Talking after his first spring game as Baylor's coach, Art Briles offered the following:

"We're healthy. We had a good crowd. It's a beautiful day. It's just a good day to be a Baylor Bear, no doubt."

Ah, the optimism of spring ball.

The real question, of course, remains: Will 2008 be a good year to be a Baylor Bear?

There's a new attitude in Waco, with Briles taking over what has become a losing program and happy with the way things went in his first camp. The Bears weren't exactly a healthy bunch, but they got a lot done as Briles tries to figure out his best 22 for the fall.

A huge question in the new coach's mind has to be the name of the quarterback he'll pick to run the offense. He looked at four of them in the spring game, including fifth-year senior Kirby Freeman, over from Miami, and incoming freshman Robert Griffin, who passed up the chance to defend his state 110- and 300-meter state hurdles championship to graduate early from high school and get right into the mix. Then, of course, there's Blake Szymanski, who put up some big numbers last year, and Tyler Beatty.

That will all be settled in the fall, when Briles welcomes back a team he hopes will be "a really tough football team."

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