Two weeks into fall camp, Baylor’s picture is getting clearer in the trenches. The roster looks settled after the addition of USF defensive lineman transfer Traevon Mitchell, and the offensive line has already had to adapt after projected center Yakari Walker was ruled ineligible by the NCAA.
That ruling pushed offensive line coach Austin Woods to make a quick change, sliding 6-foot-4, 317-pound junior Koltin Sieracki into the center spot. Sieracki has already logged meaningful snaps in Baylor’s front, playing in 11 games last season with three starts. Over his three seasons with the Bears, he’s taken 278 snaps at right guard and 132 at center.
“I actually prefer center; I think it's a more natural position for me,” said Sieracki. “I just feel like it's a space that I fit in.”
I really like hitting double teams, getting on a hip and riding it out with my guys. Nate [Kimble] and Asher [Hale] and all the guys that have been playing next to me have been doing a great job of setting it up for me and getting us right.”
For Sieracki, there’s another layer to this move: he now gets to line up alongside his older brother, Kaden. The elder Sieracki is Baylor’s lone returning starter on the offensive line, back at right tackle for his fifth season.
“I think we're gonna be a bunch of nasty dudes,” Sieracki said. “We're gonna go out there and play with extreme effort. That is one thing Coach Woods has been pushing on us: just go out there and play with a sense of urgency, running down the ball and playing as fast as we can.”
He added, “I think that's one thing you guys are going to see is that we're going to be finishing blocks. There's not going to be one play where one guy's going to be walking. Every dude's going to be on top of someone and just driving to the whistle.”
Woods has 10 new offensive linemen in the mix this season, including Kibble and Hale. Kibble arrived from Texas and is aiming to make an immediate impact at left guard. At 6-foot-6 and 333 pounds, he’s talking about more than just winning a job - he’s talking about changing the tone around the program.
“When I say change the narrative, it's just like this team hasn't got the success that we've wanted, and now that we're all coming together here, we're going to be the team to flip it,” stated Kibble. “We're going to be the team to have that winning season, to go make that bowl game, to go do things that Baylor hasn't done in a little while.”
Hale, a 6-foot-5, 326-pound transfer from South Alabama, is in the middle of a battle with Toledo transfer Cole Rhett for the right guard job. Rhett brings the bigger frame at 6-foot-6 and 348 pounds, but Woods said Hale has been the steadier presence.
“Yeah, they're both really doing a great job,” Woods said when asked about Hale and Rhett. “Cole's playing kind of all over the place.
We're getting him some reps and working him into different spots. Then Asher's done a really good job of being more consistent coming out of spring into fall camp.
They're both doing a good job of getting a lot of reps and just continue to get better every day.”
The defensive line has been the offseason headliner, and the Bears’ offensive linemen know exactly why. Kibble said going against that group every day is part of the growth process.
“It’s just iron sharpens iron,” said Kibble. “Going against those guys every day is going to make us better.
I love going against them. I love talking to them off the field, asking them, ‘What did you do on this play?
How can I stop that? Just giving each other counters.
So, it's been great.”
Defensive line coach Jacori Greer used the same phrase on Friday, and he credited Woods for keeping practice sharp.
“Iron sharpens iron,” Greer said. “I think Coach Woods has done a phenomenal job.
He's always doing something different in practice, whether it's pulling different guys or giving us different looks; he keeps us on our toes. We wouldn't be coming along like we're coming if it wasn't for our offensive line making us better.”
Greer was also relieved when Baylor got clarity on Wheeler’s status. The 6-foot-3, 306-pounder is coming off a season at Indiana in which he had 31 tackles, 4 TFL, 11 quarterback pressures, and 2 fumble recoveries while helping the Hoosiers win a national championship.
“I was fired up. I went home the night before, prayed and put in God's hands,” said Greer.
“Luckily for us, it worked out the way we wanted. From a leadership standpoint, he does all the little things right.
He's vital for our success.”
Wheeler said the experience he gained under Curt Cignetti will carry over as he settles in at Baylor.
“I've played on the biggest stage of them all, so I'm pretty confident. I just want to help my teammates become the best players they can be.
If all 11 are functioning right, we'll win. That's the biggest thing for me- I want to win.”
Mitchell, who came over from USF, was initially seen as insurance in case Wheeler couldn’t play. Now he gives Baylor even more depth up front.
“When I first got to Baylor, he was a guy that we had targeted and looked at, but we found out he was out of eligibility, so we moved on from that,” said Greer. “Then, the next thing you know, the NCAA does [what it does]. There's a new rule passing, and here we are.”
Fifth-year senior Devonte Tezino is part of the same rotation and said this group already feels different from previous Baylor defensive lines.
“When I first got here, we had a lot of guys on the D-line, but I feel like this group of guys, they did a good job of putting us together,” Tezino said. “It's really a brotherhood.
Everybody can play on the D-line. You can't slack a day, or your job's in jeopardy.”
Whyce said he never doubted Wheeler would be cleared, and once Tezino got fully healthy, the unit’s ceiling became obvious.
“When we would play together in the spring, we'd sit down and watch film after practice, and we'd be like, Dang. We could really play well together.'
Then Tez came along, and once he ended up getting healthy, it was like, 'Hold on. We could really put something together.'
Now that everybody else was putting their stuff together, I thought he was going to get his year back. There was too much going the right way for something to go wrong.”
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