Getting To Know: Shawn Bell
12/18/2018 10:10:00 AM | Football
“The Bright Light of Waco” Feels Blessed to Be Back at Baylor
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Fellow Baylor assistant coach Joey McGuire ribbingly calls him, "The Bright Light of Waco."
It's a fitting moniker for Shawn Bell, a second-year Baylor football assistant coach who set 28 school records as the Bears' quarterback (2003-06) after a phenomenal prep career playing for his dad, Mark Bell, at nearby China Spring High School.
When he returned to his alma mater after 10 years in the high school ranks, it was a special homecoming and a dream come true.
"That's ultimately been my goal is to coach at the collegiate level," said Bell, who compiled a 58-35 record with seven postseason appearances in stops at Clifton, Magnolia West and Cedar Ridge. "And what an opportunity, getting to coach at your alma mater."
It was not all sunshine and roses, though, for "The Bright Light of Waco," whose legend grew when he led a stunning 35-34 overtime victory over 16th-ranked Texas A&M as a sophomore in 2004.
During his playing career at Baylor, he had a season-ending knee injury as a senior, got benched or passed over multiple times and never experienced a winning season.
But, it was those trials that ultimately prepared Shawn for what happened five years ago.
Expecting twin sons during the middle of the 2013 football season at Magnolia West, Shawn and his wife, Hali, were told the boys weren't going to make it.
At 18 weeks, when they got that sobering news, Hali went on bed rest for nine-plus weeks. On Dec. 6, three months' premature, Cannon and Braxton Bell were born, both weighing in at 2 pounds, 10 ounces.
They spent over 100 days in the neonatal intensive care unit, with Cannon undergoing multiple surgeries, but eventually came home and turned 5 years old earlier this month.
"Those two little guys, every time I see them, it brings me so much joy," Shawn said, "because I know how tough they are and they've taught me so much.
"If everything was hunky-dory my whole life and I never failed and had never been hurt, I wouldn't have been able to have the toughness required during that time of our lives. You talk about the way that Baylor molded me as a person, it definitely had a huge impact on how I handled that situation as a dad."
Maybe not in the womb, but Shawn's career path was decided early on in life. As the eldest son of the longtime head coach at China Spring, he saw the impact his dad had in "winning football games but also in touching young men's lives and developing them."
"Even when I got the chance to play collegiate football, I always knew the NFL wasn't in my future," he said. "I used every experience and every opportunity to prepare me to be the best coach I can be. I think it's a testament to my dad and just the type person he was in our household that I wanted to be just like him."
Mark Bell coached at China Spring for 21 years, leading the Cougars to 171 wins and 18 playoff appearances, including a state runner-up finish in 2007 and the state semifinals just two years ago. Shawn's younger brother, Brian, took over the reins this year.
"He was extremely hard on me growing up, but I think he knew I could take it," Shawn said. "But, he would always tell me, 'Do you just want to play and have fun, or do you want to work to be great? Because if you want to be great, then I'm going to push you every day to be great. And if you just want to do it to have fun, then I'll support you there.' That's the thing about my dad that nobody really realizes is that no matter what you ask, he's going to give you everything he's got."
Shawn gave his dad everything he had as well, finishing third all-time in Texas high school history with 8,437 career yards passing. He also lettered in track, basketball and baseball, served as the FCA president and finished fourth in his graduating class.
"I knew I had the intangibles, I just hoped that I would have the size and speed and all that," he said. "I didn't grow up to be 6-4, but I was blessed to have opportunities. Being coached by my dad, I felt like I had the intangibles and the work ethic."
Growing up, Shawn remembers being a Texas A&M fan (his dad is an A&M grad) and going to games at Kyle Field. But, when he got the Baylor offer in February of his junior year at China Spring, "I knew that's where I wanted to go the whole time. I made it clear that I wanted to stay home and be a part of Baylor football."
After starting the last two games of his redshirt freshman season in 2003, Bell sat behind junior college transfer Dane King through the first seven weeks of the '04 season. With King sidelined by a broken hand, Bell started against A&M and threw for 262 yards and four touchdowns, connecting with Dominique Zeigler on a 12-yard TD pass and the game-winning two-point conversion.
Bell provided some highlights the next year with a 3-0 start and conference wins over Iowa State and Oklahoma State. He also came in at halftime in a game at Missouri, with the Bears trailing 21-0, and made it a one-possession game before a late TD by the Tigers.
