Baylor has fired its head football coach, Guy Morriss.
The program was pretty awful under his tenure, but not as awful as it had been before (as the Baylor AD acknowledged). That's what makes the decision to fire him strange, unless Houston Nutt is already a done deal or Mike Singletary is giving the job serious consideration, both of which would seem unlikely apart from this move by Baylor. Houston Nutt could do better, even if he is dumped by Arkansas, and a willing Mike Singletary was given the cold shoulder by Baylor the last time the job was vacant. Now he's a hot commodity.
There is a well-traveled , tech-savvy coach with a reputation for recruiting, Texas roots, and ties to another Christian university who is said to be available . . .
- C.S. Lewis
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Actualoy, we had a winning season in 2005. Most people didn't notice, though.
Too bad it didn't feel like we earned it. Oh, that's because we didn't earn it! ;-)
Fran? heh.
I liked Guy. I thought he was doing a decent job. Esp. last season - (didn't they go 3-0 in non-conf. schedule?) - I thought they might do something.
You just need to find the right guy. A couple of seasons ago, Kansas was stinking it up and making a case for itself to be booted to the nether-regions of the WAC or Conf. USA. And this weekend they're number 2, playing number 3, just three wins from being the national champions.
(Of course, the same is true of Missouri and LSU.)
I think you're right, Quaid. I liked Guy and he was doing a good job. They had a lot of problems with injuries the last few years, esp. at the QB position. Without those injuries, they might've had a shot at a bowl game or two. Of course, those QB injuries are really just a direct reflection of how bad the O-line has been.
At times I think there's not much hope, given that college football is kind of a zero-sum game. I.e., you basically pick from the same group of players as the teams you play against, and you either win or lose in recruiting and either win or lose in the games. Given the financial, reputational, and logistical advantages that UT/OU/AM/TT have over Baylor (leaving out TCU & the out-of-state powerhouses), things look bad for a place like Baylor.
But you have to look at Kansas and think that anything is possible-- especially since a lot of their star players are from Texas and were overlooked by scouts for the big schools.
Of course, Kansas doesn't have to play fifth fiddle in its own state, football-wise. And the ascendancy of Kansas has coincided with the decline of K-State.
According to ESPN.com, Singletary has removed his name from consideration for Baylor. What I found interesting in the article was this quote:
The former Chicago Bears' star linebacker said that he apprised [Baylor athletic director] McCaw that, "...unless you're talking about doing what it takes to win a national championship, you're talking to the wrong person."Don't you think Baylor, being in a BCS conference, would want to try and compete for the national championship? I know they can't do it next year or the year after that, but Mike wasn't talking about next season - he was thinking long term. I know Baylor doesn't have the financial resources of UT, a&m, or OU, but they have enough to be competitive, if they want to be - right?
"Of course, Kansas doesn't have to play fifth fiddle in its own state, football-wise. And the ascendancy of Kansas has coincided with the decline of K-State."
Yeah, but playing fifth fiddle in Texas might be better than playing second fiddle in Kansas or Colorado or even Iowa.
I'm not sure Baylor competing for a national championship is even a realistic option in the next 5-10 years. The program needs that much rebuilding. Realistically as a Baylor alum, I'd be happy with the Fort Worth bowl in the next three or so years. Let's get competetive, then we can talk about bigger dreams.
I'm tired of Baylor having a crappy team. Boy I'd love just to be .500 some year.