Baylor’s defensive front doesn’t need a headline number to know it was a problem last season. The Bears finished with 12 sacks - one per game - and that left them 132nd out of 136 teams in college football. The run defense sagged, the quarterback rarely felt real heat, and the whole line spent too much time chasing the game instead of setting the tone.
That’s the backdrop for Joe Klanderman’s arrival as defensive coordinator. Coming over from Kansas State, he talked in March about building a defense that could dominate and help Baylor win this season, with turnovers and havoc part of the plan.
But on the defensive end side, Carson Hall is looking for something more basic before the splash plays show up: effort that never dips.
“The main goal, to be quite honest with you, is come out of every single game with no loafs,” Hall said. “We're trying to make sure that every game, it's no loafs. Every single play that I'm in is a full speed rep, whether that's practice or in the game.
“We want to make sure that we're a very physical unit, that we play with our hands, we play with physicality, we get off blocks, and we pride ourselves in being able to affect the quarterback. You know, not necessarily numerical goals, but as long as we can come out of every single game and say that we had no loafs, we played with physicality, and we affected the quarterback, that's the ultimate goal for my guys.”
Baylor’s defensive line has been reworked heading into 2026, and there are pieces in place that should change the feel up front. Hosea Wheeler is cleared to play most, if not all, of the season on the interior, and Jamaal Whyce and Kamren Washington are expected to play major roles there as well.
The pass-rush help didn’t stop inside. Ryan Davis and Garrick Ponder could both line up at JACK and slide to defensive end, while Zavion Hardy arrived from South Carolina and Jordan Mack also joined through the portal.
That’s the kind of group fans are hoping can turn pressure into production. Hall, though, isn’t chasing sacks as the first order of business. He sees pressure as something that can come from any spot on the field, and his job is to keep teaching, refining, and pushing the room toward the right rep.
“I think the biggest part of it is just studying the game to see how pass rushing evolves,” said Hall. “I like to spend a lot of time in the offseason studying not just different players, but also different coaches of how they teach pass rush, trying to evolve my own teaching in pass rush to try to make sure I'm giving guys all the tools they need as a coach to get better as pass rushers, but also studying, you know, hey, what pressures are hitting home?
“It’s not necessarily always D-linemen that are getting sacks. If you're bringing pressures, it could be any of the 11 on the defense.
So just studying ways that schematically teams are getting home and getting to the quarterback. Technically speaking, how are individual players getting there?
But it’s always a 12-month deal of how can I get better as a coach in all facets, not just pass rush, but also run game, all of those things.”
Baylor’s new-look defensive end room gets its first chance to show what it can do in Week 1 against Auburn.
In Other News...
Dave Arandas Baylor Reset Puts Everything On The Line In 2026
Baylor enters the next phase of its rebuild after a season that opened with promise and finished at 5-7, a sharp reminder of how quickly momentum can vanish in college football. The program also has a new voice in the athletic department after parting ways with Mack Rhodes and promoting Doug McNamee, who chose to keep Dave Aranda in place through 2029 as the Bears try to steady themselves and move forward.
The task ahead is sizable. Baylor is rebuilding on both sides of the ball, with multiple transfers coming in and Joe Klanderman taking over as defensive coordinator, but the roster turnover leaves Aranda with a thin base to work from and real questions about how quickly the offense can come together. The defense has to get better against the run, the schedule offers little margin for error, and the Bears know the pressure will only grow if the reset does not start producing wins soon. [Read more 🡒]
Baylors Defensive Front Suddenly Looks More Important Than Expected
Baylors defensive front has picked up an extra layer of intrigue this week, with the units depth suddenly looking like a storyline worth watching as camp unfolds. Defensive ends coach Carson Hall has already stressed how much Hosea Wheeler means to the rotation, and he also pointed to the defensive tackle room as a group with enough bodies to give the Bears some flexibility up front.
Among the pieces helping shape that outlook is Ryan Davis, the Kansas State transfer who arrives with experience in the system and a reputation for being able to settle things on the field and in the huddle. Baylor has been building toward a front that can hold up over the course of the season, and the combination of established experience and added competition could make the Bears more difficult to project than they first appeared. [Read more 🡒]