After a slow start his senior season, Bell provided another huge highlight with a 36-35 come-from-behind Homecoming victory over Kansas when he threw for a school-record 394 yards and five touchdowns. Three of his five TD passes came in the last 9 ½ minutes as the Bears rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit, with Bell hitting Zeigler for the game-winner with 1:08 left.
A week later, his season and college career came to an end when he tore his ACL and medial meniscus in his right knee in a 31-21 loss to A&M.
"Believe me, if there was any possible way for me to play, I would," he wrote in an Inside the Huddle article. "It absolutely kills me knowing that my hopes and dreams for my teammates and myself are right out there in front of us with three games left, and I will not be able to get under center."
After getting his start as an assistant coach for one year at Round Rock Stony Point, Bell spent one season as the offensive coordinator for his dad at China Spring.
"The decision to come back to China Spring actually wasn't because of my dad, it was because of my brother," Shawn said of Brian Bell, who was going into his junior season after a run to the 2007 state championship game. "Not being able to get to watch him play any high school football or be a part of that . . . it was more of a decision to be around him and be a part of that time in his life."
At 25 years old, Shawn got his first head coaching job at Clifton, the place where he had spent his formative years.
"The town of Clifton is a special community and means absolutely the world to me," he said. "That's also my wife's hometown. I met Hali growing up. Her brother and I played Little League baseball together, and we'd known each other since about third grade. I always kept in touch with her family. And it's ironic, but I came back to the A&M-Baylor game (in 2008) and ran into her family, and we ended up dating soon after that."
They married in December 2009 and moved after just one year at Clifton, taking the head job at Magnolia West.
"It was kind of a chance to rebuild a program," he said. "What I liked about it was I knew some people there, but at the same time nobody really knew who I was. It was a chance for me to get away from home and make my own name in this profession."
Shawn did just that, leading the Mustangs to the playoffs every year and compiling a six-year mark of 44-27. In 2016, his one and only season at Cedar Ridge, he was named the District 13-6A Coach of the Year after leading the Raiders to an 11-1 record and their first district title.
He might still be there if not for getting the one call that would lure him away after just one year. With most of the team returning, Cedar Ridge made it to the 6A state semifinals the next year.
Through a private message on Twitter, Shawn met with newly hired Baylor head coach Matt Rhule the next day and "I just saw everything that I embodied and I believed in, in him, on a greater scale, because I believe in doing things right and hard work and pushing everybody in the program to be the best they can be on and off the field."
"The only hesitation (in taking the Baylor job) was just how special a place Cedar Ridge was and how great an opportunity I had there," he said. "But, when I got to see who Coach Rhule was and the vision he had for my alma mater, I wanted to do anything I could do to be a part of it."
An offensive analyst during that difficult 1-11 season a year ago, Shawn was promoted to offensive line coach in the spring and helped the Bears become bowl-eligible with a 35-24 win over Texas Tech in the regular-season finale at AT&T Stadium. Baylor (6-6) plays Vanderbilt (6-6) in the Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl on Dec. 27 at NRG Stadium in Houston.
"After that game, (Houston Texans deep snapper) Jonathan Weeks sent a group text to me and Daniel Sepulveda and said, 'Well, Shawn, it only took you 18 years, but thanks for finally getting us in a bowl game,''' he said. "Our class, and really all the guys that I played with here, that's all we ever wanted. We weren't able to do it as players, but we have so much pride in the university and definitely want to see it succeed."
Rhule said Shawn's biggest asset is "he's got a really bright football mind."
"He has the ability to communicate, he has the ability to relate to people, to build relationships. But, he also has the ability to take complex things and make them simple. And that's really the art of coaching. So, it was clear from the first time I met him that he would be a tremendous addition to our staff."
Selected to participate in the AFCA's 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute at next month's convention in San Antonio, Shawn said learning under Rhule and 48-year veteran coach George DeLeone has helped him develop as a coach.
"Being around those guys, you're going to learn the importance of playing well up front," Shawn said. "It was exactly what I wanted was to be a bigger part of this program and help us reach our goals."
Just two months after he got the Baylor job, the Bell family grew by one with the birth of their daughter, Saydi, in February 2017.
"When Saydi was born, that was kind of the moment you always dreamed about," Shawn said. "I think every guy wants to have a son. But, you talk about melt your heart when your daughter's born. I have a lot of friends that have been blessed with wonderful daughters, and that's all they talk about is how special that relationship is and how neat it is to have a baby girl. Saydi means the world to me, and I'm always going to protect her."
Excited about next week's bowl game matchup in Houston, Shawn said he is "blessed to be at a special like Baylor, which means so much to me and my family, and joining Coach Rhule in building a championship program."
