Year: 2017

Three new head coaches, one who has served his institution continuously for the longest, one elder statesman and one on the hotseat highlighted this year’s Big 12 Media Days. As for the remaining four, they are just like the others — trying to win the conference, create competition and depth in all positions, and get ready for a competitive league. Who was the most impressive? Who was the most intense? Who was the most accessible? All 10 in his own way stood out. But we’ll start with the three new…

Months earlier Texas head coach Tom Herman called junior safety P.J. Locke’s parents to thank them for how they raised their son. Locke had been making quite the impression on the new staff in the weight room, on the field, in the classroom and everywhere else. But all those impressions evaporated because of a lost water bottle. Locke speculates his water bottle fell out of his bag while he was in the players lounge. The missing bottle was found by the wrong person — Herman — who texted the safety…

Swagger. Quarterback Kenny Hill had it when he led Texas A&M to a 52-28 win over South Carolina to open the 2014 season that a conference network. On that night Hill completed 44 of 60 passes for 511 yards and three touchdowns. But he later transferred to TCU, sat out a year, and took over as the starter for the Horned Frogs last season. Though Hill completed the second-most passes in TCU history by hitting 269 of 440 passes for 3,208 yards and 17 touchdowns and led all Big 12…

New Baylor head coach Matt Rhule knew the challenges that came with accepting the job in Waco. But he also saw tremendous opportunity that included playing in a great conference at a university that shares his personal values. Rhule spoke during the second day of Big 12 Media Days July 18. “What I did not know was just how many phenomenal people there are at Baylor University and really, in part, in the entire community,” he said. “Men and women who are committed to education, to faith, to service, to…

New Texas head coach Tom Herman gave Longhorns fans some hope July 18 when he began the second day of Big 12 Media Days. Herman was asked to compare his time at Texas when he was graduate assistant about two decades ago to where the program is today. “I think they’re very comparable,” he said. He noted that when Mack Brown took over at Texas, the program was coming off a losing season in 1997. But the Longhorns had won the Big 12 in 1996 after winning the Southwest Conference…

TCU head coach Gary Patterson is direct when he tells people about the 2017 Horned Frogs. “I tell everybody that the good news is we have everybody back,” he said, “and the bad news is we were 6-6, we got everybody back. So how do you make that work?” That’s the question Patterson, who spoke to reporters on the first day of Big 12 Media Days July 17, has been attempting to answer throughout the offseason, despite losing lost Doug Meachem, who left Fort Worth to become offensive coordinator at…

The Big 12 coach thought to be on the hottest seat in the conference strode to the stage for his segment with reporters on the first day of Media Days July 17. “I think it comes with the territory,” Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “Obviously we know what’s at stake. We know we have to be much improved. I think that everybody but the four who make the playoff every year are basically on the hot seat in college football. You’re coaching for your job every year, and…

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby made it clear to reporters attending Big 12 Media Days that the conference is much better than people around the country give it credit for in his state of the conference address July 17. “We won five national championships,” he said. “I think we finished in the top four in the country in 18 sports. But we’re here to talk football, and we didn’t make the College Football Playoff. Obviously that’s the coin of the realm at this point.” Still, he noted the Big 12’s…