Baylor moved on from Dave Aranda on Sunday morning, ending a seven-year run that never fully got off the ground after Saturday’s loss to Kansas.
The firing came one day after the Bears dropped a game they badly needed, a defeat that pushed Baylor to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play. That result all but knocked the team out of the College Football Playoff conversation and proved to be the last straw for a coach who had spent years hanging on by the narrowest of margins.
Baylor defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman will serve as the interim head coach for the rest of the season.
The numbers tell the story of Aranda’s time in Waco. After Saturday, he leaves with a 40-40 record, a perfectly even mark that mirrors a tenure defined more by near-misses than momentum. The exception came in 2021, when Baylor went 12-2 and reached the Sugar Bowl, but the program never managed to turn that high point into lasting traction.
Aranda’s exit also comes in the middle of wider change around college football. Maryland moved on from Mike Locksley earlier in the week, and NC State fired Dave Doeren after a bad loss to Stanford on Saturday. Baylor’s decision adds another major opening to a coaching market that is already starting to heat up.
For Aranda, a new job might not take long to surface. He built the 2019 LSU defense and played a major role in one of the most dominant seasons in college football history, a résumé that could keep him in demand even if his next stop is not as a head coach at this level.
What Baylor does next will matter. The school is heading into a search that could shape its standing in the Big 12, especially as programs across Texas, from the Longhorns to Texas A&M and SMU, have embraced the new spending era in college football. With resources available, Baylor could try to make a splash of its own.
The bigger hope for Baylor, NC State, and Maryland is that the rest of this coaching cycle stays manageable. If the biggest jobs start opening up, the pool of candidates could shrink fast. If not, just being a Power 4 school may be enough to give each program a real shot at landing the right fit.
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LSUs Auburn Grades Exposed Whos Fueling This Surge And Who Isnt
LSUs 38-17 win over Auburn came with another strong showing in the grading sheet, as Pro Football Focus gave the Tigers an 83.6 overall mark. It was the second straight week LSU finished above 80, a sign that the offense and defense are both carrying real momentum as the season starts to take shape.
Jackson Harris led the way with a 90.2 grade, while DJ Pickett also landed among the top performers at 84.6. On the other end, Tre Brown and William Satterwhite II were the lowest-graded LSU players, a reminder that even in a comfortable win, there are still a few spots the Tigers will want to clean up before the next test. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Fans Have A New Reason To Revisit Dave Arandas Legacy
Dave Arandas run at Baylor ended with another abrupt reset, as the school moved on from the former LSU defensive coordinator after a 4-3 start in his seventh season. Joe Klanderman was elevated to interim coach, closing a tenure that had produced a 40-40 record and included multiple losing seasons in recent years.
For LSU fans, it is another chance to look back at a coach whose name still carries real weight in Baton Rouge because of what he built on that side of the ball. Aranda is expected to receive a $12 million buyout, a reminder of how costly these coaching changes can be, even as Baylor now searches for a cleaner direction after years of uneven results. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Is Climbing But One Thing Still Stands Between The Tigers And The Playoff
Another wild Saturday across college football is likely to shake up the AP poll, and LSU is sitting in a much better spot because of it. Two previously unbeaten teams lost for the first time this season to unranked opponents, while two one-loss teams also stumbled against unranked foes, opening the door for the Tigers to climb as pollsters reassess the field. Miami still looks locked into No. 1 after another dominant showing, but the churn behind the top spot is exactly the kind of chaos that can help a team like LSU move closer to the conversation that matters most.
For LSU, the bigger picture is still about where it lands in the playoff race and how much ground it can make up with the contenders around it taking hits. Oklahoma State, Iowa and Texas Tech are among the teams facing possible movement after the weekends results, and every reshuffle matters this time of year. The Tigers can benefit from the mess in front of them, but they still need the rankings to break their way before anything feels secure. [Read more 🡒]