Baylor Bear Insider
Fellow Baylor assistant coach Joey McGuire ribbingly calls him, "The Bright Light of Waco."
It's a fitting moniker for Shawn Bell, a second-year Baylor football assistant coach who set 28 school records as the Bears' quarterback (2003-06) after a phenomenal prep career playing for his dad, Mark Bell, at nearby China Spring High School.
When he returned to his alma mater after 10 years in the high school ranks, it was a special homecoming and a dream come true.
"That's ultimately been my goal is to coach at the collegiate level," said Bell, who compiled a 58-35 record with seven postseason appearances in stops at Clifton, Magnolia West and Cedar Ridge. "And what an opportunity, getting to coach at your alma mater."
It was not all sunshine and roses, though, for "The Bright Light of Waco," whose legend grew when he led a stunning 35-34 overtime victory over 16th-ranked Texas A&M as a sophomore in 2004.
During his playing career at Baylor, he had a season-ending knee injury as a senior, got benched or passed over multiple times and never experienced a winning season.
But, it was those trials that ultimately prepared Shawn for what happened five years ago.
Expecting twin sons during the middle of the 2013 football season at Magnolia West, Shawn and his wife, Hali, were told the boys weren't going to make it.
At 18 weeks, when they got that sobering news, Hali went on bed rest for nine-plus weeks. On Dec. 6, three months' premature, Cannon and Braxton Bell were born, both weighing in at 2 pounds, 10 ounces.They spent over 100 days in the neonatal intensive care unit, with Cannon undergoing multiple surgeries, but eventually came home and turned 5 years old earlier this month.
"Those two little guys, every time I see them, it brings me so much joy," Shawn said, "because I know how tough they are and they've taught me so much.
"If everything was hunky-dory my whole life and I never failed and had never been hurt, I wouldn't have been able to have the toughness required during that time of our lives. You talk about the way that Baylor molded me as a person, it definitely had a huge impact on how I handled that situation as a dad."
Maybe not in the womb, but Shawn's career path was decided early on in life. As the eldest son of the longtime head coach at China Spring, he saw the impact his dad had in "winning football games but also in touching young men's lives and developing them."
"Even when I got the chance to play collegiate football, I always knew the NFL wasn't in my future," he said. "I used every experience and every opportunity to prepare me to be the best coach I can be. I think it's a testament to my dad and just the type person he was in our household that I wanted to be just like him."
Mark Bell coached at China Spring for 21 years, leading the Cougars to 171 wins and 18 playoff appearances, including a state runner-up finish in 2007 and the state semifinals just two years ago. Shawn's younger brother, Brian, took over the reins this year.
"He was extremely hard on me growing up, but I think he knew I could take it," Shawn said. "But, he would always tell me, 'Do you just want to play and have fun, or do you want to work to be great? Because if you want to be great, then I'm going to push you every day to be great. And if you just want to do it to have fun, then I'll support you there.' That's the thing about my dad that nobody really realizes is that no matter what you ask, he's going to give you everything he's got."
Shawn gave his dad everything he had as well, finishing third all-time in Texas high school history with 8,437 career yards passing. He also lettered in track, basketball and baseball, served as the FCA president and finished fourth in his graduating class.
"I knew I had the intangibles, I just hoped that I would have the size and speed and all that," he said. "I didn't grow up to be 6-4, but I was blessed to have opportunities. Being coached by my dad, I felt like I had the intangibles and the work ethic."
Growing up, Shawn remembers being a Texas A&M fan (his dad is an A&M grad) and going to games at Kyle Field. But, when he got the Baylor offer in February of his junior year at China Spring, "I knew that's where I wanted to go the whole time. I made it clear that I wanted to stay home and be a part of Baylor football."
After starting the last two games of his redshirt freshman season in 2003, Bell sat behind junior college transfer Dane King through the first seven weeks of the '04 season. With King sidelined by a broken hand, Bell started against A&M and threw for 262 yards and four touchdowns, connecting with Dominique Zeigler on a 12-yard TD pass and the game-winning two-point conversion.
Bell provided some highlights the next year with a 3-0 start and conference wins over Iowa State and Oklahoma State. He also came in at halftime in a game at Missouri, with the Bears trailing 21-0, and made it a one-possession game before a late TD by the Tigers.
After a slow start his senior season, Bell provided another huge highlight with a 36-35 come-from-behind Homecoming victory over Kansas when he threw for a school-record 394 yards and five touchdowns. Three of his five TD passes came in the last 9 ½ minutes as the Bears rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit, with Bell hitting Zeigler for the game-winner with 1:08 left.
