Rhule's history with QBs shows Solomon isn't locked in as starter

By now, you know Anu Solomon will start under center against Liberty. As he’s said all offseason, naming the starter isn’t etched in stone. Any given Saturday, whoever’s right for the part will have his number called.

Tuesday, Rhule reiterated that he’ll “play the best player every week.”

Jim Black

Arizona transfer Anu Solomon was named Baylor's starter on Tuesday afternoon.

Of course, that doesn’t only apply to QBs. The whole team will be held to that exhaustive standard. It may be a new concept in Waco where the only change of hands under center came in garbage time or untimely injuries.

Rhule’s philosophy he’s brought to Baylor is different, and it’s not just talk. Temple went through similar QB battles with the same rhetoric Rhule preached throughout practice.

Even as the quarterback coach in 2009 in Philly, Rhule talked about how difficult it was installing a new offense with the quarterbacks and how far they came before naming a starter just before the season opener.

In 2013 as Temple’s head coach, Rhule named Connor Reilly the team’s starter for the season opener against Notre Dame. During his first few months as Temple’s coach, Rhule said Reilly was the dark horse to win the job. There were more proven players like Chris Coyer and Clint Granger expected to take the role.

Despite winning the job, Reilly lost the gig in the fifth game, being replaced by Granger for a moment and eventually freshman P.J. Walker.

Walker took over the reigns the rest of the season and returned for as the starter the next three seasons, growing under QB coach and offensive coordinator Glenn Thomas who Rhule brought down too.

Though Walker held the job for four years in Philly, he wasn’t without the competition Rhule loves with the likes of a top recruit in 2016, not unlike Charlie Brewer here.

“Competition is competition and you better play. Our coaches know, you don’t do a good job, you’re going to get replaced. If I don’t do a good job, I’m going to get replaced, and that’s what we feed off of.

“So, there’s not going to be a short leash ever on a quarterback. We’re going to let them play through things, but there are certain standards in terms of how hard you work in terms of how much we do. If over time it seems like, ‘hey this guy is not the guy’ then we’ll move on to the next guy. That allows for growth,” Rhule said Tuesday before announcing the opener starter.

Whether Solomon was named the starter because he closely mirrors Walker's abilities that set school records behind a patchwork offensive line or because of his limited availability, it's not until later in the season anything can be taken as concrete- maybe not even then.