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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

DALLAS, Texas -- A self-described West Virginia hillbilly, Baylor interim head coach Jim Grobe says "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Instead of coming in and making wholesale changes when he was hired to replace Art Briles, Grobe told the press gathered for Tuesday's Big 12 Football Media Day that he wants to keep everything on the field status quo.

"We want to play fast and furious on offense. We want to keep those same principles that Art had," he said. "Defensively, I think Phil Bennett is the best there is in the country, and it's a challenge at Baylor because the defense has typically had to play more snaps than most people. . . . I thought it was really important, especially for our players, to have the same terminology, the same type of schemes as much as possible. But hopefully as we go forward, if I do see things that I think might help us be a little bit better, we might put a little different spin on a few things."

While mistakes have been made in the past, Grobe said, he contends there is no longer a culture problem in the Baylor program and certainly not with the players still on the team.

"When you talk about needing to change the culture, they kind of throw everyone under a blanket," he said. "We have a lot of really, really good kids. . . . All I can speak to is since I've been at Baylor. We've lost some kids that were dealt with previously, but the kids I've been associated with are quality kids. . . . I want to support the good kids in our program that are doing the right things."

Grobe specifically singled out the senior trio of quarterback Seth Russell, center Kyle Fuller and cornerback Ryan Reid that made the trip to Dallas with him.

"We can't worry about why this or why that," Reid said. "That throws us off what we came here to do -- win football games, win the Big 12, contend for a national championship. That's what we need to focus on."

In the light of everything that's happened over the past several months, the Bears winning their third Big 12 championship in four years would "just show that you can't knock us out," Russell said.

"You can throw whatever you want at us," the fifth-year senior quarterback said. "You can take our head coach away, you can take our athletic director away, you can take our president. But you're not going to knock us out. We're still going to come back and we're going to fight."

After missing the last five games a year ago with a neck injury that required surgery, Russell needs to get rid of "that run-over-you mentality," Grobe said. Which is easier said than done.

"(Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles) has said that no matter how much you tell him, once the lights go on, it's going to be hard to get him to play any different," Grobe said. "But he's just got to. He's got to take care of himself. . . . When you've gained 10 yards and you've got the first down and you're about to get popped, it's going to be important to make those guys miss or at least get down and let's line up and play the next play. He's a pretty stubborn guy, but he's at Baylor, so he's a smart kid and I hope he'll play smart."

With rising sophomore Jarrett Stidham deciding to transfer, it leaves true freshman Zach Smith from Grandview, Texas, as the only other scholarship quarterback on the roster.

Asked if he was comfortable with the idea of a freshman potentially running the offense, Grobe admitted that "I'm not sure we are yet, but we like his talent and we like his intelligence and we like his master of the offense."

Smith has also been getting a bit of a crash course from Russell.

"We've been watching film together lately, so I've been trying to help him with advancing his game a little bit," Russell said. "I trust him. If he gets in there, he's going to do the right things."

When Grobe first met with the team after he was named the head coach on May 30, he said the players were "certainly heartbroken that they had lost Art" and "were somewhat skeptical of a lot of things." But he's seen the attitudes change over the last seven weeks.

"I think we've gotten to the point now where the players are trusting of me," Grobe said. "They know that I'm here to help. . . . I don't know how many head coaches have taken over a program and kept all of the assistant coaches, but I felt like that was important for our players and their welfare, first and foremost. We're to a point now where the players have had time to digest everything."

With Grobe, "what you see is what you get," Russell said. "He's a guy that's very knowledgeable of the game, has a lot of character. He wants to do things the right way, and he does. I have a lot of respect for him."

After wrapping up their summer conditioning program, the players will take a week off before opening fall drills Aug. 4 in preparation for the season opener Sept. 2 against Northwestern State.

"I'm probably more excited than any coach in America to get the season started," said Grobe, who sat out the last two years after 13 seasons at Wake Forest. "I know the challenge is great. We play a lot of good football teams going forward. But we have to get people to understand that we've got a great group of kids at Baylor University. And I think going forward, Baylor is going to be better than we have ever been. I'm proud to be at Baylor, and I can't want to start the season."