Baylor's Dave Aranda, Wisconsin's Luke Fickell Among Coaches Whose Hot Seats Have Cooled in 2026
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Both noted by CBS Sports as two of the four hottest of hot seats for a head coach in their preseason rankings, Baylor Head Coach Dave Aranda and Wisconsin Head Coach Luke Fickell find themselves in similar situations heading into week five of the season. At 3-1 each, and with what seem to be vastly improved teams from a season ago, the hot seat doesn't seem as blisteringly hot for either Coach Aranda or Coach Fickell.
How the rest of the season shakes out is still up in the air but through a combination of offseason management, personnel changes, and performance on the field, both Wisconsin and Baylor are surpassing expectations.
Is it Lucky #7 for Coach Dave Aranda?
This season marks Dave Aranda's seventh with the Bears, and as of the end of week four, Coach Aranda's record at Baylor sits one game above .500 (39-38) and even though the Bears won the Big 12 in 2021, he's only had one other winning season (2024).
However, a pattern has seemed to begin forming through Coach Aranda's tenure at Baylor as they have missed the postseason every other year since; it's a small sample size, but two winning seasons out of six isn't the best stat either. In his seventh year as head coach though, the Bears are 3-1 and other than a few early season hiccups to get over they have exceeded expectations in many areas.
The Addition and Importance of Joe Klanderman Can Not be Understated
12 quarterback sacks and 48 tackles for loss all of last season; that's all the Baylor defense had in 2025. To put it bluntly, that's a rather abysmal stat for a defense and among the many that led to Coach Aranda being noted as being on the hot seat.
After the hiring of Joe Klanderman as the new Defensive Coordinator however, the Bears are currently four games into the 2026 season and already they have 15. A brilliant defensive mind often utilizing twists and stunts in his schemes to work the opposing offensive line against itself, Coach Klanderman deserves quite a bit of credit for what he's been able to accomplish.
Luke Fickell in Similar Situation
On one hand, Luke Fickell is the head coach responsible for Wisconsin's 21-year bowl game streak coming to an end. Not only did one of his Badger teams miss the postseason, but Coach Fickell in his fourth year has a sub .500 record at 20-22 (again through week four of this season). Neither of those facts sit well with the Wisconsin fan base who are used to winning records and the postseason.
On the other hand though, Coach Fickell and Wisconsin just pulled off a massive upset of Penn State in Happy Valley and Coach Fickell has been named the Coach of the Week for week four. Like with Coach Aranda, the expectations for the season by the fan base of Coach Fickell didn't exactly have the highest of hopes. There's still a lot of football to be played this season, but as of right now, the coals under the hot seat aren't too hot.
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Brad is a writer and contributes to the Baylor Bears on SI, with aspirations to share his own unique thoughts and perspectives with fans. Whether through the facts and figures of the past or the untold potential and triumphs of the future, sports have always been a large influence on Brad's storytelling and life overall. His inspiration to write began while watching sports when he first noticed the highs and lows of each game, each quarter, each play; there's a story in each of them worth telling, and he wanted to tell them.
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