Our Daily Bears - All Posts

Future Bears Blake and Sean Muir and Peni Tagive train in Australia

2013-06-18T22:02:19Z

Baylor is building a bit of a pipeline Down Under with the acquisitions/recruitment of footballers Blake and Sean Muir and former rugby star Peni Tagive.

6.18.2013 Daily Bears Report: The Baylor Preview is Here!

2013-06-18T17:08:01Z

BAYLOR IS HERE TO STAY: Baylor is the sixth Big 12 team to be previewed this season, meaning Bill's metrics rank us fifth in the conference behind OU, UT, OSU, and TCU in some order. I'm ok with that, considering the metrics are weighted to include past performances, and our past (except for the last 3 years or so) is not very good. Just a few highlights from the post to get you to head that way (it's also on the home page here at ODB):

As ridiculously impressive as it was for Briles to craft a 10-win season in his fourth year in Waco, his accomplishments in Year 5 might have been even more staggering: he held steady.

He goes on to cite our tremendous losses from the previous year (the top 3 statistical players on the team) as the biggest reason people expected Baylor fall off ... and we didn't.

The Baylor spread offense is, conceptually, what the spread offense was designed to be. Baylor combines ridiculously fast skill position players with mean, burly linemen and smart, interesting quarterbacks.

Just read it.

HOW DO YOU STOP ALABAMA? In a somewhat interesting coincidence (or not, I guess) with the end of Bill's Baylor preview, Nickel Rover builds on his wildly-popular article about how you stop Baylor's offense with one about doing the same to Alabama's defense. If only we could get the two of them on the field at the same time...

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PACE: I've been saying this since the blog began: pace is a bit part of what makes our offense so difficult to stop and our defense so prone to big numbers. Pace matters.

SEC LACK-OF-SPEED: It's awesome to allude to safety concerns without explaining those concerns at all or providing any proof besides a nebulous conception of "common sense."

DON'T JUDGE JOHNNY, IT'S CRAY OUT THERE: I'll just say this: if I had been a superstar athlete at 20 with access to twitter and a vast population of people that adore me no matter what I did, I'd probably have been Manziel-esque.

ROBOT WARS: The latest longform from SB Nation about BattleBots, the internet sensation before there was really an internet to sensationalize.

[INSERT POSITION HERE] U! A look at which schools actually hold claim to the various "_____ U" titles thrown about. We are both WRU and QBU at the moment, I believe. But not according to this.

TWILL IN WACO WITH THE DALLAS COWBOY CHEERLEADERS: I posted this story in a form yesterday by linking to tweets with pictures that really didn't tell you anything. Now you have a real story. The free camp was held in Baylor's facilities in Waco.

That's all I've got. Read the Bill C article.

Monday Poll: Year of the Bear vs. Year of the Cardinals

2013-06-17T23:54:25Z

This question is pretty straightforward, and I think I already know which answer will win, but it's a great topic for debate all the same.

Given the choice of two years: Baylor's 2011-2012 or Louisville's 2012-2013, which would you choose for your athletic program in totality?

.@UofLSports ends great year 3 wins shy of Baylor's '11-12 NCAA record 129 total wins in FB/MBB/WBB/BASE (BU 10/30/40/49, UL 11/35/29/51).
— Heath Nielsen (@HeathNielsen) June 17, 2013

Baylor in 2011-2012 (The Year of the Bear):

National record for wins in a season (129)
Heisman Trophy
40-0 WBB, National Championship

Louisville in 2012-2013 (not named yet, we'll call it the Year of the Cardinals):

MBB National Championship
BCS bowl win over Florida
NCG for WBB
College World Series appearance

I could list all the accolades of each team's individual players, like all-conference teams, other national awards, etc., but I won't. Let's just stand on this. Give me your thoughts in the comments. I think there are good arguments on either side; supporters of Baylor probably point to the uniqueness of 40-0 and a Heisman Trophy, while Louisville fans put the MBB natty up there and say little else.

Poll

Which year was more impressive?

6.17.2013 Daily Bears Report: Possible Transfer for MBB?

2013-06-17T14:29:51Z

First off, a little site news: I was out of touch basically this entire weekend preparing for the Great Move of 2013 that is actually going on as we speak. I hope to get things mostly wrapped-up with that today, so I can tackle the 2013 Recruit Impact Rankings this week. I'm probably going to do it consecutively rather than space things way out like I did last year, since that apparently pissed a few people off.

