The coaching carousel is moving fast as October winds down, and Baylor has joined the action.
Pete Thamel of ESPN reported Sunday morning that the Bears had parted ways with Dave Aranda. Baylor sits at 40-40 in Aranda’s seventh season, and the program’s last two weeks proved costly after a 4-1 start.
That early stretch gave Baylor real hope. The Bears’ lone loss was a narrow one to Auburn, decided by a failed two-point conversion. But the momentum vanished quickly with a 17-6 home loss to TCU, then a blown fourth-quarter lead at Kansas.
Aranda’s firing stands out for another reason, too: he is the first Baylor coach to be removed for poor on-field results in nearly 20 years. Art Briles was fired with cause in 2016 after an investigation into the handling of sexual assault allegations. Jim Grobe retired after one season as interim coach in 2017, and Matt Rhule left in 2020 for the Carolina Panthers.
So where does Baylor go next? A few names already fit the profile.
Jeff Traylor has made UTSA one of the steadier programs in the Group of Six over seven seasons. The Roadrunners are 58-27 under him and were 7-1 after their first eight games this year, sitting atop the American Conference standings.
Traylor also brings deep Texas roots, having spent 25 years in the state’s high school football ranks before moving into college coaching. His first two assistant jobs were at Texas and SMU.
Jason Eck has become one of the hottest names outside the Power Four. Before taking over at New Mexico, he led Idaho to a 26-13 run across three seasons that included seven-, nine- and 10-win finishes.
The Lobos went 9-? in 2025, their best mark in nearly a decade, and their only loss came in a 14-6 defensive fight at Oklahoma.
He has also built a reputation with lively press conferences and an animated sideline presence.
Charles Huff is another coach with a track record of winning wherever he has landed. Marshall chose not to renew his contract after 2024, even though he had just won the Sun Belt Championship game.
He then moved to Southern Miss, where the Golden Eagles went 7-5 under him in 2025. Memphis then came calling to replace Ryan Silverfield, and the Tigers are 6-2 with losses at Boise State and Tulane through eight games.
Lincoln Riley brings the kind of offensive pedigree that could make sense in Waco. USC is 6-2 after a rough loss at Wisconsin, and if the Trojans stumble further against Ohio State, Indiana and UCLA, his future there could come into question.
Baylor’s best teams over the last 15 years have leaned on explosive offenses, especially during the Art Briles era, and Riley has repeatedly kept Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff conversation with that sort of attack in the Big 12. Like Traylor, he also has strong ties to Texas.
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Oklahoma State Has New Names Pushing For Bigger Roles After Colorado
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Braydon Nelsons rise is one of the cleaner examples of that momentum, and William Mason added to it by scoring his first touchdown while carving out more snaps through his special teams work. LaDainian Fields helped the defense with interceptions, Lawson came up with a key play, and the depth chart still has a few questions attached to it, including the status of Ayo Adeyi, making this one of those weeks where the box score only tells part of the story. [Read more 🡒]