Baylor’s football budget may look healthy on paper, but Dave Aranda just made it clear that the Bears are still playing a financial catch-up game in the Big 12 and beyond.
That came through in a Monday press conference, when Aranda was asked about cutting down on penalties and steered the conversation straight to roster spending instead. He didn’t hide behind coach-speak. He went right at the money.
"That toughness thing, man, we've been talking about that since January, and this was all based upon the money that we can spend," Aranda said. "I hate bringing up money, but I think that's where it starts.
It totally starts there. You look at the offense in the last two years.
We spent a lot of money on that offense, and we're spending a lot of money on this defense right now. And so, I think if you just follow the money, you see where things are at."
The comment landed because it was so direct. Aranda didn’t frame spending as the whole story, but he made it clear that the budget shapes what Baylor can build and where the program has to grind to compensate. He followed that by stressing that money doesn’t guarantee results either way.
"That doesn't mean that you can't play well if you're not spending, and that doesn't mean that you can't play poorly if you are spending," Aranda said. "I think that's where you start. And so, knowing this is what we're spending and everything else, we're going to have to be tough."
The numbers help explain why he sees it that way. According to The Athletic's NIL database, Baylor’s estimated roster budget sits between $20 million and $23 million this year.
That places the Bears fourth among Big 12 schools, but the gap to the top of the league is still massive. Even at the high end of that range, Baylor trails in-state rival Texas Tech by at least $15 million.
The separation from college football’s biggest spenders is even more dramatic. The last three national champions - Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana - are projected to average between $40.3 million and $44.7 million in roster budget in 2026. And that doesn’t include coach salaries or other program expenses.
Aranda’s perspective is shaped by what he saw before arriving in Waco. He spent four seasons as defensive coordinator at LSU, a program with resources most schools can only chase.
That stretch came before NIL, but LSU’s financial edge still helped power sustained success. During Aranda’s time there, the Tigers never won fewer than eight games, and they finished undefeated on the way to the 2019 national title.
At Baylor, the challenge is different. The school estimated in 2023 that its alumni base was around 160,000, which is less than a quarter of Ohio State’s. The Bears also draw some "sidewalk fans," but even with that help, their overall support base still looks smaller than not only giant programs like Ohio State but also schools such as Texas Tech, which has more than 273,000 alumni.
That leaves Baylor leaning heavily on finding the right financial push. Texas Tech has Cody Campbell, who has poured money into athletics and into the effort behind the Protect College Sports Act. Baylor doesn’t necessarily need someone exactly like that, but Aranda’s program could clearly benefit from a donor capable of adding a few million dollars a year to the payroll.
Mississippi State offers another reminder of how quickly the spending race can matter. The report says the Bulldogs will need more than $4 million just to keep Kamario Taylor beyond 2026.
The bigger picture for Baylor is straightforward: even if some Power Four programs operate with less, the Bears still have to keep raising money to stay competitive. Aranda’s comments made that part plain without ever needing to say it directly.
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