Smith saw Rhule's vision and hopped on board

With the football recruiting dead period beginning mere days after Mack Rhoades named Matt Rhule as Baylor University’s new head football coach, many feared that the Bears would be immediately hamstrung on the recruiting trail.

Fortunately, Matt Rhule is a man with a plan, and, along with assembling an excellent coaching staff, he has proven in less than one month that he has an uncanny ability to get kids to buy what he is selling.

That played a big role in landing District 3-6A Most Valuable Player Abram Smith of Abilene (TX) High School in West Texas.

“Honestly, when we talked, they said they had a good game plan, and I’m all about the rebuilding, so I kind of just went with them. I liked what they were saying,” Baylor’s newest commit on the offensive side of the ball, Abram Smith, told ESPN’s David Smoak last Thursday evening.

Not unlike another Baylor coach whose early recruiting classes were assembled mostly of kids who embraced a vision of what the team could become, Rhule and his coaching staff will spend the final weeks leading up to National Signing Day convincing prospects that Baylor football is not defined by events of the past eighteen months.

“Baylor’s been a school that as a child, as a boy, I wanted to play at,” Smith said, following his commitment announcement Thursday afternoon.

Smith knows he will play a big role in rounding out the class. After making his status official by signing with Baylor on Friday, the West Texas prospect will enroll early and be on campus by the time the recruiting dead period ends and Baylor targets begin arriving for official visits.

“I’m excited to get there,” Smith said, who added he’s ready to convince some other players to get on board.

As a player, the newest Baylor pledge thinks his versatility makes him an asset to the Baylor program.

“Running, catching, pass protection - these are things I did in high school and things I’ll do at the next level," Smith said. "Style-wise, I think I run with a combo of power and speed."

Interestingly, former Baylor running back Terrance Ganaway said he sees some of himself in Abram’s film.

“He’s a running back with great power and balance, and he shows an ability to see the field. He possess a really good vision,” Ganaway observed. “Within the first couple of snaps on his film, I thought that he reminded me of a faster version of myself coming out of high school.”