FROM STATE CHAMPION TO BAYLOR STARTER
DeSoto's Newman Breaks Into Offensive Lineup at Left Guard

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Xavier Newman had his "look-around moments" during his senior season at DeSoto High School, when the Eagles had a six-game playoff run in winning the Class 6A Division II state championship.

An Under Armour All-American and all-state pick, the 6-foot-3, 300-pound Newman was the starting left tackle for a 16-0 DeSoto team that defeated Cibolo Steele, 38-29, in the state championship game at the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium.

"Being at DeSoto, I played in a lot of big games," said Newman, a true freshman who made his first start at left guard in Saturday's 49-41 loss to third-ranked Oklahoma. "That Cedar Hill game my senior year, at Cowboys Stadium, it was packed. Those moments in high school were my look-around moments, to get all the butterflies out. I got there Saturday, and I looked around during pre-game, and I had a couple butterflies. But, at the end of the day, it wasn't like, `Oh, I'm nervous,' because I've been on a big stage before."

Newman held his own in his starting debut, helping the Bears roll up 523 yards total offense and allowing just one sack until the last few minutes of the game.

"The thing about Xavier is that he's a really competitive person," head coach Matt Rhule said. "He wants to be physical, he wants to get the last shove. He has that demeanor and that personality that you're looking for on the offensive line. He made some mistakes and some good plays, and he'll only get better from there. It's a good place to start from. His base is good, so we just have to continue to develop him as we move forward."

Asked to self-analyze, Newman said he "could have played a lot better. I did good, but you're never as good as you think and it's never as bad as you think. You just have to go back in and watch the film and see what you messed up on and correct it and get better week by week."

Ultimately, the coaches trusted Newman enough to put him out there as part of the Bears' fourth different starting combination. Veteran offensive line coach George DeLeone has started two true freshmen and rotated as many as 10 players.

"It's crazy having a coach that coached in the NFL, having him be here," Newman said of the 69-year-old DeLeone, who spent six years as an NFL assistant with the San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns. "The little stuff he tells me, I'm like, `Wow! I would have never known that.' But also, with him coaching the best lineman in the NFL ever, Joe Thomas, that was another big thing."

Newman switched his commitment from Colorado to Baylor after a mid-January visit, citing the influence of former Cedar Hill coach Joey McGuire and linebacker Taylor Young, who also played at DeSoto.

"We just got closer and closer through that time," Newman said of Young, a fifth-year senior who was a senior at DeSoto when Newman was in the eighth grade. "He's always been like a big brother, but now he's a big brother that I look up to every day. Being able to spend this last year with him, playing with him his senior year, and then just being able to be with this class and Coach Rhule and Coach McGuire . . . it took a while, but at the end of the day I know I made the right decision."

At DeSoto, Newman was able to accomplish something that Young and every other player before him wasn't able to do. Win a state championship.

"It was a lifelong childhood dream that came true," he said. After bowing out in the second round each of the previous two seasons, Newman and his fellow seniors said, "We're not going to lose."

Perfect during the regular season, DeSoto opened the playoffs with a 51-7 blowout of Killeen and beat Southlake Carroll (48-30), Abilene (49-45), McGuire's Cedar Hill team (55-41) and Klein Collins (42-31) before beating Cibolo Steele in the final.

"That whole week, waking up that Monday morning and saying to yourself, `We made it to the state game!' Not a lot of kids can say that," Newman said. "Plus, being on Christmas break and still being able to play football, it was just crazy. And once we made it to the game, we were like, `We're here, we have the whole city, everybody's behind us.' You don't want to let anybody down, but at the same time, just go out there and enjoy the moment, because you're never going to get it back. A lot of people never get that chance."

Baylor (0-4, 0-1) goes on the road to face Kansas State (2-1, 0-0) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan.

"Every week, we've gotten better at if not two things, at least one thing," Newman said. "We've gotten better, but like the coach said, it's still not all the way there, it's still a work in progress. We just have to take little steps at a time and get everything right."