Photo by Todd Nickle
Shawn Bell brought on Rhule staff through a Twitter message
July 21, 2017
11,300
When Baylor announced the hire of former Baylor quarterback Shawn Bell as an offensive analyst in December, the news sounded like nepotism but as Matt Rhule described, it was pure coincidence.
Rhule said the name sounded familiar when he was approached with Bell as a candidate but didn’t know he was a fan-favorite Bear.
“Someone literally added me on Twitter and said, ‘You should hire @ShawnBell.’ Shawn Bell? How do I know that name?” Rhule said. “Mack (Rhoades) had handed me a resume of people that sent him stuff and I saw his name so it was like two things on the same day and I actually sent him a Twitter message. ‘Hey @ShawnBell give me a call' and he called me, I talked to him. Didn’t even know he played at Baylor.”
At the time, Bell had just wrapped up a district championship with Cedar Ridge High School in Round Rock. He was named District 13-6A Coach of the Year but after talking with Rhule about coming back to his alma mater, there was virtually no hesitation to jump on board.
“He didn’t say ‘How much money?’ Just said, ‘Yeah, I’m doin’ it,’” Rhule recalled.
Bell was part of the trio of Texas high school coaches Rhule brought on staff including David Wetzel who spoke highly of Bell with Rhule, convincing Bell was the right hire.
Even though Bell’s working just as an offensive analyst with the staff, Rhule said he sees great things in his future.
“He’s gonna have a great career- gonna be a longtime college coach and he’s a special guy. Fun thing is we get to put on him beating A&M," Rhule joked about Bell being the only Baylor quarterback along with Robert Griffin to beat the Aggies since the eighties.
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Rhule said the name sounded familiar when he was approached with Bell as a candidate but didn’t know he was a fan-favorite Bear.
“Someone literally added me on Twitter and said, ‘You should hire @ShawnBell.’ Shawn Bell? How do I know that name?” Rhule said. “Mack (Rhoades) had handed me a resume of people that sent him stuff and I saw his name so it was like two things on the same day and I actually sent him a Twitter message. ‘Hey @ShawnBell give me a call' and he called me, I talked to him. Didn’t even know he played at Baylor.”
At the time, Bell had just wrapped up a district championship with Cedar Ridge High School in Round Rock. He was named District 13-6A Coach of the Year but after talking with Rhule about coming back to his alma mater, there was virtually no hesitation to jump on board.
“He didn’t say ‘How much money?’ Just said, ‘Yeah, I’m doin’ it,’” Rhule recalled.
Bell was part of the trio of Texas high school coaches Rhule brought on staff including David Wetzel who spoke highly of Bell with Rhule, convincing Bell was the right hire.
Even though Bell’s working just as an offensive analyst with the staff, Rhule said he sees great things in his future.
“He’s gonna have a great career- gonna be a longtime college coach and he’s a special guy. Fun thing is we get to put on him beating A&M," Rhule joked about Bell being the only Baylor quarterback along with Robert Griffin to beat the Aggies since the eighties.
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