WACO -- When Baylor hired Matt Rhule as its football coach last December, it ended up finding someone who looked nothing like his predecessor.

Art Briles was fired last spring amid the fallout of the school's sexual assault scandal.

Rhule grew up in Pennsylvania and played linebacker at Penn State, while Briles grew up in Rule, Texas, and played wide receiver at Houston. Unlike Briles, who was a longtime Texas high school football coach and coached at Houston, Rhule had little to no Texas ties when he left Temple to come to Waco.

Perhaps the biggest illustration of the difference between Rhule and Briles is their styles of play. Baylor fans accustomed to watching Briles' fast-paced offenses will have to adjust to a much slower style of play this fall.

"We'll be a team that mixes its tempos as opposed to a team that goes ultra [fast] all the time," Rhule said after the team's first preseason practice in late July.

Last year, Baylor was sixth in the country in yards per game (522.7) and third in the country in total plays, with an average of 85.2 per game. Meanwhile, Temple ran an average of 69 plays per game, a number that would have been next to last in the Big 12.

The stark difference in offenses is something that Rhule seemed to be aware of as soon as he started recruiting for Baylor.

In December, Rhule tweeted out how Temple's 14.33 yards per catch last season was better than any offense in Texas. He added the #BigPlayBU hashtag, a selling point to recruits that big plays could be made despite the philosophical change.

After the team's first practice, Rhule said Baylor will not be the only school slowing things down a bit.

"A lot of teams that were once all fast have gone to mixing the tempos a little bit," Rhule said.

Changing speeds isn't the only way Rhule plans to make his mark on the Bears.

Slowing down the pace of games could have additional benefits. Last season, Baylor led the Big 12 in most first downs allowed via penalty. Rhule said he wants this year's group to be one that doesn't beat itself.

"I think we averaged about 10 penalties a game last year," Rhule said. "That to me is a habit in a practice. I want to see guys doing the right thing in practice, even if they're going to get beat, and show real competitiveness."

The offense isn't the only unit that's had to adapt to a new way of doing things.

Senior safety Taion Sells said new defensive coordinator Phil Snow, who was with Rhule at Temple, has given the team a lot more homework to study this summer.

"With the old coaching staff, it was a little packet, but the calls were based off formations and stuff like that," Sells said. "Now we have to learn a whole playbook."

Between the new defense, a slower offense and everything around Baylor, the program looks nothing like it did under Briles.

Since Rhule took over, the on-field changes have been overshadowed by Rhule's comments of fixing the off-field culture that ultimately outweighed all of the school's success under Briles.

The new coach's most memorable comment from Big 12 media days came when he was asked why he's addressing the program's past head-on, something the previous coaching staff shied away from.

"If we don't talk about it," Rhule said, "if we don't learn from it, then what was the point of it? I want to move forward, but I want to move forward always acknowledging the past."

As the season opener on Sept. 2 against Liberty approaches, the football aspect of the transition will begin to move into the spotlight.

Despite the change in coaches and philosophies, Baylor senior offensive lineman Mo Porter said some things about the Bears' team will still look the same to those inside McLane Stadium this fall.

"It's the same thing -- spread, power, run up [and] hit people in the mouth," Porter said.

Staff writer Chuck Carlton contributed to this report.

Twitter: @Ben_Baby