Dave Aranda’s run at Baylor is over.
The former LSU defensive coordinator, one of the key architects of the Tigers’ 2019 national championship team, was fired Sunday after Baylor’s 4-3 start and 2-2 mark in the Big 12. Aranda is in his seventh season in Waco, and the move comes after a stretch that included a 5-7 season in 2025 and a 3-6 campaign in 2025, giving him three losing seasons in the last four. His first year in the COVID season also finished below .500 at 2-7.
Baylor’s loss at Kansas on Saturday, a 25-24 defeat, was the final blow. The Jayhawks entered at 2-4 and 0-3, and the win snapped a 14-game losing streak to Baylor that dated back to 2007. Defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman, whom Aranda hired after last season from Kansas State, will serve as interim coach.
Aranda is expected to receive a $12 million buyout, with his contract set to run through the 2029 season.
His coaching path to Baylor was built on a long track record as a defensive designer. LSU hired him away from Wisconsin after the 2015 season, following three years there in which his defenses ranked among the nation’s best. Before that, he posted strong numbers as defensive coordinator at Utah State in 2012 and at Hawaii in 2010 and 2011.
At LSU, Aranda quickly became a favorite. When Les Miles was fired early in the 2016 season and replaced by Ed Orgeron, there was no doubt Orgeron would keep Aranda. He did, and Aranda stayed through the 15-0 national championship season, with Orgeron regularly praising him along the way.
Aranda left LSU the day after the Tigers beat Clemson, 42-25, on Jan. 13, 2020, in the College Football Playoff national championship game at the Superdome to take the Baylor head coaching job.
Baylor gave Aranda real momentum in 2021, when he led the Bears to an 11-2 regular season and a 7-2 Big 12 record. LSU was looking for a coach late that season, and Aranda’s name was heavily discussed before the Tigers hired Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly.
Baylor then finished that year at 12-2 after Aranda beat Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin, 21-7, in the Sugar Bowl and closed the season No. 5 in the Associated Press poll. That 12-win finish remains the best in Baylor history.
The Bears could not hold that level. Baylor went 6-7 in 2022, 4-5 in 2023, then 3-9 and 2-7 across the next two seasons before rebounding to 8-5 and 6-3 in 2024. After finishing his Baylor tenure at 40-40, Aranda saw this season start 4-1 before back-to-back losses to TCU and Kansas.
Aranda becomes the third FBS head coach fired this season, following Maryland’s dismissal of Mike Locksley last week and North Carolina State’s firing of Dave Doeren on Saturday.
In Other News...
LSUs Auburn Grades Exposed Whos Fueling This Surge And Who Isnt
LSUs 38-17 win over Auburn came with another strong mark from Pro Football Focus, as the Tigers posted an overall team grade of 83.6 for the second straight week above 80. That kind of consistent grading matters because it suggests the performance was not just a one-off bounce, but a sign that LSU is starting to stack complete games on both sides of the ball.
The individual numbers help explain why. Jackson Harris led the way with a 90.2 grade, while DJ Pickett also stood out at 84.6, giving LSU impact plays at key spots. On the other end, Tre Brown and William Satterwhite II landed near the bottom of the chart, a reminder that even in a convincing win, there are still areas the Tigers will want to clean up as the schedule moves on. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Is Climbing But One Thing Still Stands Between The Tigers And The Playoff
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For LSU, the bigger picture is clear: the Tigers are climbing, and the landscape around them is helping. With so many teams in the mix taking losses, the path to the playoff looks a little more favorable on paper, even if the Tigers still have work to do to keep moving in the right direction. Oklahoma State, Iowa and Texas Tech are among the teams facing potential movement as well, making this one of those weeks when the rankings could tell as much about survival as they do about success. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs New Backcourt Just Changed The Feel Around This Team
For the first time with its full roster on the floor, LSU gave a clearer glimpse of what this team might look like this season in an exhibition against Florida State. The Tigers came up short 89-87, but the game still offered plenty of reasons for optimism, especially with the new backcourt starting to take shape and the offense showing more rhythm than it has at other points in the preseason.
Donovan Dent and Skyy Clark were the headliners, with Dent finishing with 24 points and nine assists and Clark adding 21 points and eight rebounds. Those numbers mattered less than the way the two seemed to steady LSU throughout the night, a promising sign for a team that appears to have more balance and shot-making than it did a year ago. The real test starts November 3 against LSU New Orleans Privateers, but the feel around this group has already changed. [Read more 🡒]