Aug. 18, 2006
Five senior members of the Baylor football team, who began their careers as walk-ons, have been awarded scholarships for the 2006-07 academic year, coach Guy Morriss announced at the end of Friday evening's two-hour workout in half pads on the grass practice fields at Floyd Casey Stadium.
Outside safety Bryan Bays (Dallas, Texas), fullback Damon Dotson (Houston, Texas), free safety Bennett Hoefer (Woodway, Texas), wide receiver Craig Munn (Waco, Texas) and running back Mario Price (Fort Worth, Texas) were rewarded by the Bears' staff on Friday. Hoefer, who will graduate in May 2007, is the only one of the five who is not a fifth-year senior. Price earned his undergraduate degree from Baylor last weekend.
"It was good to be able to reward those guys," said Morriss. "We've always tried to make a point to take care of the kids who have been loyal to us and been in the program. This was the first time they had an inkling of it. It is something we like to do and it helps us with our walk-on program that they see if they work hard, stay loyal and do the things we ask, there may be a pot of gold at the end."
Since Morriss' arrival in Waco, 22 walk-ons have earned scholarships, 11 of which are on the Bears' 2006 roster. The most notable walk-on turned scholarship recipient is senior punter Daniel Sepulveda, who won the 2004 Ray Guy Award as the nation's top collegiate punter. Sepulveda, having not punted since early in his high school career, walked-on as a linebacker and became Baylor's top punter as a redshirt freshman in 2003. He was placed on scholarship by Morriss after earning second-team All-Big 12 honors in January 2004.
Thirteen Bears who continue to comeback from injury were able to to through all phases of practice except the contact periods, while seven missed the entire workout. Senior defensive end Julian Hill (sore knee), senior offensive tackle Travis Farst (knee), freshman offensive lineman Dylan Hagens (sore back), senior linebacker Paul Howard (knee), junior cornerback Braelon Davis (sore knee), senior offensive guard Will Blaylock (muscle strain) and preseason All-America punter Daniel Sepulveda (knee) all were sidelined Friday.
"I know the kids are looking forward to tomorrow (Saturday) and that can always be a problem, but they seemed pretty focused today," Morriss said. "We have to clean up some detail stuff as usual, but really there's nothing to complain about.
"We are still making progress," he added. "We are seeing some things that weren't there early on, the kids are seeing, starting to understand and execute. I think some of it really is starting to become muscle memory. That will help us. We still have two weeks to keep improving in those areas. I understand that Monday is the day that most everyone is supposed to be back, so we'll be close to full go as far as having guys back."
Baylor will hold its annual "Meet the Bears" Day on Saturday, Aug. 19, from 4-5:30 p.m. at Floyd Casey Stadium. The Bears will then hold a special teams practice on the Floyd Casey Stadium turf from 6-7 p.m. before breaking fall camp. The team will have Sunday off, then return to work on Monday evening after the first day of classes on the Baylor campus. The Bears will settle into their in-season afternoon practice schedule on Tuesday.
Notes: Morriss is slated to make two public appearances next week ... He'll speak Tuesday at the Baylor Sports Network of Houston starting at 11:30 a.m. at the Hilton Houston Post Oak (2201 Post Oak Blvd.) and Thursday at the 18th annual Waco Chamber of Commerce Kickoff Luncheon ... Tickets to the Houston event may be purchased by contacting the Baylor Network, while the Waco Chamber is handling sales for the Aug. 24 event ... The featured speaker at the Waco Chamber luncheon is former Houston Oilers head coach Bum Phillips, the grandfather of Bears' first-year quarterbacks coach Wes Phillips.
