Football Opens Up Fall Camp
8/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Quotes | #CampBU Central
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Even as he enters his 13th season as a collegiate head coach and 37th overall in the coaching ranks, the first day of practice is always a special one for Baylor head coach Art Briles.
"The great thing is that it's always exciting," said Briles, who opened his eighth fall camp at Baylor with a two-hour practice Thursday afternoon at the Highers Complex practice fields "You can hear it in the air. All our guys are pumped and excited. It's just a great time of year. Now, the key is persevering. I try to treat my job like it's the first day on the job, and that's the way you should be every day at practice."
This is one of the most experienced teams Briles has had on any level, bringing back nine defensive starters and eight on the offensive side from a team that finished 11-2 and won its second straight Big 12 championship.
"You can have all the money in the world, but you can't buy experience," he said. "You've got to live it, taste it and breathe it, and our guys have done all three of those. . . . We have an experienced football team that's been in a lot of big games and won a lot of big games and come up short in a couple. But you've got to win big games to get to them, so we have some guys who know how to win games. And that's where it all starts."
One of the only spots to fill from last year's team is quarterback, where fourth-year junior Seth Russell is replacing New York Jets rookie Bryce Petty. Russell becomes Briles' fifth different starting quarterback at Baylor and fourth in the last five seasons.
"Each quarterback has his own strengths, so you can't compare yourself to somebody that's won the Heisman. It's kind of apples and oranges," Russell said. "With my position, I feel like you have to take it day by day and focus on the strengths I have, because if I try to do what they've done, it's not going to work out the same."
Preseason All-American end Shawn Oakman heads up an experienced defense that's expected to be even stronger this season.
"I don't think we've ever been a liability," Oakman said. "We made some mistakes, and we had to correct those mistakes in the film room and on the field. . . . We've got the pieces we need. We've got a lot of starters back that have been there for a while, so they know everything they did wrong last season and they're trying to make the corrections they need to make."
Picked to finish second in the Big 12 media poll, the Bears have been ranked as high as No. 3 nationally. They are fourth in the USA Today coaches' poll and sixth by Sports Illustrated.
"I don't look at it as pressure or hype," Briles said of the lofty preseason rankings. "It's just the realization of the way our program has ascended. I look at it as a responsibility to keep it up there."
The Bears will work out at 3 p.m. Friday and finish off the first week with the annual "Meet the Bears" beginning at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. An autograph session will follow the morning practice at 12:30 p.m., with shuttle service provided from the Ferrell Center parking lot.
Baylor kicks off the regular season with a nationally televised game (ESPN) Sept. 4 at SMU and will host Lamar for the home opener at McLane Stadium on Sept. 12.