THE TEXAS RANGERS HONOR BAYLOR FOOTBALL:

Look at the form on that throw. That's a motion you can set your watch to right there.

BAYLOR TO THE BUFFALO WILD WINGS BOWL: Jason Kirk's first projections for the 2013-2014 bowl season are out, and just put aside the fact that he has Texas winning the conference. If we're going to get upset about that every time someone projects it, it's going to be a long offseason. Baylor plays Nebraska in Phoenix in his projections as the #4 team in the Big 12, behind only Texas, TCU, and Oklahoma.

JOHNNY MANZIEL DOES NOT LIKE THE BS IN "B/CS", YOU GUYS: If someone would photoshop Manziel with Chris Gaines' hair and soul patch to make an Emo Johnny meme, I'd love you forever.

TERRENCE WILLIAMS AND THE DALLAS COWBOY CHEERLEADERS GOING TO WEST: TWill and the ladies are in West today, making people happy at a football (and cheerleading?) camp for the youth of West. Here's another link. O MO BEARBUCKS OFF-CAMPUS: There was more than one time the only reason I was able to eat after my freshman year was that I had BearBucks. The times, they are a-changin'.

OH THOSE BEARS ARE 'CRUITIN': Again, I only link to B/R when there's something that is worth giving them traffic to see. This is one of those things.

FREAK TEAM PUTS 2 ON THE FASTEST PLAYERS IN CFB LIST: Chris Huston has a very interesting take on the "fastest players in CFB" debate; by looking only at track and other times verified with FAT systems, he's compiled a list that has two incoming Bears-- CB Kyle Fulks and WR Robbie Rhodes-- on it. Briles has said many times that Fulks is the fastest player in America.

POSSIBLE 13TH ~~WARRIOR~~ BEAR:

Baylor & Texas are among the schools in the mix for transfer Joseph Young, who averaged 18 ppg for Houston last yr, sources tell ESPNcom
— Jason King (@JasonKingESPN) June 16, 2013

I do not know what to think about that. He'd need a waiver to play immediately, which he's probably unlikely to get.

I'm sure there will be more as the day goes on.

NCAA Player Ratings: Top 10 for Baylor

2013-06-14T20:22:07Z

Before we get to the Baylor list, if you want to view the video this screenshot was taken from, SB Nation has it in its entirety, with a few thoughts. I'm not going to do what they've done and even act (just a little bit) like these guys aren't intended to be real people. Say what you want, EA, I respect the legal process; they're real people.

Baylor's Top 10 Players:

1. RB Lache Seastrunk
2. OG Cyril Richardson
3. K Aaron Jones
4. S Ahmad Dixon
5. WR Tevin Reese
6. LB Sam Holl
7. LT Spencer Drango
8. MLB Bryce Hager
9. CB K.J. Morton
10. RT Troy Baker

Thoughts:

First and foremost, it is an absolute travesty that Glasco Martin isn't A) considered one of our ten best players, and B) ranked 85 or higher. He'd be the feature back on a lot of teams, just not ours.
What world are we supposed to be living in where Aaron Jones is the third-best player on our team? I mean, I don't hate the guy or anything, but what?
I'd be willing to bet Briles has never coached a team where his QB wasn't one of his ten best players, and I don't think he's starting now.
Cyril must be hella fast, or Jones hella slow, or possibly a mixture of both.
Speaking of speed, Spencer Drango's acceleration is a 95? Is this relative, like he's a 95 for offensive linemen, or he's a 95 overall? Does EA really think he has better acceleration than Tevin Reese?
SAM HOLL IS AN 88 ON THIS GAME? If Sam Holl made the game, he might not give himself a grade of 88. But now I'm going to be called a hater again. That's not my intent. I'm sure he's a wonderful person.
Seastrunk's speed is higher than 92. That's all I'm saying.

What do you think?

Friday Afternoon Video - Art Briles Favorites #1: Earth, Wind and Fire

2013-06-14T17:01:02Z

Last week, the incomparable EDSBS's Spencer Hall decided to make ODB writers as jealous as humanly possible by interviewing Art Briles. If you haven't, go read it, then come back. One of the great things that came out of that is Art Briles talking about music that he likes. Some might be fooled by the accent, but the list of Art Briles musical favorites is quite diverse. We've already discussed some of what gets played at practices, but now we get some insight into the music that Art Briles loves personally. So what better way to celebrate this information by doing a Friday Afternoon Video miniseries featuring it.

