"Beautiful," Jason Lovvorn says enthusiastically as he intently watches the throwing motion of his 6-foot-4, 220-pound quarterback trainee on a frigid January evening at 'Touchdown Alley,' an empty turf field tucked in-between the Brazos River, the Baylor Basin and a stone's throw from McLane Stadium.
Despite the harsh wind and the unfavorable conditions, the former four-star prospect gears his arm back, heaves the football down the field and effortlessly drops it into a trashcan positioned 35 yards away, a drill Lovvorn religiously swears by, believing it helps his quarterbacks perfectly hit wide receivers in stride on fade routes.
On this particular evening, Lovvorn is working with rising redshirt senior Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson. In his first season as a collegiate starter, Robertson threw for over 3,000 passing yards and combined for 30-plus touchdowns, both through the air and on the ground.
Following the 44-31 defeat on Dec. 31 to LSU in the Texas Bowl, where Robertson threw for a career-high 445 yards, head coach Dave Aranda approached his starting quarterback in the locker room afterward and told him, "Hey, dude. You had an offseason last year that isn't going to be like this one. You're a different guy, and this is going to be a different offseason. You're the leader and the face of this team."
More than anybody, Robertson understands that expectations will be different next year. No longer is he the feel-good story of the backup quarterback who turned into the starter; he's the face of the Baylor program, a program expected to compete toward the top of the conference next fall after closing the 2024 season with six wins in its final seven games.
"You wouldn't want anyone different to lead your group than him," Aranda told the media after the Texas Bowl. "I'm excited about what can come from this outcome. It's going to for sure motivate him. … The best for him is yet to come."
With his successful junior campaign behind him and expectations now raised, Robertson is already looking ahead to next season. He texted Lovvorn a simple but profound message less than 24 hours after the Tigers took down the Bears in the Texas Bowl: "Let's get to work."
Robertson and Lovvorn started training together in January 2023, shortly after he transferred from Mississippi State to Baylor, where he felt God was calling him. Since then, the pair have developed a shared bond of their faith in Jesus Christ and all things quarterbacking.
"There are some guys that you know that just have the 'it factor,' and I think Baylor fans have all gotten to see that Sawyer has that," Lovvorn said in an interview with SicEm365. "You can see the intangibles pretty early on with a guy like Sawyer, but once we started working, he would send me videos of him working on his own. He was already a highly recruited guy with a ton of success in high school, but his willingness to work on his craft and constant desire to improve sets him apart."
Lovvorn added, "He's such a nice guy and a strong Christian who cares about others and puts others in front of himself. But don't let that fool you about the competitive drive that he's got. He's in it to help make other people better and shine the light on others, but he definitely has that inner drive and determination to be the best he can be."
Lovvorn and Robertson's relationship is a bit of a full-circle moment for Lovvorn, who played at Baylor from 2004-2006 and backed up the starting quarterback at the time, Shawn Bell, both of which are still friends to this day and were in each other's weddings.
Lovvorn, 39, is currently the head football coach of the back-to-back state champion Dallas First Baptist Academy Saints but still bleeds green and gold to this day.
"I've worked with quarterbacks since I've been in college at Baylor," Lovvorn said. "Twenty years later, to be working with Sawyer and seeing the success that he's had is definitely rewarding as someone who loves to see quarterbacks develop and see hard work pay off; it's also especially fun for it to be with the Baylor football program."
Most of the time, Lovvorn makes the two-hour trek down Interstate 35 to work with Robertson, but after the two had a handful of training sessions in Waco, Robertson made sure to tell him, "Hey, I can drive up to Dallas every now and then."
On occasion, to switch things up, Robertson will return the favor and make the trip north. In the past, a typical offseason weekend in the Metroplex included a three-hour training session on Saturday night, followed by an early-morning workout on Sunday before attending church at First Baptist Dallas with his uncle, Steve Robertson, who lives in the Dallas area.
Steve, a member of First Baptist Dallas for over 20 years, knew of Lovvorn, who's also been a member of the same church for his entire life, but wasn't aware of Lovvorn's football background until his nephew explained it to him.
"I had no idea that he worked with quarterbacks, and that's when Sawyer told me that he played at Baylor," Steve told SicEm365 in an interview. "That's how I pieced it all together. About a month later, they had their first session, and I told Sawyer, 'Hey. Anytime you come to Dallas, you can stay with me.'"
The first time Robertson and Lovvorn trained together in Dallas, Robertson left Waco more than a few hours beforehand and planned to stop by his uncle's house. However, he made one critical mistake — he forgot to calculate how much time traffic would add to the trip.
Robertson, a Lubbock native, had minimal experience driving around big cities, much less navigating Dallas on a Saturday night. When he finally arrived at the training session, flying by the seat of his pants, he and Lovvorn had a productive outing and planned to meet again in the morning.
