The 2009 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Art Briles. The Bears played their home games at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. Baylor finished the season with a record of 4–8 and 1–7 in Big 12 play.
Before the season Program history
The Baylor Bears football program finished 2008 with a 4–8 record and a 521–523–43 (0.499) all-time record, marking the first time in decades that Baylor's overall record was losing. The program has not won its conference or attended a bowl game since 1994, when it both won the Southwest Conference (a five-way tie with Rice, Texas, TCU and Texas Tech due to Texas A&M being on NCAA probation and thus ineligible to win the conference title) and played in the 1994 Alamo Bowl; it has not had a winning season record since 1995. The Bears are currently the only Big 12 team to not have made a bowl game since the Big 12's inception, and the team has gone the longest of any team in a BCS conference without a bowl game appearance (Duke Blue Devils last played in a bowl game two days later in the 1995 Hall of Fame Bowl)
Recruiting defensive recruiting coordinator: Kim McCloud offensive recruiting coordinator: Kendal Briles
Spring scrimmage
Predictions ESPN analyst Tim Griffin criticized Baylor's decision to move its 2009 home game against Texas Tech to the Cowboys Stadium, a more neutral and media-friendly location.
Facilities In fall 2008, two new facilities, the Highers Athletic Complex and the Simpson Athletics and Academic Center, were completed. The 2009 football season is the first in which the two facilities are available for use year-round. With five consecutive record-breaking fund-raising years for the Baylor Bear Foundation and the "Above and Beyond" and "Victory with Integrity" Board of Regents campaigns, the Highers Athletic Complex and Simpson center were built and Grant Teaff Plaza and club seating were improved, in addition to various other non-football construction and improvements.
Highers Athletic Complex The Alwin O. and Dorothy Highers Athletic Complex is a set of three full-size practice football fields, two of natural turf and the third of artificial turf. Located on the main Baylor Campus next to the Baylor Marina, the Highers Athletic Complex is now the main location of football practice. Its location is much closer than that of Floyd Casey Stadium, the current home stadium of Baylor and previous practice location.
Construction began in November 2008 for the Jay and Jenny Allison Indoor Practice Facility. The final facility of the Highers Athletic Complex was completed in August 2009 and offers an 80-yard synthetic turf field with ten-yard end zones. At an estimated $11 million cost, the facility provides Baylor its first indoor practices ever, allowing for practice in most weather, including extreme heat, cold, and rain.
Simpson Athletic and Academic Center The Simpson Athletic and Academic Center is located adjacent to the Highers Athletic Complex and Baylor Marina. The Simpson Center has the main athletics training room and equipment room for most Baylor athletes, the football locker room and weight room, football coaches' offices, football meeting rooms, academic center for all student-athletes, and the Baylor Athletic Department administrative offices. In 2008, for the third straight year, Baylor University had the highest NCAA Graduation Success Rate in the Big 12 Conference.
Floyd Casey Stadium
Floyd Casey Stadium, located about four miles from the Baylor University campus, is the site of the Baylor Bears' home games. The stadium, built in 1950, has an official capacity of 50,000 and has an artificial turf field, fixed aluminum bleachers, and the Big 12's largest locker room.
Coaching Art Briles remained at Baylor as head coach for his second season there, following four seasons as head coach at the University of Houston and other previous coaching jobs at Texas Tech and various high schools in Texas. As a head coach at Baylor, Briles has a 4–8 record, and a career head coach record of 38–36. In the 2008 season, all Baylor victories were achieved with the opponent scoring 21 points or fewer, and all Baylor losses taken when the opponent scored more than 21 points.
Randy Clements and Philip Montgomery are the offensive co-coordinators, Brian Norwood is the defensive coordinator, and Dino Babers is the Special Teams coordinator. Colin Shillinglaw is the 2009 director of football operations.
+Baylor Bears Position Coaching Coach Position Randy Clements offensive line Philip Montgomery running backs Dino Babers wide receivers Kim McCloud defensive backs Kendal Briles inside receivers Chris Achuff defensive tackles Larry Hoefer linebackers Theo Young defensive ends
Team Roster Note: the following is the preseason roster and has been since changed