Robert Griffin III has made his stance pretty clear: if Baylor keeps rolling, Joe Klanderman ought to be the man in charge.
The former Baylor star and 2011 Heisman winner said on social media, “If Baylor wins out the rest of the season, Joe Klanderman should be the head coach.” He doubled down on that idea after the Bears picked up wins over UCF and Iowa State, and he’s been vocal enough about the opening that he even reached out to Baylor athletic director Doug McNamee to offer his own services.
Baylor’s coaching search opened up after Dave Aranda was fired following the 25-24 loss to Kansas. Klanderman was elevated to interim head coach soon after, and since then the conversation around the program has centered on whether the Bears already have their next permanent coach in-house.
Klanderman, speaking in his first media availability as interim head coach back in October, said he would welcome the chance to become Baylor’s next full-time coach, but he also made it clear he wasn’t going to campaign for the job. That leaves the rest of the season as his best sales pitch, and Baylor still has plenty to play for.
The Bears are 6-3 and still have a path to the Big 12 title game. Their final stretch starts with a road trip to CFP No.
10 BYU, then they return to Waco to face No. 12 Texas Tech before finishing the regular season on the road against No.
14 Houston. Those three games will test Baylor’s mettle, and they also give the Bears a chance to spoil the plans of three ranked teams with playoff hopes of their own.
Griffin pointed to what Klanderman has already done with the defense as part of the case. He noted, “The defense is currently 2nd in the country in total sacks 37 sacks, and 3rd in the country with 80 tackles for loss”. Those numbers are well ahead of Baylor’s 2025 totals without Klanderman as defensive coordinator, when the Bears finished with 12 sacks and 48 tackles for loss.
That production has come with Baylor opening the season’s first eight games without allowing more than 25 points to an opponent, another piece of the resume Griffin is leaning on. If the Bears finish the regular season 5-0 after Aranda’s firing, Griffin believes the decision should be straightforward.
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Baylors Upset Chances At BYU Come Down To One Lingering Problem
Baylor heads into its first ranked matchup of the season with three regular-season games left, and the timing could hardly be more important. Interim head coach Joe Klanderman and tight end coach Jarrett Anderson have both pointed to the same theme in recent days: the Bears need cleaner offensive execution if they want to give themselves a real shot against No. 10 BYU, especially when drives reach the red zone or when space opens up in the field.
The challenge is bigger than just finishing chances, though. Baylor has to avoid the kind of slow starts and self-inflicted penalties that can tilt a game before it settles in, and the emphasis this week has been on playing with energy while keeping things under control. Against a ranked opponent that can punish mistakes quickly, the Bears know the margin for error is thin, and one lingering issue could decide whether they can turn this into a true upset opportunity. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Faces A Huge Big 12 Test With Its Offense Under Pressure
Baylor heads to Provo on Nov. 14 for a Big 12 game that carries real weight in the conference race, with both teams sitting tied in the standings and the stakes rising for anyone still thinking about a championship path. BYU enters as a 7.5-point favorite at LaVell Edwards Stadium, but the Bears have enough of their own to make this more than a road trip, especially with interim coach Joe Klanderman trying to keep the group steady and quarterback DJ Lagway at the center of it all.
BYUs side of the matchup has its own pressure points, starting with quarterback Bear Bachmeier and the uncertainty around running back LJ Martins health. For Baylor, the opening is obvious: if the Bears can make the Cougars uncomfortable and keep the game from turning into a clean BYU script, they can turn a tough road spot into a meaningful conference statement. [Read more 🡒]
Baylors Season Suddenly Feels Very Different Under Joe Klanderman
With three weeks left in the regular season, Baylors season has suddenly taken on a different shape under interim coach Joe Klanderman. The Bears have won two straight, locked up bowl eligibility and kept themselves alive in the Big 12 championship race, a turnaround that has given the program a much more meaningful finish than it seemed likely to have not long ago.
The league around them only adds to the intrigue. Utah remains unbeaten and on track for the conference title game, while the Big 12s depth is showing in the College Football Playoff rankings, which feature six league teams in the Top 25. There has also been plenty of movement elsewhere, from Drew Mestemakers record-setting day for Oklahoma State against Kansas State to the uncertainty now hanging over TCU, and Baylor is suddenly part of a crowded, volatile race that still has room to shift again. [Read more 🡒]