No satisfaction from Rhule as he looks to process for Baylor's next step
Taking a team from average and transforming it into a good or great team has already been discussed. It’s difficult to do and the majority of college coaches are rarely able to take their program to the next step. The ones who find their way out of the college football purgatory that is six, seven and eight-win seasons are on to bigger and better things within a reasonable amount of time.
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But without a vision and execution, the odds are decreasing by the day, the hour and even the minute that any program currently in CFB purgatory leaves. A program that lacks vision means detours are more likely and reaching the ultimate goal will be delayed significantly.
On the surface, detours are philosophical and schematic changes that require significant attention and time to maneuver through. The obstacles that come with the revolving door of personnel in college football are enough of a battle to deal with, but asking a group of young adults with no professional experience to adjust in those two ways are typically a knock-out punch to the coach and the longevity to the program. Not because it coudn’t work, but because they won’t be allowed enough time.
Consistency is key while change reeks of desperation. At least in college football.
If there is one thing you can say about Baylor head coach Matt Rhule it’s that his vision is consistent and he has not strayed from the path that he believes is the correct one. Time will tell if that path is on its way to being stuck between Waco and the promised land, but don’t expect detours that will delay the final answer.
“This is truly a time of patience,” Rhule said. “You have to be a patient coach. It doesn’t mean you can’t be demanding, but you have to be a patient coach because we’re not worried about the season, we’re not worried about anything, we are just trying to get guys to improve and train because when you have a veteran team you don’t have to train them anymore. They know what to expect and you can go out and coach them and give them the details and the expert level pieces of their game.”
Rhule’s comments were in regards to offseason player development directly, but midway through the third spring of Rhule’s tenure in Waco the window into the program has steadily opened and the teaching aspect within the football facilities has been identified as a pillar. For those following closely, that’s not surprising at all. That type of teaching takes time.
For a program that is being built on recruiting elite athletes who need retuning to meet their potential, the process is a vigorous one. SPARQ scores at The Opening are simply a symbol of what could be and not what is. What is will be defined as the player enters his upperclassmen years after three years in a development stage.
Not every player is on the same timeline, no, but that’s part of the process, too.
“What you want to do is you want to get a situation where you can take a high-level player in terms of experience and you teach him on his scaffold like steps X, Y and Z, and I also have to teach in the same meeting room guys who are A, B and C,” Rhule said.
“There’s a lot of guys in spring ball dedicated towards helping the players because each guy is at his own place and the one thing I’ve stressed to our guys is that the way we improve the team is that each player just gets 1-percent better and if 100 guys gets 1-percent better, then we’re 100-percent better.”
Based on what is known about college football, expecting another increase of six wins in 2019 would be asinine. Based on what we know about Rhule’s program, there is no reason to believe the product on the field in year three shouldn’t be better than years one and two.
Improvement can come without changes in the win column, but that would mean CFB purgatory is on the books another year for the Bears. An increase of one would show the promised land is getting closer.
“I’m certainly excited about the potential of where we could go,” Rhule said. “I’m not really excited about where we are, but I love where I think we could go.