By Jeff Brown

Hang around the Baylor campus or Baylor people for any length of time, and you're likely to hear the term "Baylor family" come up. There's certainly a family atmosphere around here that you don't find at most bigger schools -- and for many Bears, it's that family atmosphere that makes the difference when they decide where to attend college.

You can count senior linebacker Aiavion Edwards among that number.

"I came here early in high school for a spring game," he remembers, "and the environment was just awesome -- the energy that the place had, and the family-like atmosphere. I just loved it; it felt like what I came from at Stephenville [High School]. I kept coming here year after year, and that was just something that stuck with me, and so the first opportunity I had, I committed, and I've never regretted that a day since."

Indeed, Edwards was the Bears' first commit for the Class of 2012, part of a class that included future NFL first-round pick Corey Coleman and current seniors Seth Russell and Lynx Hawthorne. At that time, Edwards was a standout running back for the Stephenville Yellow Jackets, rushing for more than 2,500 yards and 35 touchdowns combined as a junior and senior.

But when collegiate coaches came calling, they remembered the abilities Edwards had shown on defense as a sophomore, when he earned district newcomer of the year honors. He was universally regarded as one of the nation's top high school safeties in his class, ranked as high as No. 22 at his position by Scout.com, and as one of the state's top 100 players at any position.

"Early in high school, I played safety, and that's when I started getting recruited," Edwards explains. "My junior year, I had to switch over to running back. But I knew that once I came to college, I would like to switch back to defense."

The Baylor coaches obliged -- but not at safety. Instead, he was slotted as a linebacker, where he trained alongside two-time All-Big 12 selection Eddie Lackey and future Los Angeles Ram Bryce Hager. After redshirting as a true freshman in 2012, Edwards saw action in 12 games the next year (eight as a linebacker, and four more exclusively on special teams). Despite the limited playing time, he finished among the Bears' top 10 in tackles for loss and sacks.

When Lackey graduated, Edwards took over his starting spot at linebacker alongside Hager to begin the 2014 season. An injured ankle suffered in week five against Texas cost him the starting spot, but he still appeared in 11 of the Bears' 13 games. In fact, he played a crucial role in stopping a potential game-tying two-point conversion by Texas Tech in the final two minutes of the Bears' 11th game that helped Baylor win its second straight Big 12 title.

As a junior last season, Edwards played in all 13 games and finished tied for fourth in the Big 12 with two fumble recoveries. He only started two games -- once in week two against Lamar, and once in the Russell Athletic Bowl against No. 10 North Carolina -- but he made the most of his chances. Against UNC, Edwards totaled 17 tackles -- almost a third of his season total -- and added a sack, one pass break-up, and a forced fumble. For his efforts, he was named to Athlon's All-Bowl second team and ESPN's Big 12 All-Bowl squad.

Now as a senior, he's being looked at not only to start, but to lead the defense as the Bears' middle linebacker. And while some refer to middle linebacker as "the quarterback of the defense," Edwards prefers a different comparison -- one he's familiar with.

"Linebacker can kind of be like the running back of the defense, just seeing different things," he says. "You have a lot of responsibility. Once you get everybody lined up, it's nice to have everybody on the same page, and it's nice to see everything that can happen, good or bad. It's real nice to be able to be in control of that and to be held accountable for it."

Edwards will graduate this December with his degree in exercise physiology. After that?

"Just continuing to train and try to achieve the goal of going to the NFL," he says. "From there, we'll kinda see what the next step is."

But wherever life takes him, Edwards says he'll always remember the special feeling that Baylor offers to its family members.

"Through everything, knowing that everybody here, we're here as a family. That atmosphere, that feeling, has been something that I don't feel like many people get at many places. Friends playing here and there, it's something that they don't talk about, but I feel like we're so closely bonded here.

"It's just like a family; through everything, we have each other, and we count on one another for just about everything."

And he wants the fans to know that they're part of that family, too.

"Thank you for sticking with the team," he says. "I'm excited to go out my last year as a senior and play one last year for Baylor. I've had a great time here, and I'm thankful for all the opportunities and the support from the fans and the university."

Sic `em, Aiavion.