A FAMILY TRADITION

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

Hank Williams Jr. once sang about his career path and even lifestyle being "a family tradition."

As much as their parents didn't want Jake Spavital or his older brother, Zac, to go into the family business, it's just in their blood. It's a family tradition.

Jim Spavital, Jake's grandfather, was a former first-round pick of the Chicago Cardinals who was head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League and Chicago Fire of the World Football League.

Steve Spavital, their father, was the longtime defensive coordinator at Tulsa Union High School and retired as the head coach at Broken Arrow High School at the end of the 2023 season.

"They told me not to get into this profession," said Jake Spavital, who was hired in December as Baylor football's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. "It's such a tough profession, especially with all the moves. That's why my parents were trying to get me to go into something else. But you grow up wanting to be like your father."

Jake was actually close to finishing a finance degree at Missouri State University when he got a call from then-Tulsa offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn to take an entry-level job on the Golden Hurricane's coaching staff.

"I rearranged my degree program and didn't even walk at graduation," he said. "I went straight to work for Coach Malzahn at the University of Tulsa."

That one-year stint at Tulsa was the first of 17 years so far in the family business for Jake, a journey that has included stops as an assistant at Houston, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Texas A&M and Cal, along with a four-year run as the head coach at Texas State (2019-22). His brother, Zac Spavital, is currently the safeties coach at Maryland and was Jake's defensive coordinator at Texas State.

"I think some people get into this profession for the wrong reasons," said the 38-year-old Spavital, who returned to California last year in his second stop with the Golden Bears. "That's where, having a father that's been in this profession for so long, he always kind of humbles you of why you're doing this.

"You have all the pressure and the demands, but you still have to understand that you're coaching to try to help people out. You keep the main thing the main thing, which is the players. And I've been fortunate to be around a lot of coaches that are that way."

An all-state quarterback in high school, Jake led Tulsa Union to a two-year record of 26-1 that included the Class 6A state championship as a junior in 2002. But his college career was derailed by a shoulder injury that required three surgeries.

"I just wanted to enjoy kind of being around the team, because I'd never got to travel," he said. "So, I trained myself to become a punter and holder just so I could provide value to make the travel roster. I was like a QB coach – I would signal in and do all that – and then I'd also go out there and hold for the PAT/field goal. I was also the backup punter, but I think I only punted one time in my career. It was just the only way I could get on the travel team."

In his one season at Tulsa, the Golden Hurricane had the No. 1-ranked offense in the country.

"Gus was just tempo, power football, misdirection and all that stuff," Jake said, "and I just absolutely loved it."

With a chance to "spread my network," Jake went to the University of Houston as a graduate assistant in 2009 with head coach Kevin Sumlin, offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen and offensive quality control coach Kliff Kingsbury.

"I was going couch to couch as a GA," he said, "but I ended up sleeping on a couch with Dana Holgorsen and Kliff Kingsbury. That's how it all started. And it's funny, because at the time we were just trying to figure out the tempo spread. You look back on it now, and Kliff's very successful and we've all been head coaches at some point. But back then, we were just trying to figure out how to get a first down."

Jake Spavital

From there, Jake followed Holgorsen to Oklahoma State for the 2010 season and then got his first full-time position as the quarterbacks coach for Holgorsen at West Virginia.

With an explosive offense that included quarterback Geno Smith and receivers Stedman Bailey and Tavon Austin, the Mountaineers had a school-record 807 yards offense in a 70-63 shootout victory over Baylor in the 2012 conference opener in Morgantown.

"That game was wild," Jake said. "Such a crazy game. It was West Virginia's first Big 12 game."

It was in that first of two stops at West Virginia that Jake met his future wife, former West Virginia gymnast Mehgan Morris.

"She was working in fundraising at the time. She was an All-American gymnast, and they wanted to keep her around to work in development," Jake said "That's kind of how I got to know her. And we got married in 2015."

Following Kingsbury as the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M, Spavital got the chance to work with 2012 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel in 2013 and spent two more seasons with the Aggies on Sumlin's staff.

"I had Johnny in his last year," Jake said. "He was the first guy probably in the history of social media to actually use that to his advantage. You win the Heisman, and then you get on your phone, and all these celebrities are following you."

As part of the Mike Leach "Air Raid" coaching tree, Jake joined Sonny Dykes at Cal in 2016 as the Golden Bears' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Texas Tech transfer Davis Webb threw for 4,295 yards and 37 touchdowns and was named the Senior Bowl MVP before being drafted in the third round by the New York Giants.

"I went out there and had a blast with Sonny," Jake said of Dykes, who's now at TCU. "He ended up getting let go very suddenly, which I didn't think that was going to happen, because he had just signed a brand-new contract the year before. . . . You're sitting there thinking, 'Okay, back to the drawing board . . . again.'''

Jake Spavital

Reunited with Holgorsen at West Virginia, Spavital got the chance to work with quarterback Will Grier, a Florida transfer who threw for 7,354 yards and 71 touchdowns in two seasons with the Mountaineers before being drafted in the third round by the Carolina Panthers.

"I had some other opportunities," Jake said. "But when you're looking around, you want to coach the best players you can possibly go to. And I got the chance to work with Will Grier for two years."

One of the youngest Division I head coaches at 33 years old when he was introduced at Texas State on Nov. 28, 2018, Spavital compiled a four-year record of 13-35 that included a runner-up finish in the Sun Belt Conference West Division in 2021.

"We flipped a lot of different things at that program," he said, "we just didn't win enough in time. . . . But I enjoyed the process of building something. And it's a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun. I would love to have another crack at (being a head coach) someday. That's one of the things that lured me here was the chance to work with a defensive coach like Dave Aranda."

On his return trip to Cal last season, Jake helped rejuvenate a Golden Bear offense that ranked fourth in the Pac-12 in rushing offense (181.1 yards per game) and averaged 31.6 points per game.

Just five days after the 2023 season ended, Aranda named Spavital as the Bears' new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

"He goes up to Cal and takes an offense that was a pro-style offense and the type of people that were there," Aranda said, "and was able to just inject a whole bunch of life and points and yards and excitement into it. I look at our situation here, and I can see parallels. And in the process, just getting to know him, I'm just way impressed."

Spavital, who's been able to adapt to whatever personnel is on the roster, said he plans to run a spread, up-tempo offense with a downhill running attack.

"I inherited an offense last year with about nine tight ends in the room," he said. "You just get creative and still have the same exact principles and concepts of what you've learned over the years. I've been very fortunate to be around a lot of good coaches and players over the years. I attribute all that to my success, because I'm only as good as the people that I surround myself with. That's what fires me about being here at Baylor."

Jake Spavital

Jake and his wife, Mehgan have two children, Madison Grace and Landyn Zachary.

"My dad just retired," Jake said, "and he needs to get back into the business so that he can stop telling me how to do it. He'll ask me, 'What were you thinking on that fourth-and-two?' And I'll tell him, 'Dad, I had 25 seconds. You've had like four hours to bask in it.'

"The other thing is my dad was a defensive coach, a disciplinarian. My brother and I were very structured, with all the discipline. And now, when you have grandkids, he goes against everything he instilled in us and we're trying to instill in our kids. He's letting them eat donuts every day and stay up late. It's one of those things that you just have to laugh at it."

A FAMILY TRADITION

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