Baylor made its move on Sunday morning, ending Dave Aranda’s run in Waco one day after the Bears fell to Kansas.
The firing comes with college football’s coaching carousel already gaining speed. Maryland moved on from Mike Locksley earlier in the week, and NC State followed Saturday after a rough loss to Stanford and let Dave Doeren go as well.
For Baylor, the Kansas loss landed like a final strike. It was the kind of game the Bears needed to handle, and the kind Aranda badly needed to win. Instead, Baylor dropped to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play, and the result made the College Football Playoff feel out of reach.
Joe Klanderman, Baylor’s defensive coordinator, will serve as interim head coach the rest of the season.
Aranda’s Baylor tenure closes at 40-40 over seven seasons, a perfectly even mark that says plenty about how it went. The Bears did have one major high point - a 12-2 season in 2021 that ended in the Sugar Bowl - but beyond that, the program never truly looked like it was building toward sustained success.
The timing of the move also follows a change in the athletic department, with Baylor Athletic Director Mack Rhoades stepping down last year.
Aranda’s next landing spot may not be as a head coach at this level, but he should not be short on interest. He was the defensive architect behind LSU’s 2019 defense, a unit that helped power one of the best seasons in college football history.
Now the focus shifts to Baylor’s search, and that’s where things get interesting. The Bears’ upside in the Big 12 could hinge on it. Programs across Texas - from the Longhorns to Texas A&M and SMU - have embraced the new era of college football, and Baylor could decide to make a real splash of its own if it chooses to spend at a high level.
For Baylor, NC State and Maryland, the bigger hope is that this coaching cycle doesn’t spiral further. If the heavyweight jobs keep opening, the market could tighten fast. If not, simply being a Power 4 school may still give each program a solid shot at finding its next coach.
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Baylor Let A Wild Finish Turn Into One Brutal Collapse
Baylor had control deep into the fourth quarter, and for much of the afternoon it looked like the Bears had put themselves in position to leave Lawrence with a win. But Kansas kept hanging around long enough for the game to swing in a hurry, and a matchup that had tilted Baylors way turned into a gut-punch finish on the Jayhawks' homecoming stage.
The collapse stung even more because it came with so much happening around the edges of the game, from Matthew Gills critical punt to a controversial officiating call that wiped out a sack and a Kansas offense that struggled to find consistent footing. In the end, the Jayhawks turned an 11-point deficit into a comeback and snapped a 14-game skid against Baylor, leaving the Bears to sort through how a win slipped away in the final moments. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Just Entered A Defining Coaching Search
Baylor has moved into a new era after parting ways with Dave Aranda following a loss in the 2026 season, ending a seven-season run that left him with a 40-40 record. The university wasted little time in making the change, with defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman stepping in as interim head coach while the search begins for the programs next leader.
Athletic director Doug McNamee framed the decision as both a farewell and a reset, thanking Aranda for what he brought to the Bears while signaling that the focus now shifts to finding a replacement. For Baylor, this is more than a routine change on the sideline, it is a defining coaching search that will shape the direction of the program well beyond this season. [Read more 🡒]
Baylors Next Coaching Hire Could Decide DJ Lagways Future
Dave Arandas dismissal sent Baylor into an important stretch, with defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman taking over as interim head coach for the final five games of the season. Beyond the immediate search for stability, the bigger issue for the Bears is what kind of leader they bring in next, because the hire could shape the direction of the offense and the programs most important player.
DJ Lagway still has eligibility remaining through 2027, but his future in Waco is not locked in, and Baylors next move could matter just as much as any result down the stretch. An offensive-minded coach would seem to fit the need to maximize his potential, and early names in the mix include G.J. Kinne, Jason Eck and Jeff Traylor, giving the Bears a decision that reaches well beyond this season. [Read more 🡒]