By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
Wide receivers coach Dallas Baker has never been shy about the expectations for his room. With a healthy balance of experienced veterans and rising stars, his goals for the team in the passing game are higher than ever before.
Before the 2024 season, Baker hyped up his room with an in-room competition to see who could win the Biletnikoff trophy, an award given to the nation’s best wide receiver. But even with the biggest goals, he still looks forward to the subtle miscues because they offer a path to be even better.
“For me as a coach, I love that the mistakes are my job to fix,” Baker said. “That’s why I’m getting paid. If they had it figured out, they wouldn’t need me.”
Redshirt senior Josh Cameron smashed Baker’s expectations, becoming the 10th player in Baylor history to haul in at least 10 receiving touchdowns in a season last year. After leading the team in catches (52), yards (754) and touchdowns (10), Cameron is looking to build on his breakout and cement himself as one of the best wideouts in the Big 12.
But inside the locker room, Baker expects Cameron to be a captain of the offense with the departure of vocal wideout Hal Presley.
“For Josh, he made plays, but now it’s time for [him] to be a vocal leader,” Baker said. “I don’t believe in the ‘lead by example’ thing. Anybody could do that. Now it’s time for him to take that next step and be more of a vocal leader.”
The Bears also brought back sixth-year Ashtyn Hawkins, who finished second on the team in receptions (45) and yards (478) in 2024. He will join former Texas State teammate and senior transfer Kole Wilson as a speedy, explosive weapon for the offense.
“[I chose Baylor], for one, the family environment,” Wilson said. “For two, I had a former teammate, Ashtyn Hawkins, who plays here and excelled in the offense, and he was just telling me, ‘This is the place I need to be.’ We run a similar offense — pretty much the same offense — as I ran at Texas State. So it’s really easy to pick up.”
Looking to add another senior starter in the transfer portal, the Bears picked up a commitment from Alabama’s Kobe Prentice in addition to Wilson. Prentice hauled in 60 receptions across three years with the Crimson Tide, and the stability and opportunity to make an impact with the green and gold swayed him to Waco.
He said the hard work is already paying off.
“I like the mindset here,” Prentice said. “Everybody wants the same thing, and everybody works hard, and I like it … I grew up in the church, so really everybody around me pushing me to become closer to God before football, which is allowing me to thrive in football. So that’s the best part about it.”
Outside of veteran returners, Baker said he was excited for the next steps he anticipated from sophomore Jadon Porter. The former four-star recruit out of Lorena saw action in seven games and earned the nickname “Rook” from Baker after a productive season.
“He’s gonna get mad at me because I told him don’t tell anyone, and so his mom keeps telling me to change his nickname,” Baker said. “I don’t call him ‘Rook’ because he’s young. I actually call him ‘Rook’ because the first time I saw him, I said, ‘This kid is gonna play in the NFL one day.’”
“I’m extremely hard on him, but Jadon’s name and his picture are going to be all over the school by the time he leaves here.”
A freshman class of Jacorey Watson, Taz Williams Jr and Ashton Jones, as well as redshirt freshmen Mason Dossett, Jackson Baird and Daniel Edeni provide stable youth depth to a rather veteran room.
“[Taz] is not the only young guy we have, Ashton Jones is making plays, too,” Baker said. “That young man is going to be really, really, really good because he does some things and I’m just like, ‘Dang, I didn’t even teach that.’ And then Jacory is just a natural.”
“I told those guys, if we can get the 2026 class with this 2025 class of receivers, Baylor will be like they were back in the day when they were called ‘Wide Receiver U,’” Baker said.
The Bears will practice again on Thursday as they work their way toward the Baylor Blitz on April 26 at McLane Stadium.
