OPINION: Baylor Head Coach Dave Aranda MUST Go

Baylor has fallen to 4-3 and 2-2 in conference play after losing to 2-4 Kansas in Lawrence today. Kansas has looked silly all year and, until now, hasn't beaten a Power Four school. But when you play Baylor, anything is possible: you find offensive production you haven't seen all year, your defensive linemen have the best games of their lives, and you, as a coach, get a nice win on your resume when you need it most.

What should fans expect of Baylor at this point? Two losses in a row to teams that are frankly very bad. What does that make Baylor? Very, very, very bad. Dave Aranda has run out of opportunities to save his job, and looking back, should have been fired after 2023. There were a lot of moments today where this coaching staff showed incompetence that sums up the Dave Aranda Era since 2022. From the extensive list of penalties in the second half to the horrid clock management at the end of the game, Baylor continually shot itself in the foot.

Coach Dave Aranda has gone through multiple position coaches, four sets of coordinators, and has told the fans that he has to change too many times by this point. I do not doubt that Aranda is trying his best, but his best is not good enough at this point.

Baylor is staring down the barrel of its fourth losing season in the past five years, with each season showing the same issue as last. There has been poor roster construction year over year, with overinvestment in one side of the ball and underinvestment in another every year since NIL was introduced in 2022.

This win at Texas Tech was part of a win streak that saved his job in 2024. — Dave Aranda speaks to his team following a win at Texas Tech in 2024. | via Baylor Athletics

Dave Aranda survived season over season because of the miraculous year he pulled off in 2021, where he won a Big 12 Championship in a season he won four one-score games with players that were not recruited by him. After that season, we saw failure after failure. 2022 was a massive letdown after the Bears were preseason ranked in the top 10. 2023 would have gotten any other coach in the country fired, as Baylor finished with a 3-9 record.

2024 started 2-4, and it was a crazy leap of faith that then Athletic Director Mack Rhoades stuck with Aranda then. Aranda then rattled off six wins against weak opponents and lost a marquee bowl game against LSU to finish 8-5. In 2025, Baylor disappointed once again, finishing 5-7, but due to a mysterious "parting of ways" with former Athletic Director Mack Rhoades, Baylor was forced to stick with Aranda for one more season.

Baylor Football looks much improved in 2026. — Baylor Football looked much improved in 2026 after the game against Auburn, but a lack of preparation from the staff has seen Baylor taper off. | via Baylor Athletics

That brings us to 2026, where Aranda once again mismanaged the roster, leaving his offense far shorthanded on talent, specifically on the offensive line. In 2026, we have seen Baylor lose again to rival TCU, pushing Aranda's record against them to 1-6, and a 17-game unbeaten streak against Kansas was snapped. You are seeing the fabric of this Baylor program ripped apart slowly.

Dave Aranda had three instances in his tenure where he should have gotten fired but was let off the hook. Doug McNamee can't show the same patience that Rhoades did in the past few seasons. Baylor needs to let go and start the search for its next leader.

Robert Griffin III — RGIII put this school on the map, and for the next 10 years after his Heisman win, Baylor was seen as new blood in college football. Baylor has now sunk back into mediocrity. | via Baylor Athletics

Baylor has the potential to be special. From 2011 to 2021, Baylor had a Heisman winner, a Biletnikoff winner, three Big 12 championships, and four New Year's Six Bowl appearances. In the last five years, Baylor has had two non-major bowl game appearances, both of which they lost. Dave Aranda is now an even 40-40 in his seven years at Baylor. That mediocrity can not be accepted.

At the end of the day, Baylor has to rip the band-aid off and let go of Dave Aranda. I know this is unprecedented for the school, as they haven't fired a football coach since Guy Morris in 2007, but it is necessary to move on and start a new beginning. The firing specifically needs to happen now, as Baylor has to start the process of clearing house, raising buyout money, and searching for the new man to lead Baylor football into 2027 and beyond.

@BUDougMcNamee this is unacceptable. There are teams you just don’t lose too. Even in 17 with our worst team in history, we still beat Kansas. There has to be a minimum standard or what are we even doing? https://t.co/OUckSmy9Ly
— RedBear24 (@RealRedBear05) October 24, 2026

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