EVERYTHING IS BETTER

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – Food tastes better, the grass is greener, even the air you breathe in seems fresher.

That was the overriding feeling as Baylor football began spring practices on Saturday after an 8-5 season that saw the Bears win their last six regular-season games before falling to LSU in the Texas Bowl.

"I think the guys have been working really hard through the winter conditioning and the mat drills and the football schools – all of it – to come out here and do their thing," said sixth-year Baylor head coach Dave Aranda. "I thought this was by far the cleanest first day or practice we've had in any face of a spring, fall camp, season, you name it.

"Expectations are higher, and so there's for sure things that we can clean up and get better at. But I thought we hit the ground running. I'm excited to be able to see the steps this team takes to get better."

The 2025 Baylor team, which returns seven starters both ways, also got a lift from a group of former players that included Jalen Pitre, Terrel Bernard, Xavier Newman and Christian Morgan.

"The energy kind of going into it was, you could feel it, man," Aranda said. "And I think they, for sure, brought some energy, too."

It helps when you have so much returning experience that has gone through the ups and downs of a 3-9 season in 2023 and the rebound last year that had the Bears within a win of making the Big 12 Championship game for the third time in six years.

"We have to get the stuff that we're not doing good, we have to get it corrected. And there's a fair amount of those things," Aranda said. "And then, I think the things that we are doing good, we have to take it to a whole other level.

"I think there are some parts of our team, there's strong identities. So, I think we have to be able to lean into those identities. Buti think there are other facets of the program where we need an identity, where we're searching for one, and this is the time to get that established."

One of the keys, Aranda said, is getting more consistency and getting "those glimpses in practice" to carry over to performances on Saturday, whether that's at "McLane Stadium or whatever stadium we're playing at."

"Once you get that part, and you have guys that are coming back, you have the opportunity to raise the standard even more," he said. "And the expectation, for sure, goes up when you have guys tht are returning. And you welcome that. You get the leaders to take the newcomers and go, 'Hey, this is how it's done. That isn't want it's like, that isn't it. And here's how I'm going to help you get better.''

Redshirt senior quarterback Sawyer Robertson, who threw for 3,071 yards and 28 touchdowns last season, is doing that with a quarterback room that "I would put up as one of the strongest ones I've ever been around in terms of people and athletic ability and the care factor."

Joining Robertson and redshirt freshman Nate Bennett in the QB room are Auburn transfer Walker White and true freshman Edward Griffin, who threw for 6,360 yards and 81 touchdowns with only six interceptions as a two-year starter at Coppell High School.

"it's hard to say (with) college football nowadays that this is your team," Aranda said, "but I think at this stage, this team loves football. And just the time that they've put into it. Edward Griffin is a great example. He's a maniac for ball. He's up there all the time and wants to get better. And Sawyer's up there all the time, wants to get better. You just have guys that are just way investing."

Starting the last 11 games of the 2024 season after Toledo transfer Dequan Finn initially went out with an injury, Robertson enters this spring as "the man."

"There's a confidence with him, and there's a confidence in him," Aranda said of the former Mississippi State transfer. "There's just such a belief in what he can do. And when he talks, people listen. He's a great leader as a mentor to that quarterback room. And I know defensively, guys have a ton of respect for him and just the dog that he is and the learner that he is and the communicator that he is. We're blessed to have him."

One position that had to go through a complete makeover was linebacker, where Baylor lost a talented corps that included Matt Jones, Garmon Randolph and Steve Linton, who all went through Big 12 Pro Day this week in Frisco.

Hitting the transfer portal hard, Aranda and his staff added linebackers Phoenix Jackson from Fresno State, Emar'rion Wilson from Oregon, Travion Barnes from Florida International and Matthew Fobbs-White from Tulane. The only linebacker returning with any extensive playing time is Keaton Thomas, a first-team All-Big 12 pick who had 114 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, three QB hurries and a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown.

"I think we have some transfers that played a lot today," Aranda said of the first spring practice, "and then we're going to have some freshmen that are going to show up here in the summer that we're going to count on playing a fair amount, too. I think the whole system has to be ball is out in front. Then, we have to be able to get it to them easy, and we have to be able to invest time into them, because we need them to produce and to play and to be productive year one."

The Bears will get 14 more workouts in over the next five weeks before ending with a fan "showcase" event on April 26.

Baylor will open the 2025 season with a home game against Auburn on Aug. 29 at McLane Stadium. Ticket options are available at 2025 Football Tickets.

EVERYTHING IS BETTER

Players Mentioned

Travion Barnes

Nate Bennett

Dequan Finn

Matthew Fobbs-White

Edward Griffin

Phoenix Jackson

Matt Jones

Steve Linton

Garmon Randolph

Sawyer Robertson

Keaton Thomas

Walker White

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