Dave Aranda looks poised to land back in Baton Rouge, and this time it would be in a different lane than the one that made him a star at LSU.
According to 247Sports and CBS Sports, Aranda is working toward a deal to return to LSU in an analyst-type role as the Tigers chase a spot in the College Football Playoff. Aranda and Lane Kiffin are working toward the arrangement, and Aranda is currently in Baton Rouge, sources told CBS Sports.
That would send Aranda back to the place where he built his reputation. He served as LSU’s defensive coordinator from 2016 through 2019, then helped guide the Tigers’ defense during their 2019 national championship run. By the time he left for the Baylor head coaching job in 2020, he was one of the most coveted names in the sport.
Baylor, meanwhile, is now in its second week without Aranda on the sideline after moving on from him following a 4-3 start and a 25-24 loss to Kansas. The Bears opened the 2026 season 4-1 before dropping back-to-back games to TCU and Kansas.
Aranda’s Baylor run began in 2020 and ended at 40-40 overall. His best stretch came in 2021, when the Bears went 12-2, beat Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship Game and then knocked off Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl.
That peak never really turned into sustained momentum. Even in 2025, Baylor had enough on offense to make noise.
Sawyer Robertson was among the top passers in college football, Michael Trigg and Josh Cameron formed a strong receiving group, and Bryson Washington produced on the ground despite being banged up. Still, the Bears only managed five wins, and the defense never matched the talent around it.
Aranda was given another year, in large part because former athletic director Mack Rhoades had already parted ways with the school.
Now Baylor is moving on, with Joe Klanderman serving as interim head coach and making his case to keep the job permanently. With four games left, he has a real chance to shape that decision. Baylor is also sorting through other candidates as it searches for its next head coach.
Athletic director Doug McNamee laid out the program’s expectations for the hire.
"Our goal for the next Baylor Head Football Coach is simple. We want to bring in someone who will launch a generation of consistent winning. There are certainly non-negotiables when it comes to how we win and represent Baylor and its Christian mission, but it is imperative that we win because there is no substitute for how it fuels our priorities, our goals, and our future..."
Baylor plays Iowa State this weekend.
In Other News...
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 🡒]
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 🡒]
Baylors Special Teams Just Earned A New Reason For National Respect
Palmer Williams has given Baylors special teams a national spotlight, earning a place on the Ray Guy Award Midseason Watch List as one of the countrys top 63 punters. It is the kind of recognition that reflects both consistency and field-position value, and it comes with Williams sitting atop the Big 12 and ranking third nationally in punting average.
The watch list is only the first checkpoint in the race for college footballs top punting honor, with semifinalists and finalists still to come later in the season. For Baylor, though, Williams inclusion is another sign that the Bears have a legitimate weapon in a phase of the game that can quietly swing close contests and change the tenor of a Saturday. [Read more 🡒]