"Most college guys aren't willing to say, 'Hey, on Saturday night from 7-to-10 p.m. we're going to train, and then I'm going to get up at 7 a.m. the next morning to get after it,'" Lovvorn jokingly said. "He's so driven, and that's what makes it fun. Knowing he's got something special makes me want to hop on the road and go down [Interstate] 35 to get a workout in with him because not everybody has what he's got."
When Robertson eventually arrived back at his uncle's house, after getting lost on the way, they talked briefly about the training session before an important question came about: "What's the internet password?"
On that particular night, Robertson had a homework assignment due and had to turn it in or would run the risk of potentially getting a zero. Amused by this, Steve later asked his nephew, "What's been the biggest difference between Baylor and Mississippi State so far?"
"I have to study," Robertson said back.
When Robertson and Lovvorn are looking to set up a training time in Waco, it usually revolves around Robertson's various faith-based activities that he's involved in, whether that be a team Bible study, a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting or a community service project.
Baylor's starting signal caller is very outspoken about his faith, and that was on full display in the Texas Bowl when a picture went viral of Robertson, with an outstretched arm, visibly praying over LSU linebacker Whit Weeks, who was injured on the turf after suffering a gruesome leg injury.
"That's who he is, and it's been awesome to see," Lovvorn said. "Even two years ago, we talked about using the abilities God's given him and, when he has those opportunities, using them to glorify Him. It was so cool to see him [display] his relationship with the Lord, but it was also unsurprising because that comes up just while we're training."
Lovvorn added," Just like him working as a quarterback where nobody knows what he's doing or how hard he's working, and then now it's on display for everybody to see — his spiritual life is the same way. He's been working on who he is, and now it's on display for everybody else to see."
According to his uncle, Robertson has been open about his faith, as well as caring and compassionate toward others since he was a baby. So when the picture of him praying over the injured LSU defender made the rounds on the internet several weeks ago, Steve wasn't the least bit surprised.
"I'm very proud of him for how bold he is, how vocal he is and how honest he is; he's not hiding anything," Steve said. "That's Sawyer for you. He doesn't need to put on a show. He's genuinely who he says he is, and you can tell by his actions. He's not doing that to win points."
Robertson's grandfather, Reverend Don Robertson, was a Baptist pastor for over 35 years in Plainview, Texas, just 45 minutes north of Lubbock. While Don passed away in 2020 due to esophageal cancer, Steve knows that "Poppie," as the family calls him, would be proud that Robertson is using his platform to make a positive impact on people.
"Sawyer is, in a way, carrying on the message that his Poppie preached for 35 years," Steve said. "Not only do I admire Sawyer for his strong, outspoken stance on his faith, but it also makes me ask myself, 'Am I doing what I can to try to do the same?'"
Steve continued, "We all have some sort of influence on some God-given social circle of contacts from our everyday lives, and I have to ask myself If I am striving to care for my circle like Sawyer cares for his circle. Even as a college kid, Sawyer is a really good example of what we all should be doing."
Despite losing two quarterback competitions since transferring to Baylor from Mississippi State after the 2022 season, Robertson's faith never waved through the ups and downs. While most people might see those moments as potential barriers, Robertson saw them as opportunities to trust God even more.
"The way he handled those disappointments and then still be the same person and come in and have all of that success, I think that's why people look at him and love to see the success," Lovvorn said. "Everybody loves to celebrate that because he just kept working, and he was the same person then and is the same person now who puts God first in everything."
One of the most profound displays of Robertson's character was in the second half of a blowout victory over Texas Tech when Toledo transfer quarterback Dequan Finn entered the game in Robertson's place.
Finn, who was initially brought to Waco last offseason to be the starter, was hurt in the second game of the season versus No. 11 Utah. With Finn injured, Robertson got his opportunity against Air Force as the starting quarterback and never relinquished it.
Leading 52-27 midway through the fourth quarter against the Red Raiders, Finn faked the handoff, scrambled to his right and cut up the seam for an electric 34-yard rushing touchdown. One of the first players to congratulate Finn when he got to the sideline was an ecstatic Robertson, who approached him with a big smile.
"One thing that the players probably respect is that they saw him through disappointments, whether it was transferring over and Blake [Shapen] being named the starter or Dequan [Finn] coming in and winning the job, but it was the way that he treats his teammates and other quarterbacks that he's competing with," Lovvorn said.
As an important offseason looms ahead for Robertson, those closest to him know high expectations won't change him. Instead, it'll likely give the Bears' starting signal-caller even more reason to stay true to himself and lean on his faith.
"I learned that I'm not defined by the result of any game or how I perform or what anybody writes or says about me or the outcome of anything," Robertson said last October. "Instead, my identity comes through who Jesus Christ says I am and what He did on the cross. Because of that, I'm taken care of and I can play free and have fun when I play. That's been my mindset, and it's been really freeing, and I think that's why the results have been the way that they have."
