Baylor made a change at the top on Sunday morning after a second straight loss pushed the season into a different kind of territory.
The Bears fell 25-24 at Kansas on Saturday, Oct. 24, when a late Baylor field goal was blocked near the end of regulation. The loss ended Baylor’s 14-game winning streak against the Jayhawks and dropped the Bears to 4-3.
By the next morning, the school had moved on from Dave Aranda. Sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel that Baylor fired the seventh-year head coach and named defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman interim head coach for the rest of the regular season.
Aranda’s Baylor run included the high point every program dreams about: a 12-2 season in 2021, a Big 12 title and a Sugar Bowl victory over Ole Miss, the best season in school history. But the momentum from that peak had long since faded. Saturday’s defeat was Baylor’s second in a row, and the pressure had been mounting after a 5-7 finish in 2025.
Aranda leaves with a 40-40 record in seven seasons, including 26-32 in Big 12 play. Four of his first six seasons ended with losing records.
Klanderman now gets the reins on a short week. He arrived at Baylor from Kansas State this year after seven seasons there, including the last six as defensive coordinator.
Thamel reported the hire on Dec. 11, 2025.
His background also includes a successful run at North Dakota State, where he served as defensive backs coach from 2014 to 2018 and helped the Bison win four FCS national championships.
Baylor’s defense has been one of the team’s steadier parts under Klanderman. Through Week 8, the Bears rank second in the Big 12 in total defense at 301.6 yards allowed per game and third in points allowed at 16.1 per game.
His first game as interim head coach comes Friday against UCF.
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Baylor Let A Wild Finish Turn Into One Brutal Collapse
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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.
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