Baylor’s coaching search is already taking shape, and ESPN has put five names at the center of it after Dave Aranda’s firing.
The list starts with Lincoln Riley, whose résumé is hard to ignore. He’s 97-30 combined at Oklahoma and USC, and the Trojans are climbing back toward the College Football Playoff conversation.
That success is also what makes him such a difficult fit for Baylor. Riley has been strong on the recruiting trail and has USC pointed in the right direction, which means he’d likely come with a massive price tag that could be too steep for the Bears.
Matt Rhule is another name that immediately stands out because of what he already did in Waco. He inherited a Baylor program that was 1-11 in his first year and turned it into an 11-3 team by year three before leaving for the NFL.
The question now is whether Baylor would want to revisit that chapter, especially with Rhule’s Nebraska record sitting at 71-65 and the cost of bringing him back expected to be high. The memory of what he built in 2019 is still there, but it wasn’t enough to keep him in place the first time.
Then there’s Barry Odom, who brings the kind of profile that fits the “young and rising” mold. He’s 37 and has spent a decade at Boise between his time as an assistant and now as a head coach, where he’s gone 31-9.
The catch is geography: his strongest ties are in California and Boise, not Texas. He may not be the first name Baylor circles, but ESPN’s read is that he’d be a real option if he wants the job.
On the Texas-connected side, Jeff Traylor makes a lot of sense on paper. He grew up in Texas, played at Stephen F.
Austin, coached high school football in the state, and spent time as an assistant at Texas and SMU before landing at UTSA. He’s 58-27 there, though the last few seasons have slipped after back-to-back 12-win and 11-win years in 2021 and 2022.
Traylor would probably listen, but the bigger question is whether Baylor donors and fans would see him as a splashy enough hire.
The final name is G.J. Kinne, who also carries deep Texas roots.
He played for Traylor in high school, is 37, and has spent the last four years at Texas State after one season at Incarnate Word. Kinne is 38-21 as a head coach and is viewed as an offensive guru.
Like Traylor, though, the issue is whether Baylor’s fan base would embrace him as the answer.
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Why G.J. Kinne Feels Like Baylors Biggest Coaching Gamble
G.J. Kinne has built a reputation as one of the more intriguing young coaches in the Texas football landscape, first by turning Incarnate Word into a 12-2 team in 2022 with an offense that piled up points, then by helping Texas State string together three straight bowl wins. Those results, paired with his deep Texas roots and family connections to Baylor, make him an easy name to keep in the conversation as the Bears sort through their next move after firing Dave Aranda.
For Baylor, the appeal is obvious: Kinne brings regional familiarity, a track record of quick offensive turnaround and a profile that fits the state as well as the job. The uncertainty is just as obvious, though, because there has been no official hiring reported, leaving the Bears weighing whether a coach with limited power-conference experience is the right swing for a program trying to reset. [Read more 🡒]
Baylors Next Coaching Decision Just Got Even More Important
Dave Arandas next move is already shaping up to be one of the more interesting subplots in Baylors coaching search. After being fired following a 4-3 start, Aranda is reportedly working toward a return to LSU in an analyst-type role, a reminder of how closely his career remains tied to the program where he once built his reputation as one of the sports top defensive minds.
For Baylor, the timing only adds another layer to an already important decision. Joe Klanderman is guiding the Bears on an interim basis while the school looks for a permanent head coach, and Arandas possible landing spot underscores just how much the Bears are trying to reset after a season that never fully stabilized. The search now carries even more weight, because the next hire will have to define what comes after Aranda, not just replace him. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Just Raised A Bigger Question Than Last Week's Collapse
Iowa States offense has been doing enough to keep the Cyclones in the thick of the Big 12 conversation, and that alone has changed the feel of the league race in a hurry. Colorado finally found its first conference win, Baylor steadied itself after a coaching change with a significant victory, and the conference suddenly looks a lot less predictable than it did a week ago.
For Baylor, the timing matters because the Bears are trying to turn one strong response into something more durable while the rest of the league keeps shifting around them. Oklahoma States defensive issues only add to the uncertainty, and the next stretch will tell whether Baylors bounce-back was a one-off or the start of a real climb in a conference that is already forcing new questions every Saturday. [Read more 🡒]