Grobe: 'We don't have a culture of bad behavior at Baylor University'

Jim Grobe went through his first Big 12 Media Day as Baylor head coach, and emphatically came to the defense of the embattled program.

The 64-year-old took the job in late May after the school dismissed coach Art Briles amid a sexual assault scandal that rocked the university. While Briles, the president, and athletic director are no longer with the school, the assistant coaching staff remains the same. Grobe stressed that decision was one that he made, and one that will help the program's culture.

"We don't have a culture of bad behavior at Baylor University," Grobe said when asked about the assistants staying aboard. "I've had nobody tell me about assistant coaches' misbehavior. If our assistant coaches' conduct had been bad, if anybody told me that, if anybody can come to me and point out that the coaches have not behaved properly then I would have no problems making changes."

Grobe repeatedly raved about the character of the players that remain on the roster and that their best interests were behind his decision to retain the assistants.

"I felt like the best thing we could do for them is try to keep consistency in the coaches, have the same coach in the meeting room, have the same terminology, and try to, you know, put our arms around the players and take care of them," the former Wake Forest frontman said. "Looking back at what this football staff has done, and I'm strictly talking about football right now, they have been very successful and done a great job on the field."

His impassioned defense of Baylor continued when asked how daunting his task is to maintain Briles' impressive on-field performance with implementing a culture change.

"I want to let people know that the majority of our kids are fantastic kids and their programs, the problems that we're dealing with at Baylor or have dealt with at Baylor to this point are probably problems at every university in the country," Grobe said. "I hate to say every one, but I'm guessing most universities are having some of the same issues we've had at Baylor."

The Bears open the season on Sept. 2 against Northwestern State, and a move from the press room to the football field is certainly what the veteran coach is looking forward to.

"I'm probably more excited than any coach in America to get the season started," he said.