he said. "We have to stay in some concept of a spread offense. We have to minimize the number of people they (opponents) can stack in there against the run. It's hard to run the ball effectively in this league when you've got too many guys in close to the ball." In the Big 12, he noted, only Nebraska has been able to do that effectively.
"But the new man will have to do what he knows best," Steele said.
BASED ON WHAT observers saw in Baylor's late-season games, the top three quarterback hopefuls going into spring drills have to be sophomore Aaron Karas (that is, he will be a soph next season after redshirting in 2000 and playing in the final two games in 2001), soph Davon Vinson and junior Josh Zachry. The star of early-season starter Greg Cicero faded badly in November, but who knows -- perhaps a new quarterbacks coach will bring him back to prominence. Cicero has one year of eligibility remaining.
Guy Tomcheck also is still around although he would appear to be the longest of long shots now, and Ryan Jeffrey, redshirted this past season, was signed as a quarterback last February but may have more to offer at this stage of his career as a wideout or defensive back. He has good speed but is said to be lacking in upper body (arm) strength. But no one can doubt his bloodlines. Both his father (Jay) and his uncle (Neal) quarterbacked Baylor to Southwest Conference championships.
Still another quarterback from the past, sophomore Kerry Dixon, has been moved to a wide receiver position. Injuries forced him to be redshirted this past season.
Said one source in analyzing the top quarterback candidates:
"KARAS IS VERY smart -- football smart. He's the son of a high school coach and he's been around football all his life. He's a leader. And he's kind of a tough guy, which you have to like. And while this may make you laugh but I don't think I'm wrong, I think he has Major Applewhite (Texas) talent.
"Vinson is not ready right now but he could blossom in a year, maybe sooner. Mark my word, this guy has unbelievable talent.
"Zachry? You can't ever count him out. He's mobile, tough, and he takes coaching well."
And according to Steele, "what those guys need most, especially Karas and Vinson, are repetitions, repetitions. They have the arm and the feet."
His own comments concerning Karas and Vinson: "Karas is a very talented young man. He has a good arm and good feet and he's extremely competitive, extremely competitive. Finally, near the end of the season, he became very focused (which proved he at last was ready to play).
"Vinson is a big, strong guy. He throws as pretty a pass as you will see at any level. He can run. And he's smart. Nothing bothers Davon. He's very mature for his age."
Early this past season Steele told this writer that he was going to send assistant coach Tommie Frazier, an All-America quarterback and Heisman Trophy runner-up at Nebraska, "all over the country, to wherever is necessary," to land a top quarterback prospect for the Bears. Asked last week if that was still the plan, he said no. "The new coordinator will handle that," he said.
No question, Steele intends to do whatever it takes to get Baylor's quarterback dilemma fixed. He is as fed up with what he has termed this "vicious carousel at quarterback" as all Baylor fans are. Only more so.
All this tells you that quarterback is going to be under a never-ending spotlight when spring drills begin.
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Editor's Note: Articles such as this one by Dave Campbell appear in each edition of the Baylor Bear Insider Report, available upon membership in the Baylor Bear Foundation. For information on joining the Bear Foundation, click here.
