End to football famine weighs heavily on Baylor search group
Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. There will arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous.
-- Genesis 41:28-31
Both Susan and I hail from alma maters where football was never exactly a source of pride. She went to Baylor, which was never really competitive in the old Southwest Conference, and is even less competitive in the Big 12. Baylor ended it's season yesterday, losing to Oklahoma State 63-28. It began it's season by giving up 77 points to California. In between, well, let's just say it wasn't pretty.
Baylor fired it's coach, Kevin Steele, but it's doesn't take a Baylor Ph.D. to figure out that Steele was not the problem, and a new coach is not going to be the solution. There are a number of factors that mitigate against Baylor's success on the field: location (why would a blue-chip recruit want to spend four years in Waco?) and admission standards are at the top of the list.
Though this will be a blow to the collective ego of Baylor alumni, perhaps it's time to admit that the level of competition in the Big 12 is beyond what the school is able to reach. There is no shame in admitting that it's time to re-examine your priorities. My alma mater, Division III Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, toyed with the idea of dropping football last year. Macalester's academic standards made it tough to get players that would allow the football team to be competitive in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The school's administration decided instead to compete in football as an independent, and to schedule schools whose academic and admissions standards more closely mirrored Macalester's. The results? The Fighting Scots finished their season with a 5-5 record. Of course, while Baylor was getting trashed by the likes of Oklahoma and Texas, Macalester was getting drubbed by Lewis & Clark and St. Olaf. Apples and oranges? Not really.
Baylor's administration needs to decide if being the doormat of the Big 12 is worth the embarrassment. They could be quite competitive in a place like Conference USA or the WAC, if they could swallow their pride and admit to the realities they face. Why not put yourself in a situation where you at least have a chance of experiencing success? It's not as if life in the Big 12 is going to become any easier.
