96 Days till Kickoff: Baylor’s #96s Cole Maxwell & Bryce Boland
As always, keep track of both the stats and roster countdowns in the Offseason Hub!
Bryce Boland, a walk-on kicker from Waco Midway, is a junior and has two years of eligibility remaining. He has made the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll three times and is a pre-business major.
He redshirted the 2020 season and did not play a game in 2021.
Coming out of high school, Boland received a five-star kicker rating from Kohl’s and a four-star punter rating. At Waco Midway, he was 125/125 on extra points, 8/11 on field goals, and boasted a 41-yard punt average. Boland played other sports while at Midway and excelled in soccer and tennis. In soccer, he was All-State, All-Region, and the Offensive MVP in 2018. In tennis, Boland was first-team All-State, All-Region, All-District, and All-District Champion. The Waco native is the son of former Baylor Men’s Tennis coach Brian Boland.
On January 10th, Cole Maxwell announced he would be returning to Waco for his sixth and final season as a Bear. Maxwell is another highly talented player in a stacked Baylor defensive line. The Allen, Texas native has already earned a degree in health, kinesiology, and leisure studies.
2021 was by far Maxwell’s best year as a Bear. He was able to play in a career-high 12 games. He recorded at least a tackle in all 12 games that he played, and he finished the season with 27 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and a fumble recovery. Maxwell totaled nine tackles and half of a sack In the two games against Oklahoma State. His other sack came in the Sugar Bowl against Ole Miss (1/1).
A healthy 2020 season finally allowed Maxwell to be able to make a clear impact on the field. He played in seven games and started two of those. He only tallied three tackles on the season, and two of those came against Texas Tech on November 14th, but the key was being able to be on the field.
Maxwell redshirted his freshman season in 2017 and then missed all of 2018 with a knee injury. He appeared in two games in 2019 before suffering another knee injury.
Maxwell was rated the 96th best DE in the nation according to ESPN. During his senior year, he helped lead Allen to a 14-1 record while totaling 87 tackles, 12 TFL, 10 sacks, 6 QB pressures, 5 PBUs, and 3 forced fumbles. The Dallas Morning News recognized Maxwell on the All-Area first team, and he was named to the 2016 Class 6A All-State second team. The Allen native was also a star pitcher and first baseman for the Eagles baseball team. Maxwell chose Baylor over Air Force, Army, UTSA, and Tulsa.
