WACO, Texas — It's amazing the difference a year can make.
Last August, Baylor opened fall camp not knowing when it would play a regular-season game.
Friday, Baylor opened fall camp ahead of the 2021 season and there was a noticeable energy inside the Allison Indoor Practice Facility, and not just because football season has returned.
"We're back in our normal meeting spaces," Dave Aranda said Friday. "I'm way excited for that. Our vaccination rate has gone up and up and up and up. We're excited to be back, excited to be in normal spaces. It's a big difference when you're in a room and you've got the attention of everyone."
It was the Bears' first fall practice with new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes and offensive line coach Eric Mateos, both of whom moved from BYU during the off-season.
Aranda said as fall camp continued to draw closer, the team's vaccination rate began to ramp up "toward where we want it," although he wouldn't say what the desired rate or current rate are.
The Bears open the regular season at 6 p.m. Sept. 4th at Texas State.