‘Football’s Fun’: Dave Aranda and Co. Explain Why 2026 Will be Different for Baylor
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The Bears got to go through their pregame and get on the McLane Stadium field for the first time of the summer on Thursday.
Afterwards, Coach Dave Aranda and some of the designated leaders on the team were pulled aside for interviews and had a few things to say about why this year has a different feel.
Culture is on the up
"I think one of the biggest differences of all the differences from maybe the past till now is that football's fun," said Coach Aranda. "It's hot, and we've been out here for a minute, and the guys were having fun... where in the past you couldn't say that."
Culture is certainly important; champions often brag more about the team relationships than the individual talent. However, culture is hard to build when there is so much roster turnover.
"One of the things that we really focused on was not assuming anything... going deeper, peeling back a couple layers," said Safety Michael Allen. "This summer we did a lot of players-only meetings and really got to know people on a deeper level."
Roster built aggressively
When asked about transfer portal activity, Aranda explained that Baylor is being much more aggressive in the market under Athletic Director Doug McNamee than ever before.
"That's probably been a change; we haven't been [aggressive]. In the past we saw how everyone else did and where we fit, but this year we are aggressive," said Aranda.
The aggressiveness is certainly visible, spending about 11.5 million dollars in the portal per The NIL Standard, a huge increase compared to previous seasons.
Transparency from the head coach
Coach Aranda has made it clear that he wants to be a more open and transparent leader while he is a head coach.
"To kind of cover up [failure] and kind of go the other way is the opposite of how I would want to be... you have to be intentional about not doing that," said Aranda.
The players have praised him for this as well; even though he might not be as hands-on in practice, his leadership is still noted by the team.
"I feel like my mental process is the most dialed in it's ever been. And that's kudos to Aranda and what he's preached to us, you know, and I think that stuff can help us win," said veteran Kyler Jordan.
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Bennett is an undergrad student at Baylor University, studying journalism on the sports track. He is from the DFW area and grew up playing and watching sports, which inspired him to pursue sports writing.
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