Baylor’s search for Dave Aranda’s replacement is widening fast, and one of the names now in the mix is a familiar one in Waco.
According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Baylor is expected to interview Robert Griffin III for the Bears’ head coach vacancy. Griffin, the former Baylor star and Heisman Trophy winner, recently put himself in the conversation for the job as the program looks to make a hire in the last week of November.
“If Baylor wants to get back to winning and have a university that isn’t just respectable on the football field, but one the fans can be proud of, they need people who know what it looks like to win at Baylor.”
That line came from Griffin as he made his case for the opening, and it fits the obvious appeal here: Baylor fans know exactly what RG3 meant to the program.
His 2011 season remains the centerpiece of that legacy. Griffin threw for 4,293 yards with 37 touchdowns and only six interceptions, then added 699 rushing yards and 10 more scores. Baylor finished with its first 10-win season since 1980 that year.
Griffin’s football résumé after college is a different story. He was selected No. 2 overall by the Washington Redskins in the 2012 NFL Draft, but injuries cut into what followed after his rookie season. Today, he works as a college football analyst for FOX.
The coaching part is where the questions start. Griffin has never coached at the collegiate level, and his only coaching experience is with RGIII Takeover, the rebranded team in Overtime’s seven-on-seven league in 2025. That’s a very different job from running a Big 12 program, and Baylor would need to sort through the obvious learning curve if it seriously pursues him.
There’s also the staff piece. If Baylor were to go down this road, the school would have to invest in the assistants around him.
Griffin’s familiarity with college football and the current landscape could help on the recruiting trail, but the X’s and O’s side would still require strong support on the sideline. That raises the question of whether both Jake Spavital and Joe Klanderman would remain in place.
Griffin recently said Klanderman should be considered for the head coach job after he’s gone 2-0 as the interim head coach. For now, though, it remains to be seen whether this becomes more than a single interview.
In Other News...
Baylors Coaching Search Just Got More Complicated At The Worst Time
Baylors late-season surge has only made the coaching search more delicate. With Joe Klanderman guiding the team on an interim basis after Dave Arandas firing, the Bears have won their last two games and are still alive in the Big 12 Championship race, a run that has kept the focus on the field even as the administration works through its next move. Klanderman has said he wants the permanent job, but he has also made clear he is not pushing his case in the middle of the season.
Now the search is getting even more attention, with reports that Baylor is expected to interview Robert Griffin III for the opening. He is one of several names in the mix, alongside Jeff Traylor and Zach Kittley, and the timing only adds to the intrigue for a program trying to balance immediate momentum with a major decision that could shape its future. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Volleyball Just Delivered The Kind Of Win Fans Remember
No. 23 Baylor volleyball got the kind of result that can change the feel of a season, knocking off No. 7 BYU in four sets and handing the Cougars their first Big 12 loss of the year. The win pushed Baylor to 15-8 overall and 7-6 in conference play, and it came with a little extra weight attached, too, as the Bears delivered their highest-ranked home win since 2021.
Ksenia Rakhmanchik kept driving the offense with her seventh straight match of 20 or more kills, giving Baylor a reliable edge in a match that carried plenty of league implications. It also evened the all-time series with BYU at 3-3, a small but meaningful marker for a program that will take confidence from the way it handled one of the conferences top teams. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Has A Real Shot At BYU If One Thing Finally Clicks
Baylor heads into its matchup with BYU with a real opening to make a statement, and it starts on the defensive side. The Bears have shown more energy and confidence under Klanderman, and that edge matters against a BYU team that has looked less sharp since a marquee win. If Baylor can lean into what has been working, this has the feel of a game where the Bears can hang around long enough to make things interesting late.
The challenge is that Baylor may have to do it from behind, which puts even more pressure on the offense to finally click when the moment arrives. BYUs recent struggles have created a path, but Baylor still has to take advantage of it, and that usually means turning defensive stops into points before the game slips away. It is the kind of matchup where one clean stretch could change the whole feel of the night. [Read more 🡒]