As the shock of the injury to Seth Russell began to wear off and the reality that Jarrett Stidham was now the Bears quarterback for the foreseeable future, there seemed to emerge two threads on our new quarterback: 1) he’s a true freshman and people don’t think true freshman can’t take a team all the way and, 2) Stidham isn’t your average true freshman. He doesn’t think like a true freshman, act like a true freshman, or play like one. This comes from sources we tend to believe: The coaches and players. Instead of talking about the first, I feel that the why behind the second thread is far more interesting. What makes people gush with praise about him when he’s been on Baylor’s campus for less than a year?

I decided to turn to Greg Tepper, one of the state’s leading experts on high school football. He graciously agreed to return to the podcast to discuss Stid’s skillsets and what we can expect from the quarterback. And then we proceeded to talk about that and basically everything else, too.

Be forewarned: this podcast is long. Sorry. It’s also all over the place. How quickly it went off the rails (10 minutes before I hit the record button) can only be described as Isbearian. Expect a true cold open because we just got right to the discussions and I realized it was good audio, so I hit the record button. Anyway, here’s what we’re talking about:

• The blog’s humble yet auspicious beginnings
• Conference realignment (huh)
• Dave Campbell pops up everywhere
• Candy Corn (we had to)
• Jarrett Stidham, his abilities, and what causes others to lavish him with praise at this stage
• ACC vs. Big 12 Refs
• Mark and Tepper talk more about how TCU & Baylor “are the same” - ready your emails and pitchforks
• The Art Briles heel turn
• International soccer… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
• Television’s Greg Tepper
• The Big 4 of the Big 12
• GP’s end-of-game handshake with Dana Hologram

There’s a lot packed into this episode, folks. I hope you enjoy it.