After taking over at Baylor prior to last season, Art Briles has begun making the Bears into something that resembles a respectable football program once again.
Using his great ties with Texas high school football coaches from his days as the head coach at Stephenville in the late 80s and 90s, Briles has begun to make a name for himself as one of the country's best recruiters of big-time talent.
That continued to show on Wednesday when Allen offensive lineman Luke Burleson gave his oral commitment to play for Briles and the Bears next season. The first day a Class of 2010 recruit can sign a national letter of intent is Feb. 3.
Burleson, who was a key cog in the Allen Eagles' run to a Class 5A Division I state championship last year, is the 77th-ranked offensive tackle in the country in recruiting Web site Rivals.com's positional rankings of the 2010 class.
At 6 foot 6 inches tall and 275 pounds, Burleson has the height to be a dominant tackle in the Big 12, and once he sets foot in a college weight room, he'll put on some serious weight.
But before worrying about the Bears, Burleson will be trying to help the Eagles repeat as state champions, and will be out to protect quarterbacks Matt Brown and Tucker Carter (whoever they use).
Adam Boedeker is a sports writer/award-winning blogger for the Denton Record-Chronicle. He got his fill of good Mexican food in San Angelo.