Up first is the classic Earth, Wind and Fire.* I could not be more excited that this made this as they are favorites of mine as well (thanks to a disco dancing dad). It didn't take long to figure out which song had to be picked. I mean, I can't be the only one counting down the days to this month, right? Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there and Prosit!

*Couldn't this be the name of the Baylor rushing attack? Earth would clearly be G4, Wind should probably be FreedLache, and Fire could be Petty? If they use one of the WR in a Tavon Austin-esque role, maybe that WR becomes Wind and Lache becomes Fire?

6.14.2013 Daily Bears Report: Florence and the Rangers, Big 12 Previews, and Orf Signs!

2013-06-14T15:25:23Z

BAYLOR NIGHT AT THE RANGERS GAME -- Nick Florence is throwing out the first pitch tonight for the Texas Rangers, mired in arguably their biggest slump of the year. With the Rangers' luck, it will probably be hit for a home run (I know there's no batter and it's not a real pitch, just work with me here).

Former QB Nick Florence will throw out first pitch at "#Baylor Night at the Ballpark" for tonight's @Rangers game.
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) June 14, 2013

NATHAN ORF SIGNS WITH THE BREWERS -- Miles' mild shock at Orf going undrafted has a bit of relief now. Orf probably got more to sign than a few senior signs that actually went in the draft.

Congrats to Nathan Orf on signing a free agent minor league contract with the @Brewers. 7 #Baylor players from 2013 now in the pros.
— Baylor Baseball (@BaylorBaseball) June 12, 2013

BIG 12 PREVIEWS FOR YOUR CONSUMPTION -- SB Nation's Bill C has finally made it into the Big 12 with his previews for this coming season, tackling Kansas, Iowa State, Texas Tech, and West Virginia, respectively, over the last four days.

I suspect, but don't know, that he is going in reverse order for each conference by projected F/+, meaning Baylor might well be the next team on his list. If so, our preview would post this coming Monday morning, most likely, and we'd be the fifth-best team in the conference by his projections. When that goes up, you'll be sure to know. I've also placed the Big 12 preview stream in the layout so you can find them easily here.

RIVERFRONT DEVELOPMENT IN WACO? -- It seems like we hear something to this effect every single year, but it's exciting, nonetheless. Perhaps this time, with the stadium construction actually happening, the plans will have more traction.

BAYLOR ON A RECRUITING ROLL -- Ubbykins takes a look at the mad run of the Baylor Bears in recruiting over the past few weeks.

DON'T EXPECT AN RC2 COMMIT SOON -- According to Rivals (subscription required), he and his father are doing their due diligence and may wait some time to commit. I'd wager the recruitment of Brandon Harris will likely play a significant role in RC2's timeline.

Quite a bit of good information in that post. Rivals has come a long way recently in their coverage of Baylor recruiting.

Randall Cunningham and son are on-campus today in Waco

2013-06-13T15:02:53Z

ODB's unofficial reporter on the ground (that doesn't know he's a reporter on the ground) Glasco Martin IV has confirmed that Randall Cunningham, Sr., with his son, Randall Cunningham, Jr., is on-campus today. Baylor has been hoping for this visit for some time with our #1 QB target.

Just seen randle Cunningham at Baylor
— Glasco Martin IV (@Glasco_IV) June 13, 2013

It's unknown at this point whether Baylor will push for a commit. I have to believe they'll at least broach the topic should things go well. RC2 is a 3* QB recruit, graded at 87 by 247Sports, but that grade is likely to rise this season, his first as the starting QB for Bishop Gorman.

I can't tell you how important this visit is today. Bringing RC2 into the fold would be huge for the recruitment of our remaining targets: guys like K.D. Cannon, Jovan Pruitt, Corey Avery, and the like. RC2 is a name, and a talent, that you can hang your hat on and say "this is the future of our program, come be a part of it." Acquiring another Baylor fan of tremendous import in his father would be a benefit not to be dismissed lightly, as well.

Before you watch the video I embedded below, check out, once again, RC2's HUDL highlights. I think you'll see, from the incredible blend of athleticism and natural ability, why our coaches want him. Oh, and if you see Randall and a 6'5" version of himself walking around campus today, be sure to throw them a Sic 'Em!

I can't wait to do similar things on NCAA 2015 with RC2.