Although I despise the game of golf, I’ve always loved the movie “Bagger Vance”. The film focuses on golfer Rannulph Junuh and his relationship with the mysterious caddy Bagger Vance. Vance becomes something of a mentor and healer as Junuh recovers from his World War I PTSD through golfing. At the end of the movie, Vance leaves Junuh once he realizes the golfer no longer needs him and has grown on his own. While the film is just a movie, I truly believe that Coach Grobe has been the “Bagger Vance” for the 2016 Baylor football program. He stepped into one of the most difficult positions in the country without anything to gain and handled every step with grace and poise. While Coach Grobe could have been enjoying a peaceful retirement traveling and relaxing, he instead chose to put himself in the eye of a hurricane because he wanted to help the boys on the team. With every loss, Grobe reminded everyone that his sole purpose this year was to care for the players and help them through a difficult time. And just as quickly as he came, he left. Coach Grobe coached his final game of his career as Baylor defeated Boise State in the Cactus Bowl (recap coming tomorrow). Baylor nation will never be able to repay Coach Grobe for all he has done to help the school and the players so for now, we say thank you. Thank you for receiving undeserved criticism and backlash and defending the boys who chose to stay. Thank you for being a class act and teaching us all what it means to be a good person. Thank you for spending the last season of your coaching career in Waco. Thank you for being there for Baylor football when no one else wanted to. I hope the sunset takes you to far greater heights than you could ever imagine. You will be missed more than you’ll ever know.
