Dave Aranda Reveals Three Things He Wants Baylor Known for in 2026

Baylor went 5-7 in 2025, but the Bears were either in control or right in the mix for most of those losses. It was the second half — more so the fourth quarter — that doomed the Bears this past season. If Baylor were able to get a few more stops on defense, or if those pesky turnovers didn't rear their ugly heads time and time again, 2025 might look different.

But that wasn't the case and now the Bears are hoping 2026 is the season that looks different. And it will, at least to the naked eye. Baylor lost a lot of its talent to either graduation or the transfer portal, but the Bears went out and landed their fair share of talent, including five-star DJ Lagway at quarterback.

And if Baylor is going to compete for a Big 12 Championship, coach Dave Aranda has three keys to the Bears' season when they take the field. Aranda wants the 2026 Baylor Bears to be known for their toughness, their smarts, and dependable late in games.

Baylor Bears head coach Dave Aranda looks on from the sidelines during the second half of a game against the TCU Horned Frogs — Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

"We want to be tough, we want to be smart, we want to be dependable," Aranda said. "The tough part starts with your mental toughness, and so that's really made it hard in offseason. Offseason was longer than what it's normally been. By about three weeks, it's been longer. And so what we did there was make it more events in the stadium, more kind of competitions where you really have to be taxed at the end of the session.

"There's a study that was done, and the number one criteria for winning was winning the last eight minutes of the fourth quarter. And so, especially in our league, where everything is just so tight that who wins it down the stretch. And so all the things that we got set up from winter through spring and through summer is going to be, hey, the whole thing's tough, and at the very end it's going to get tougher. And we have to have standards and choices over what we feel. And we want to be able to continue to do that to be the team we need to be."

Baylor needs to learn to win in the fourth quarter

The Bears didn't have too many issues starting games, moving the football. Sometimes, fumbles or a Sawyer Robertson interception ruined drives, but it was typically in the second half that the Bears came out stagnant.

In the Big 12, there are high-octane offenses and Baylor has to either score with the opposition or put its defense in a position to slow down the Brendan Sorsby's of the world. If Aranda can get his team to win battles with toughness, make the correct reads using their smarts, and become dependable in the fourth quarter — the Bears could shock people in 2026.