By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
“When you come to the fork in the road, take it.’’
-New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra
New Baylor football coach Matt Rhule experienced his first crisis with this program over the last 72 hours. A set of speculated circumstances over exactly what did and did not occur likely will get left on the cutting room floor.
All we know is this:
>Defensive back Jordan Blake has been dismissed from the program.
>Offensive lineman Ishmael Wilson has been dismissed from the program.
>Running back Terence Williams was dismissed from the program until he got a late lifeline thanks to his teammates voting to give him a second chance. Rhule has said there will be no third chance.
This 0-5 start was the worst-case scenario that Rhule or anyone at Baylor could have envisioned. The Bears haven’t been getting embarrassed. They’ve been in every game in the fourth quarter. At one time, all of them were a one-score scenario.
A program that knew how to win and win big suddenly doesn’t know how to win. There’s the wrong play at the wrong time. There’s the inability for the defense to make that key stop. There’s the offense failing to execute a simple snap or convert a needed third down to keep a drive alive.
It’s frustrating. Coaches are frustrated. Players are frustrated. You could imagine that the plane ride home from Manhattan, KS. was perhaps a simmering cauldron of angst. Then the lid apparently blew off the top Sunday. It became the most recent episode of “The Missiles of October.’’
Things were said. Accusations were made. Finger pointing became the sport of kings. Two players paid for it with their athletic scholarship. A third was about to join them. Maybe he should have had it not been for those having his back.
This is pretty much part and parcel for a program that is losing. But with this week off and then getting ready for a trip to Oklahoma State on Oct. 14, every single coach, assistant and player is going to have to choose how to let these three days define this program much less the 2017.
Therein lies the fork in the road.
This is a defining moment for Rhule. Every head coach has his set of expectations and protocols. But they’re going to get challenged. So he has to put his foot down on any uprising and say this is how it’s going to be whether you like or not. We’re going to win and be successful with the things we preach or we’re not. Either way, this is what we’re doing.
Now, you can make of it what you will that the three named players involved were not recruited by Rhule or his staff. They were inherited by Rhule and his staff.
However, it appeared months ago all sides wanted to make this work. I really believe that Rhule is going to be dealing with Art Briles’ shadow until every last player Briles recruited has left or graduated.
What surprised me the most about this episode is that this didn’t happen until now. Typically, when a new staff comes on board, you’re going to see a player here or a player there move on in the spring. That will be followed by the customary statement, “We wish him well in his future endeavors.’’
Maybe Baylor was the place these players wanted to be. They enjoyed the honeymoon period with Rhule because there were no Ws or Ls yet. Because the left side of the column is empty, feelings have changed.
This is also a defining moment for every player in that locker room. They are going to have to decide what they want to make of this season. That’s likely not going to transition into Ws and Ls. However, you have to make it look good on the inside before it starts looking good on the outside. That’s going to take some time. That how these 72 hours brought us here.
I had a coach once tell me that it takes too much energy to be upset or angry than it takes for people to get along.
It’s easier said than done. There are over 100 people with different personalities driven by different motives. To get all of them to think the same way, act the same way and believe the same way is a 365-day experience where the results are determined by 12 Saturdays in the fall.
Actions will speak louder than words whether they come from behind a podium or said into a microphone.
Baylor football has the power to determine if the events of the last 72 hours will either be those that changed this program for the better or if they set the tone for something else.
Publisher
“When you come to the fork in the road, take it.’’
-New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra
New Baylor football coach Matt Rhule experienced his first crisis with this program over the last 72 hours. A set of speculated circumstances over exactly what did and did not occur likely will get left on the cutting room floor.
All we know is this:
>Defensive back Jordan Blake has been dismissed from the program.
>Offensive lineman Ishmael Wilson has been dismissed from the program.
>Running back Terence Williams was dismissed from the program until he got a late lifeline thanks to his teammates voting to give him a second chance. Rhule has said there will be no third chance.
This 0-5 start was the worst-case scenario that Rhule or anyone at Baylor could have envisioned. The Bears haven’t been getting embarrassed. They’ve been in every game in the fourth quarter. At one time, all of them were a one-score scenario.
A program that knew how to win and win big suddenly doesn’t know how to win. There’s the wrong play at the wrong time. There’s the inability for the defense to make that key stop. There’s the offense failing to execute a simple snap or convert a needed third down to keep a drive alive.
It’s frustrating. Coaches are frustrated. Players are frustrated. You could imagine that the plane ride home from Manhattan, KS. was perhaps a simmering cauldron of angst. Then the lid apparently blew off the top Sunday. It became the most recent episode of “The Missiles of October.’’
Things were said. Accusations were made. Finger pointing became the sport of kings. Two players paid for it with their athletic scholarship. A third was about to join them. Maybe he should have had it not been for those having his back.
This is pretty much part and parcel for a program that is losing. But with this week off and then getting ready for a trip to Oklahoma State on Oct. 14, every single coach, assistant and player is going to have to choose how to let these three days define this program much less the 2017.
Therein lies the fork in the road.
This is a defining moment for Rhule. Every head coach has his set of expectations and protocols. But they’re going to get challenged. So he has to put his foot down on any uprising and say this is how it’s going to be whether you like or not. We’re going to win and be successful with the things we preach or we’re not. Either way, this is what we’re doing.
Now, you can make of it what you will that the three named players involved were not recruited by Rhule or his staff. They were inherited by Rhule and his staff.
However, it appeared months ago all sides wanted to make this work. I really believe that Rhule is going to be dealing with Art Briles’ shadow until every last player Briles recruited has left or graduated.
What surprised me the most about this episode is that this didn’t happen until now. Typically, when a new staff comes on board, you’re going to see a player here or a player there move on in the spring. That will be followed by the customary statement, “We wish him well in his future endeavors.’’
Maybe Baylor was the place these players wanted to be. They enjoyed the honeymoon period with Rhule because there were no Ws or Ls yet. Because the left side of the column is empty, feelings have changed.
This is also a defining moment for every player in that locker room. They are going to have to decide what they want to make of this season. That’s likely not going to transition into Ws and Ls. However, you have to make it look good on the inside before it starts looking good on the outside. That’s going to take some time. That how these 72 hours brought us here.
I had a coach once tell me that it takes too much energy to be upset or angry than it takes for people to get along.
It’s easier said than done. There are over 100 people with different personalities driven by different motives. To get all of them to think the same way, act the same way and believe the same way is a 365-day experience where the results are determined by 12 Saturdays in the fall.
Actions will speak louder than words whether they come from behind a podium or said into a microphone.
Baylor football has the power to determine if the events of the last 72 hours will either be those that changed this program for the better or if they set the tone for something else.
