3 Takeaways From Baylor HC Dave Aranda's Big 12 Media Days Podium Session

Dave Aranda stood in front of a crowd of reporters and gave some honest answers.

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Tuesday marked the first of two days of Big 12 Media Days, and the Baylor Bears were in attendance for Day 1 in Frisco, Texas. Head coach Dave Aranda, along with six player representatives, were around to answer questions, and Aranda stood in front of a crowd of reporters to answer several pressing questions.

Here are three takeaways from Aranda's podium session.

Dave Aranda owns up to his failures

Baylor has suffered three losing seasons in the last four years and Dave Aranda has been behind the blueprint. But between the fanbase really calling for a new coach, and beginning to feel the hotseat, Aranda made some difficult decisions this offseason.

For starters, he opted to quit calling the defense, a major change since his days over at LSU. He hired Joe Klanderman to run the unit, while Aranda takes on a General Manager role on the team. On Tuesday, Aranda owned up to his 5-7 season a year ago and the changes that were made.

"The first is ownership. Last year was not up to our standard," Aranda said. "I take accountability for that, which leads to the second thing of what are we doing now, what's the plan. There's been strong change. There's been me moving out of defense and bringing in Joe Klanderman and a brand-new scheme and new excitement and new methods."

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But it wasn't just a change in coaching. Aranda had to re-think his entire roster-building blueprint. Aranda spoke to the ESPN crew prior to standing at the podium, and he revealed to ESPN, and the podium later on, that he made a grave mistake in how he assembled his roster.

With not having an abundance of resources, Aranda spent too much NIL money on his skill players. But starting this year, Baylor is paying for the inside-out. It all starts with the trenches and working it's way out.

"There's building the team inside-out as opposed to outside-in," said Aranda. "A mistake I made a year ago was spending too much money on the outside, our skill positions, and not enough on the inside. The line of scrimmage is where our attention and our money has gone this year."

Baylor clearly spent big money on landing DJ Lagway, but the Bears opted to spend quite a bit of money on the interior.

A lot riding on DJ Lagway's shoulders

Speaking of Lagway, there is no doubt he is under a lot of pressure. The former five-star signal caller spent two seasons at Florida, where things didn't work out. He's now back in the state of Texas, at his father's alma mater with a lot of expectations.

"It's bringing in DJ Lagway and his energy and his passion to play football and achieve at a really high level,' Aranda said.

DJ Lagway's Instagram

While there is a lot riding on Lagway, the pressure won't mount as it did at Florida. Baylor is a brand, but the SEC and the Florida Gators draw a lot more eyes. Aranda said he feels like Lagway has been set free since leaving the Gators and coming to Baylor.

"I've known DJ since his high school days and recruiting him since that time, so there's a good
relationship kind of built already," said Aranda. "The communication prior to his visit and then for sure on his visit to Baylor, it felt to me like kind of straightjacketed, kind of tight, kind of closed up, and felt like he wanted to be free. I feel like he felt Baylor is a place that he could play free and really kind of be free...He has a huge chip on his shoulder."

This should be music to Baylor fans' ears. Lagway is full of talent, and his pairing with Jake Spavital could be a match made in heaven. Lagway is at full health for the first time ever and he will carry the torch that Sawyer Robertson left behind.

Aranda feels the pressure to win this season

As I mentioned earlier, Aranda is feeling the heat. Another losing season will likely end his tenure in Waco, and Aranda said he is well aware of what the fans are saying. He wants McLane Stadium to be packed this fall, full of Baylor fans wanting to see the Bears win.

But Aranda knows in order to do that, he has to produce on the field. His goal is for his team to stack good days together, so when Saturday comes, it's all left out there. He said he believes his team is back on the course for competing for Big 12 titles.

"I know of what you are talking about, and so I think for us to kind of stack some wins this summer: I had a really good Monday; let's make sure we have a really good Tuesday," Aranda said. "Let's build on it with a really good Wednesday and Thursday and Friday, and keep building and stacking wins. I think we'll be able to get everybody. I'm pretty confident that that's the course we're on."

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And as far as his team, he says they are craving wins. After losing seven games a year ago, which was a team expected to compete in the Big 12, they will enter 2026 with a chip on their shoulder. Aranda said practices have been more player-led than ever before and Baylor is hungry to win games.

"They crave winning," Aranda said of his team. "They need to win, and they're very -- they're hungry to win. I think that would probably be the term... hungry. There's a lot of confrontation. There's probably been more confrontation this year than the past couple of years."