Baylor's Mack Rhoades Calls Out Dana Holgorsen for 'Chirping' over Postponement

Baylor University athletic director Mack Rhoades expressed disappointment in Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen to SicEm365 Radio in Waco, Texas, on Tuesday after the Cougars coach criticized Baylor for the postponement of a game between the two teams on September 19.

"Yeah, you know, I'll be candid, I'm disappointed in their head coach and the chirping," Rhoades said (h/t ESPN's Sam Khan Jr.). "And I let the [Houston athletic director] know it. And, you know, in my opinion, [it's] not professional, but we'll move on and we'll move forward."

Baylor called off the game a day before kickoff because of a shortage of offensive linemen, according to Max Olson of The Athletic. The Big 12 threshold to play is seven linemen with the Bears having just six available.

Holgorsen expressed frustration with the announcement while talking with reporters Monday:

"You know, I don't know how it gets to 22 hours before the game. We've had four games canceled, so we're kind of used to that. How it gets to 22 hours before the game, I don't know. I mean, there's a reason why our conference and the Big 12 test three times a week. So I would think that our opponent kinda knows where they're at just like we kinda knew where we were at."

Baylor and Houston quickly scheduled their Week 3 matchup after the Cougars' original opponent, the Memphis Tigers, was forced to postpone because of a COVID-19 outbreak. Nearly one day after the Houston-Memphis game was called off, Houston-Baylor was on.

Until it wasn't.

By the time Holgorsen learned the Baylor game was postponed, Houston's equipment truck was already sitting in the parking lot of the Bears' McLane Stadium.

Khan reports that most of the frustration stemmed from a perceived lack of communication from Baylor officials before an official announcement was made.

Yet Baylor's need to postpone didn't stem from an outbreak, but rather a player suspension. Rhoades confirmed a report from Fox Sports' Joel Klatt that the Bears were under the offensive lineman threshold because of a player who was serving a punishment.

Baylor didn't want to undo a suspension and send a wrong message to the player.

"You're starting to think 'Hey, the only way we can do this, is to unsuspend an individual,' and how does that play in for the for the good of, you know, the 110 [players on the roster]?" Rhoades said. "But then you sit there and you think about your moral and your value system. Dave and I probably had three or four different conversations about it. We just finally rested that, you know, that's just not something we're willing to do."