Baylor coach search reportedly includes Cal’s Sonny Dykes and SMU’s Chad Morris

Interim coach Jim Grobe will not be Baylor’s head coach in 2017 and beyond, so the biggest question on the field is just who will be.

It seemed last week that SMU head coach Chad Morris was firmly in the crosshairs of those in power at Baylor. But that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore, according to 247Sports.

We were told Sunday by those close to the search that Baylor and Morris are moving on. Sources said the once-promising negotiations hit a snag along the way for two reasons: Morris’ desire for another in-state job driving the price tag - and, on Baylor’s end, it was a price and a coaching prospect that suddenly seemed less palatable after watching Navy score 10 offensive touchdowns on 10 possessions against the Mustangs. (Navy also had a pick 6 to get to 75 points.)

With Morris most likely out, the names we’re hearing most often are North Carolina’s Larry Fedora, Colorado’s Mike MacIntyre and Cal’s Sonny Dykes.

The report also says Morris, a Texas A&M alum, may have a wandering eye to the situation at A&M and what might not happen to Kevin Sumlin. And there have since been conflicting reports on whether Morris has turned down interest or not.

You can get your head around Sonny Dykes if you’re a Baylor booster or decision maker because of the obvious scheme connection.

Dykes is an air raid coach with deep Texas ties (he’s a native who played and coach at Texas Tech, where his dad, Spike, was the school’s second all-time winningest coach), and the personnel the Bears have on the roster for next year would fit like a glove. Dykes also helped rebuild the Cal football program’s academic standards.

He’s long been rumored to be looking for a way back into Texas and has interviewed for multiple jobs while at Cal. ESPN reported Wednesday night that the search is focused on Dykes, and that Morris is indeed out of the running.

He’s only 19-30 as a Power 5 head coach, but went 8-5 last year with No. 1 draft pick Jared Goff.

Fedora’s a Texas native and spread-offense coach whose main connection to the Bears is the fact that he used to coach at Baylor in the 1990s. While he’s become a hot name in this year’s coaching carousel, there’s a tangible link to Waco.

As for MacIntyre, he’s shown that he can turn a flailing program around at San Jose State and Colorado. He’s got the Buffaloes in a conference championship game this weekend two years removed from a 2-10 campaign. But CU would fight hard to keep him, he doesn’t have clear connections to the state of Texas, and he’s already got a better situation.

The wake of sexual assault scandal has seen many high school recruits steer clear of Waco. SB Nation recruiting analyst Bud Elliott talked about the type of recruiting challenges the new Baylor coach will face.

“From 2012-15, 15 percent of Baylor’s signees were rated four- or five-stars, a trend that was rapidly increasing as the Bears established themselves as a program. But after the scandal, Baylor’s 2016 signing class was slashed to just 17 members, with only one blue-chipper. 2017 is even worse. Baylor has just two commitments, and there is zero chatter about BU’s chances at top prospects.

“Even if the new staff hits the ground running, which it won’t, the 2016-17 classes are going to set Baylor back on the field significantly.”

As of Sunday, Baylor had one recruit committed to its 2017 recruiting class with Signing Day rapidly approaching.