Baylor Bears Recruiting Strong Despite a Program in Flux

So much for the bad taste of Art Briles affecting the Baylor Bears’ recruiting this off-season.

New coach Matt Rhule reeled in six players from the Class of 17 with National Signing Day a little more than a week away.

Baylor was rocked during 2016 when it was revealed that university officials including head football coach Briles knew and failed to take action concerning several alleged rapes committed by members of the football team. The 2016 Bears raced to a 6-0 record and a No. 8 ranking, then lost six straight games, several of them humiliating blowouts to end the regular season 6-6 under interim coach Jim Grobe. Baylor knocked off Boise State in the postseason for a bit of redemption.

New coach Rhule convinced New Jersey tight end Rob Saulin to follow him from Temple, where he had previously committed. Saulin had 203 yards receiving and two touchdowns last year at Pennsville Memorial and also recorded 84 tackles and two sacks.

Rhule headed to Alabama to sign up Khalil Keith, a 6-foot, 5-inch 300-pounder who played offensive and defensive line in high school. He’s listed as high as the No. 53 offensive tackle in the country and had been courted by Ole Miss before signing with Baylor from Winterboro High School in Alpine, Alabama.

A third commitment was the flipping of Mansfield (Texas) Lake Ridge’s Bryson Jackson. Jackson had originally committed to Minnesota on December 13. Rhule made the offer for Baylor last week and Jackson took an official visit. A 6-foot, 2-inch, 195-pound linebacker, Jackson recorded seven sacks and 60 tackles as a senior.

The other two signees for the Bears are products of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Allen High School’s Cole Maxwell was set to play NCAA college baseball at the University of New Mexico before Baylor stepped in with a football offer. Maxwell is 6-feet, 5-inches, weighs 250 pounds, and plays defensive lineman. Meanwhile, Southlake Carroll, which has produced seven NFL players since 1999, including Saints’ center Justin Drescher and former Patriots tight end Scott Chandler, will send offensive tackle Henry Klinge to Waco. Klinge had been seeing interest from both Big 12 and SEC schools. He is 6 feet 5 inches and weighs 293 pounds.

The haul gives Baylor 20 commitments. ESPN lists them with three four-star recruits and 17 three-star recruits. Rhule was hired on December 7, 2016, after leading the Temple Owls to back-to-back 10-win seasons. The 41-year-old Rhule got a seven-year deal to lead the Bears, He is 41 years old and went 28-23 in four years at Temple.

"We could not be more excited," Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades said in a statement. "... When we set out on our search for a new leader of our football program, we wanted a coach who shared our values, who had demonstrated success, who showed a true commitment to the overall student-athlete and who we believed could lead Baylor to a national championship.

Rhule’s taking of the job shows just how precious ‘Power 5’ jobs are in college football these days. In the last calendar year, Briles was fired, and president Ken Starr and athletic director Ian McCaw left the university under fire.