Offensive scheme, QB play headlines Baylor football spring practice

From One to Three

Sophomore QB Zach Smith's performance against Boise State in the Cactus Bowl last December reminded Baylor fans what success and optimism tasted like after two months wondering in the wilderness of losing.

Smith's 375 yards and three touchdowns while finishing with north of 70-percent completion percentage all but had his job locked up for the spring and his second season for the 2017 season. And that could still very well be the case.

However, Matt Rhule -- as easily noticed in his ongoing off-season procedures -- is all about competition and wasn't going to let Smith off the hook that easy.

Grad transfer quarterback Anu Solomon of Arizona was the first of two quarterbacks to make his way to Waco to give Smith some friendly competition. Solomon threw for 6,922 yards and 49 touchdowns in his time with the Wildcats and led his team to the PAC-12 Championship game as a true freshman in 2014. It was a rash of significant injuries that led to Solomon landing at Baylor, including missing all but five of Arizona's games in 2016.

Baylor’s third QB headed into the spring is former Lake Travis and state champion Charlie Brewer. Originally committed to SMU, Brewer picked up offers from both Baylor and West Virginia in the final days before choosing to flip from the Mustangs to the Bears.

While the state championship is impressive and 3,900 yards and 54 touchdowns as a senior were impressive in their own right, Brewer’s national record for competition percentage in a single season at 77.2 percent might have been the most impressive individual accolade of them all.

The mid-term grad shouldn’t be expected to compete with Smith and Solomon for the starting position this fall, but don’t be surprised if he makes some solid impressions with his understanding of the game and elite accuracy. Regardless, he will be called upon to be Baylor’s third quarterback and could very well get some playing time this fall.

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Offensive Scheme

It has been emphasized that Baylor will not lose their offensive identity of being a high-powered, high-scoring offense, but the approach to receive those results might be a little different than what Baylor fans are use to seeing.

Surrounded by assistant coaches from the coaching tree of former Oregon and NFL head coach Chip Kelly, Rhule’s plan appears to be a combination of a collegiate style spread look with a mix and match of pro-style receiver routes and blocking schemes and technique in the trenches.

Co-offensive coordinators Glenn Thomas (quarterbacks) and Jeff Nixon (running backs) each have made statements that there has never been a plan or attempt to change the offensive identity.

At the time of the hiring of Thomas, his initial statement about the offense backed up this notion.

“With Coach (Matt) Lubick and some of the stuff they’ve done at Oregon and implement some of that spread stuff with some NFL mentality, I think it will be a unique scheme.”

Note: Baylor has since hired former San Francisco 49ers receivers coach Bob Bicknell to replace Lubick as the receivers coach after Lubick left for the same position at Washington.

Nixon reiterated Thomas’ claims later when he told SicEm365 in an interview that fans shouldn’t worry and that they plan to keep “an explosive offense like Baylor had in the past.”

Expect Baylor to remain physical at the line of scrimmage and continue to spread the ball around on offense.

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Practice Style and Approach

In recent years Baylor’s approach to any and all practices was to keep rhythm and tempo which would lead to “clean” and, to an extent, “injury free” practices. Needless to say, this area might be home to the biggest shakeup of on-the-field practices.

It is expected for Baylor’s defense to take a much more prominent role in practices on the field during all practices. The contact and physical play on a daily and weekly basis will be taken to a level that has not been seen in Waco for several years.

How does this impact the Bears heading into the 2017 season?

With depth an issue already it could become a hindrance if any injuries are suffered, but the overall impact of having physical practices in the spring and fall will prepare the defense quicker and allow the offense to be game ready from day one.

With a 60-minute football game set to function as Baylor’s spring game on April 22 rather than a controlled scrimmage, the opportunity to see a different style of football will be a change of pace from previous years.

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Player Adaptation

This could have very well fallen under a variety of other headlines, but a key to success is the chemistry within a program and how things are run. However you might have felt about the approach to day-to-day activities of the previous regime, Rhule’s approach is seemingly already building more chemistry between a group of players than they have ever had prior.

Of course that is only through outlets such as social media which reflects interactions from player and coach to the next and, on many occasions within the community. It could all be for show and a false “appearance” of chemistry that 60-plus athletes aren’t fully bought into.

In fact, it’s more than likely there are probably a few who have not bought it yet.

But as “commitment week” continues and Baylor moves into their first spring practice of a new era Saturday, the weeding out of those who aren’t ready for change will happen. If they aren’t ready for it, they probably aren’t ready for what the new staff has in store for them in life or football.

The great part is, Baylor fans will see first hand if the difference actually carries over to the field.