By Dylan Fink | Sports Writer
The doors of McLane Stadium were opened to the public Saturday for the first time since November, when fans left disgruntled at the lackluster ending of the 2025 season. Baylor football hoped to restore any lost excitement for the program this weekend, as their spring practice campaign came to an end with a showcase open to the public.
“This one was so different,” redshirt senior defensive end Kyler Jordan said. “It’s crazy that it is my fourth and final one, but this spring has been so awesome … It was great to get to show off everything we’ve done for the fans here, too.”
The event was a single-hour version of the standard practice for the Bears, which mostly consisted of a variety of one-on-one drills with the occasional seven-on-seven matchup between the two sides of the ball.
Baylor fans should look forward to seeing a noticeable change in the defense approach heading into the 2026 season under new defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman.
“I’m really excited for the defense, man,” junior quarterback DJ Lagway said. “They got a lot better throughout the spring, and we’re going to need those guys down the road. I’m excited to see their growth continue into the season.”
The defense stole the show at Saturday’s showcase, with the defensive line and defensive back groups dominating their one-on-one matchups.
“I feel like just as a unit and as a defense we’ve really come together under Klanderman,” senior safety Micah Gifford said. “From trying to take things from the meeting room and put them on the field, I think it’s all been really good. This spring we’ve actually been getting better every single day.”
During a seven-on-seven drill, the thin McLane crowd repeatedly groaned as passes were deflected time and time again by the ball-hawking safeties.
The dedicated fans in attendance were given the opportunity to roar as redshirt freshman wide receiver Taz Williams Jr. brought down a head-tapping catch over his defender from Lagway.
“Man, I just go out there and play ball and do what I do,” Lagway said. “At the end of the day, we’re focused on one day at a time and just being in the moment of all this that’s going here around us.”
The Florida transfer had voiced throughout the spring campaign his desire to become a team leader heading into the fall. Drill after drill, Lagway’s voice could be heard encouraging both his offense and the defense.
“I’m excited to get back in the lab with all these guys and just be a leader,” Lagway said. “I feel like going into summer now, I’ve kind of established myself as a leader, and I want to push that more on both sides of the ball … not just the offensive side.”
As the spring practice period has now closed for the Bears, the one theme that was prevalent throughout every position group was finding the fun in football. Following the emotional grind of the previous season, the Bears seem to have decided that if they can have fun on the field, success will follow.
“We’ve been having a lot of fun this spring for sure,” redshirt junior cornerback LeVar Thornton Jr. said. “It’s a fun competition … I know me and DJ, we’ve been going at it every day, and it’s been a blast. It’s just like that diamonds and pressure quote, or however it goes; we’ve just been working every day and enjoying it.”
Now with spring practice over, Baylor looks toward the summer to keep preparing for the fall. The Bears will begin their season against Auburn on Sept. 5 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
