After six and a half seasons, Baylor ended the Dave Aranda era on Sunday.
"Anyone who knows Dave Aranda understands what a genuine and honorable person he is and how much he deeply cares for his players, staff and this University," McNamee said. "He is a gifted coach and a brilliant football mind whose leadership brought some of our best Baylor football memories. While this is a difficult moment, we believe a change in leadership is necessary at this time for our program. We will forever be thankful to Dave and his family for their time here at Baylor, and we wish them well."
There's a certain personality that your typical FBS head coach cuts. You don't become the alpha in a room full of football coaches without a healthy amount of alpha in you. Your voice probably hits max volume quite frequently. And then there's Dave Aranda. For years I joked he was the Power 4 head coach most likely to not own furniture. You don't rise as high as Aranda has while swimming up stream from a personality standpoint without being a really good coach, and a person that people like being around. Ultimately, that's why Aranda lasted so long in Waco.
What was the high point? This is easy. It wasn't just upsetting No. 5 Oklahoma State to win the 2021 Big 12 Championship, it was the way they won it. A goal line stand, with safety Jairon McVea providing teach tape on how to pursue flat down the line of scrimmage for as long as football exists.
The Bears would beat No. 8 Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl, providing the second New Year's Day bowl win in program history. Baylor's No. 5 finish in the AP poll was the highest in program history.
What was the low point? One could point to the 3-9 mark in 2023, but I think it was a couple Saturdays ago, Oct. 17. The acquisitions of quarterback DJ Lagway and defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman provided a now-or-never rally for the Aranda era heading into this season. After losing by one to Auburn in the opener, the Bears had won four in a row upon welcoming rival TCU to Waco and, before a sellout crowd, put up little to no fight in a 17-6 loss to a struggling Horned Frogs squad. If Aranda was going to save his job for good, Baylor would have won that game. They weren't close.
This isn't why he was fired on Sunday, but Aranda leaves Waco with an unfortunate 1-5 record against TCU, and a 30-28 loss to a 5-7 Frogs squad in 2021 ultimately kept Baylor out of Playoff contention.
What did Aranda get right? After a 2-7 debut, Aranda wisely and boldly made a stark change in direction on offense. He dismissed offensive coordinator Larry Fedora -- a former ACC head coach, Texas native and a purveyor of the spread offense -- to implement a wide zone offense under Jeff Grimes. In one year, Baylor went from 123rd to 10th nationally in rushing and, in the process, from two wins to 12.
He also represented the university with class, and the respect he generated within the university kept him at the school longer than the results on the field dictated. Baylor likely moves on after last season without the abrupt departure of AD Mack Rhoades, but it's not like giving Aranda an extra season required a whole lot of arm-twisting, either.
What did Aranda get wrong? Aranda hired Matt Powledge to run his defense in 2023, but had to take over play-calling in '24. Against conference opponents, Baylor only finished in the top half of Big 12 defenses once after winning the 2021 league title -- and that was a fifth-place finish in 2022.
Where does Baylor go from here? There's really no need to overthink this. Texas produces tons of football players, and also football coaches. The school is located roughly in the middle of the Dallas-Austin-Houston triangle, of which most of those players come from. A longtime Big 12 doormat, its last three coaches have won or played for the Big 12 championship, and Baylor won by tapping into the Texas high school pipeline with Art Briles (a former TXHSFB coach) and Matt Rhule (who smartly hired a number of former TXHSFB coaches). Jeff Traylor has won two conference championships at UTSA and yet to have a losing season, despite a revolving door of coaches and players leaving for the Power 4. That wouldn't be such a problem for him at Baylor.