A week later, his season and college career came to an end when he tore his ACL and medial meniscus in his right knee in a 31-21 loss to A&M.
"Believe me, if there was any possible way for me to play, I would," he wrote in an Inside the Huddle article. "It absolutely kills me knowing that my hopes and dreams for my teammates and myself are right out there in front of us with three games left, and I will not be able to get under center."
After getting his start as an assistant coach for one year at Round Rock Stony Point, Bell spent one season as the offensive coordinator for his dad at China Spring.
"The decision to come back to China Spring actually wasn't because of my dad, it was because of my brother," Shawn said of Brian Bell, who was going into his junior season after a run to the 2007 state championship game. "Not being able to get to watch him play any high school football or be a part of that . . . it was more of a decision to be around him and be a part of that time in his life."
At 25 years old, Shawn got his first head coaching job at Clifton, the place where he had spent his formative years.
"The town of Clifton is a special community and means absolutely the world to me," he said. "That's also my wife's hometown. I met Hali growing up. Her brother and I played Little League baseball together, and we'd known each other since about third grade. I always kept in touch with her family. And it's ironic, but I came back to the A&M-Baylor game (in 2008) and ran into her family, and we ended up dating soon after that."
They married in December 2009 and moved after just one year at Clifton, taking the head job at Magnolia West.
"It was kind of a chance to rebuild a program," he said. "What I liked about it was I knew some people there, but at the same time nobody really knew who I was. It was a chance for me to get away from home and make my own name in this profession."
Shawn did just that, leading the Mustangs to the playoffs every year and compiling a six-year mark of 44-27. In 2016, his one and only season at Cedar Ridge, he was named the District 13-6A Coach of the Year after leading the Raiders to an 11-1 record and their first district title.He might still be there if not for getting the one call that would lure him away after just one year. With most of the team returning, Cedar Ridge made it to the 6A state semifinals the next year.
Through a private message on Twitter, Shawn met with newly hired Baylor head coach Matt Rhule the next day and "I just saw everything that I embodied and I believed in, in him, on a greater scale, because I believe in doing things right and hard work and pushing everybody in the program to be the best they can be on and off the field."
"The only hesitation (in taking the Baylor job) was just how special a place Cedar Ridge was and how great an opportunity I had there," he said. "But, when I got to see who Coach Rhule was and the vision he had for my alma mater, I wanted to do anything I could do to be a part of it."
An offensive analyst during that difficult 1-11 season a year ago, Shawn was promoted to offensive line coach in the spring and helped the Bears become bowl-eligible with a 35-24 win over Texas Tech in the regular-season finale at AT&T Stadium. Baylor (6-6) plays Vanderbilt (6-6) in the Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl on Dec. 27 at NRG Stadium in Houston.
"After that game, (Houston Texans deep snapper) Jonathan Weeks sent a group text to me and Daniel Sepulveda and said, 'Well, Shawn, it only took you 18 years, but thanks for finally getting us in a bowl game,''' he said. "Our class, and really all the guys that I played with here, that's all we ever wanted. We weren't able to do it as players, but we have so much pride in the university and definitely want to see it succeed."
Rhule said Shawn's biggest asset is "he's got a really bright football mind."
"He has the ability to communicate, he has the ability to relate to people, to build relationships. But, he also has the ability to take complex things and make them simple. And that's really the art of coaching. So, it was clear from the first time I met him that he would be a tremendous addition to our staff."
Selected to participate in the AFCA's 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute at next month's convention in San Antonio, Shawn said learning under Rhule and 48-year veteran coach George DeLeone has helped him develop as a coach.
"Being around those guys, you're going to learn the importance of playing well up front," Shawn said. "It was exactly what I wanted was to be a bigger part of this program and help us reach our goals."
Just two months after he got the Baylor job, the Bell family grew by one with the birth of their daughter, Saydi, in February 2017.
"When Saydi was born, that was kind of the moment you always dreamed about," Shawn said. "I think every guy wants to have a son. But, you talk about melt your heart when your daughter's born. I have a lot of friends that have been blessed with wonderful daughters, and that's all they talk about is how special that relationship is and how neat it is to have a baby girl. Saydi means the world to me, and I'm always going to protect her."
Excited about next week's bowl game matchup in Houston, Shawn said he is "blessed to be at a special like Baylor, which means so much to me and my family, and joining Coach Rhule in building a championship program."
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