Come on, Baylor.
You’ve said things have changed, you’re ready for a fresh start ... it’s a different Baylor, a different culture.
And yet, the bulk of the coaching staff -- which wasn’t exactly cleared of any wrongdoing in the Pepper Hamilton report -- is set to remain intact while several of the Class of 2016 signees, who are tied to a much different Baylor than they were when they signed with the program in February, remain in limbo despite at least seven of them looking to get released from their national letters of intent.
When Jim Grobe made his first public comments as the head coach at Baylor, words and phrases such as “character,” “integrity” and “deeply regretful” were used to represent the program’s focus on moving forward.
“Nothing in our program will be more important than character,” Grobe said. “Our focus going forward would be to learn from our mistakes and look to a bright future by regaining the respect and dignity our students and the university deserves.”
They’re not off to a great start.
On multiple occasions in the Pepper Hamilton report’s Findings of Fact, the report referred to “football coaches and staff” when highlighting the failings of the football program, yet Art Briles is the only member of the coaching staff to be punished. The school has not released names of every person who has been removed due to the findings, thus a cloud looms over the remaining members of the coaching staff.
“I just trust the process,” Grobe said when asked why he didn’t make changes to the coaching staff despite being told he could if he wanted. “The investigation was a pretty in-depth investigation. I really don’t think everybody did the right things but some of this stuff ... coaches coach football. We’ll deal with anything if we find out moving forward, but right now we have to just trust the process.”
So Grobe will step in as CEO while the coaching staff remains the same, in part because Grobe wants continuity for current Baylor players. It might be the right move for the football program, but is it the right move for the university? If Baylor wants to regain trust and respect, more clarity needs to come in terms of culpability among the former and current staff, which would help lift the blanket of doubt covering those who return.
Another great step toward regaining that respect would be releasing the 2016 signees (and parents) who have requested to compete elsewhere. But it’s not unfair for Grobe to hope to speak with each signee and try to convince the likes of ESPN 300 offensive lineman Patrick Hudson and others to get on board with the coach's plan for how to move the program forward.
@SBNationCFB @HamiltonESPN @max_olson @jeremycrabtree @JP_OT2016 pic.twitter.com/SzVcdGqqjF
— Julian T Urquidez (@julianturquidez) June 1, 2016
“We’re just going to follow NCAA guidelines with the national letter of intent,” Grobe said when asked directly if players who still want releases following their meetings with him would receive them. “The thing I didn’t want to do was knee jerk and do something really quickly and wish I hadn’t. And I don’t want parents and kids to hurry up and make a decision right now. I want everybody to calm down and think things through.”
That might be the best thing for the program, but this was supposed to be the “new” Baylor. And refusing kids’ desires to follow their dreams -- even if that dream now doesn’t include Baylor -- sure doesn’t sound like a new culture. It sounds similar to the path that put Baylor in the position where it changed its president, athletic director and program-changing head football coach in a matter of days.
In other words, football first.
Again.