Nick Florence, owner of Baylor’s most prolific single-season passing performance, began his college career washing windows.

A record-setting South Garland High School quarterback, Florence was the second signal-caller in then-Baylor head coach Art Briles’ 2008 recruiting class. The other was Robert Griffin III. Briles made Florence a greyshirt, delaying his enrollment with the team until the following January. That way, he’d always have one more year of eligibility than Griffin III. 

Florence signed up for one three-hour course that fall and was barred from the team facilities or even from interacting with the team. He filled his free time with a part-time job at Belle Window Cleaning in Waco. Life as a Division I quarterback was off to a glamorous start.

“I think in life, we all tend to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to,” Florence says with a laugh.

This was only 16 years ago, but it harkens back to stories from another century. Quarterback recruits don’t commit to washing windows when the Transfer Portal and NIL payments provide a quicker path to playing time than ever. But this was how Briles built back Baylor. His run of quarterbacks, from Heisman winner Griffin III to Florence to Bryce Petty to Seth Russell, helped transform Baylor from a program that didn’t make a bowl game from 1995-2005 to the nation’s most dynamic offense. All except Griffin III sat for multiple years.

Three of those quarterbacks went on to NFL careers, but the one who set the record with 4,309 passing yards in a single season never left Waco. Instead, Florence has spent the past decade-plus in Baylor’s athletic department, assuming the role of Associate AD for Major Gifts in June 2019. 

Sometimes, Florence watches the current generation of Baylor football players practicing, but he doesn’t see himself in them. His football career feels like a different life. 

“Watching these guys play football now, it’s kind of weird to think I ever did it or could have done it,” Florence said.

Maybe it’s because every space the current players operate in differs from the one Florence attended. Florence set records at Floyd Casey Stadium, not the McLane Stadium that looms over I-35. The current players work out at a renovated Simpson Weight Room. Soon, they’ll practice at the state-of-the-art Fudge Football Development Center. 

Florence has led the fundraising effort for these projects.His service to Baylor wasn’t exhausted with his eligibility. It was only getting started. Because Nick Florence never defined himself as a quarterback; he defined himself as a man searching for something bigger than himself.

“I don’t think anyone in the fundraising world woke up dreaming about becoming a fundraiser,” Florence said. “It’s kind of through whatever route, however windy it is, that you wind up in this place.”