Baylor kicking off season could be ‘good therapy’
WACO, Texas — Chris Salazar sits at one of the tall tables in the pizza place a few blocks from the Baylor campus where he is the general manager, looking forward like so many others in the community to kickoff for the 23rd-ranked Bears after what was “definitely not the typical offseason.”
The new season comes three months after the swift removal of head coach Art Briles following the release of a report alleging the university mishandled complaints of sexual assault, including some against football players.
So Baylor will have to move forward without the coach who in eight seasons transformed the Bears from perennial last-place finishers to backto-back Big 12 Conference champs in 2013 and 2014, and took them to being on the verge of the first College Football Playoff and a possible national title chance just two seasons ago.
“I think it’s probably a little bit more measured because of what’s happened this offseason,” Salazar said at Shorty’s Pizza Shack, where the Baylor memorabilia on display includes a football signed by Briles. “But I think there’s a lot of excitement, just because we know we still have a lot of good players returning.”
Much of the external investigation summarized in the May report focused on allegations surrounding the football team, which has won 50 games over the past five seasons. That also led to athletic director Ian McCaw and school president Ken Starr leaving the private Baptist university.
“We all went through the shock. Everybody was disappointed,” said Sammy Citrano, owner of George’s Restaurant, which has a history in Waco spanning more than eight decades and often caters meals for Baylor athletic teams. “Now we’ve had a little time to heal.”
With acting head coach Jim Grobe and all of the assistants back from Briles’ staff, the Bears open their season Sept. 2 against Northwestern State in their $266 million, 45,140-seat campus stadium on the banks of the Brazos River. A near-capacity crowd is expected even though the opener under Friday night lights conflicts with Texas high school football games.
“Once the season starts and that first kickoff happens, everything will start to feel a lot more normal,” Salazar said.
“It’s going to be good therapy for everybody in our community,” Citrano said. “It’s football time and these guys are ready to prove to the world we’re a good school and good team and good people.”
This will be the third season for McLane Stadium, the Bears’ gleaming state-of-the-art home on busy Interstate 35 about halfway between Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin, the state capitol and home to Big 12 rival Texas.
Ashleigh Richardson is a 2004 Baylor graduate and season-ticket holder who routinely makes the trip with her husband. “We bleed green and gold. We’re not going to be any less excited than we were last year, or the first year that McLane Stadium was open, because it’s a family tradition honestly in our house,” she said.
“We all went through the shock . ... Now we’ve had a little time to heal.” – SAMMY CITRANO, OWNER OF GEORGE’S RESTAURANT