Baylor begins spring practice on Saturday and as much as there is optimism around the program with new head coach Matt Rhule taking over, there’s still plenty of issues from the past that are still weighing on the team.
Rhule met with the media for the first time since a string of recent incidents and, among other things, confirmed that defensive back Travon Blanchard remains suspended from the team after he was reportedly involved in a domestic violence case.
Rhule says Travon Blanchard remains suspended from all team activities until investigation is complete.
— Craig Smoak (@CraigSmoak) March 16, 2017
That wasn’t the only bit of negative news that the Bears’ new head coach addressed, as he was later asked about a string of staff dismissals since arriving in Waco. The latest came last week when it surfaced that associate director of football operations DeMarko Butler was fired.
“When something comes up personally and it’s not up to our standards, we take corrective action. I feel responsible for people’s professional conduct and I feel people are responsible for their personal conduct,” Rhule said. “If we find something that’s not right, then I have to deal with it and take action and push it on to the authorities. While I don’t want situations like these to happen, the processes here at Baylor are correct. Things are being done with integrity, honesty and accountability.”
Given the sheer amount of news that is coming out of Baylor, seemingly each week, it’s probably safe to say that Rhule will need to get used to answering such queries going forward.