Baylor Alums Take In Bears’ 1st On-Site Bowl Practice

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

HOUSTON – Larry McRae has had a chance to catch a few football practices in Waco. But, when the former Baylor offensive lineman and current head coach at Clear Lake High School found out the Bears would be in town, his immediate response was, "Oh yeah, I'm there."

McRae was there on Sunday when the Bears went through their first on-site practice for Thursday's Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium. But, he wasn't alone, joined by a bevy of high school coaches and fellow Baylor alums Bobby Darnell, Jermaine Alfred and Anthony Moore.

"Waco's not that far away, but having them right here in our back yard in Houston, that's really cool," McRae said. "I was at the state championship games last night, but we shot back this morning just to be here for this. We wanted to see these guys and welcome the green and gold to Houston."

Alfred (1995-99), a former Baylor quarterback who now serves as McRae's offensive coordinator at Clear Lake, said he was excited about the Bears playing in the Texas Bowl, "because I don't have to travel too far to check them out."

"Even when we come to Waco, they're like, 'Come anytime, come sit in meetings,''' Alfred said of Baylor coach Matt Rhule's staff. "They give you everything they've got so that we can be the best coaches we can be."

Rhule, who put his team through a two-hour practice at the University of Houston practice facility, said he wants the high school coaches and particularly the Baylor alums "to be a part of this."

"I want the guys that came to Baylor and came before us, that are now spending their lives giving back in teaching and coaching, to come see us and help us build a relationship with them," he said. "I want them to especially be proud of what we're doing. And that really goes for all the coaches in the state. We have so much in common. We spend our lives teaching and growing and developing the young people in our state. But, when those guys come back, it's always extra special."

A wide receiver at Baylor during the Kevin Steele era (1999-2002), Darnell said, "You can't deny the transformation (Rhule has made) from one year to the next."

"He just had to get the kids on board," said Darnell, in his third year as the head coach at Fort Bend Clements. "They obviously had some attrition, but he's got the guys buying into what he's talking about. It was great getting them to come to Houston this year for the Texas Bowl, but I think they'll take the next step in the process next year and be in an even better place."

Moore got a personal invite to Sunday's practice from offensive line coach Shawn Bell, who he worked with for one year at Magnolia West High School.

"The crazy thing is my cousin was the quarterback at Stony Point in (Bell's) first high school job," said Moore, a defensive back at Baylor (2009-11) who spent two years as a student coach after a severe leg injury. "And then when he was at Magnolia West, he hired me. That makes it a whole lot more special."

Moore, who coaches the secondary at Katy Mayde Creek on the same defensive staff with former Baylor teammates Kaeron Johnson and Tracy Robertson, said he sees the Bears "getting back to the old Baylor, just going out there and competing and having that grit about them and just playing hard every single down."

"When he first got in, he was still trying to make it his own," Alfred said. "Now, he's got the recruits he wanted and he's molding the team into his vision and what he wants. And you can see it coming together."

Going straight from the afternoon practice, the team went to NRG Arena for Sunday's Rodeo Bowl. By a 4-3 margin, Vanderbilt won a series of rodeo contests that included calf roping, goat dressing, barrel man, hay bale stacking and horse race.

Highlights for the Bears included Trestan Ebner and Koby Bullard winning the goat dressing with a time of 13.4 seconds; Garret McGuire, Ben Sims and Jalen Pitre taking the barrel man competition in 14.3 seconds; and freshmen Gerry Bohanon, "Sqwirl" Williams, Jackson Gleeson and Kalon Barnes joining sophomore Zeke Brown to win the closing horse race.

"Everything from the arrivals to practice to this great event tonight, I think it was a great day so far, and hopefully we can build off of it on the practice field (Monday)," Rhule said. "(The Rodeo Bowl) was a great event. If I had to do it again, I'd have (the players wearing) cleats. (Vanderbilt) did a great job of thinking ahead. It was great for our guys to get out and have a good first-day experience."

On Monday, the Bears will participate in a scavenger hunt at the DePelchin Children's Center Museum and then go through their second bowl-site afternoon practice at the University of Houston.

Baylor Alums Take In Bears’ 1st On-Site Bowl Practice

Players Mentioned

Kalon Barnes

Gerry Bohanon

Zeke Brown

Koby Bullard

Trestan Ebner

Jackson Gleeson

Garret McGuire

Jalen Pitre

Ben Sims

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