Steps Baylor is Taking For A Better 2026 Season

Dave Aranda speaks on 365 Sports about changes they are making this year to have a better outcome next year.

Jul 12, 2023; Arlington, TX, USA; A view of the Baylor Bears helmet and logo during Big 12 football media day at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

As we watch former stars of the team like Robertson, Trigg, and Prentice show out at Baylor's pro day on Sunday, Dave Aranda looks forward to a major bounce-back season for Baylor this year with the new staff changes and the additions from the portal.

Speaking on 35Sports, Coach Aranda spoke on the upcoming season, his new QB, and changes implemented to make 2026 better.

Efforts to Increase NIL Spending

Dave mentioned on the show that the administration is attempting to increase Baylor's spending. Certain people, such as new athletic director Doug McNamee, are really pushing hard to make Baylor football a winning program, from the players getting along to staff listening to each other's parts and focusing on being together as a program.

With spending going up every year, Baylor is gonna have to bump up its spending if they want to be able to compete with the rapidly growing Big 12 Conference. Teams like Texas Tech are spending hefty amounts for high schoolers, and transfer quarterbacks who have proven themselves already at the collegiate level are getting paid over 4 million.

One big thing Dave mentioned was that they realized how much they were spending on high school recruits, since they were just at the cap for money, unlike some teams that are $10 -$15 million over cap, they weren't able to get a haul of very highly touted transfers.

New DC Changes Vibes on Defense

Dave had plenty to say about his new coordinator, Joe Klanderman. With his discipline and great people skills, along with having a history of putting together tough, disciplined defenses, Aranda feels extremely confident that Joe will make the changes necessary to grow this defensive rehaul. With the additions such as former Indiana defensive tackle Hosea Wheeler and getting a new defensive line coach, this defense should be revived, which had many struggles last year.

Dave mentioned on the show, "I really feel like we've addressed deficiencies there, and we've got really good players, and I'm excited about what we can do in the line of scrimmage play."

I think getting a new coordinator was a good move after last year. Baylor had many flaws on defense, and I think that adding Joe will be a good move. He will make a rally defense this year that should have major improvements from the previous season.

Joe brings a new true-zone coverage style unfamiliar to Baylor in the past few years, but Dave seems confident that making these changes will help create more pressure and movement on defense.

Sep 24, 2022; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Former Kansas State Wildcats defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman before the game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Dave preaches togetherness and doing anything possible to win!

After a few disappointing seasons, there's no question that Aranda is on the hot seat. But in this interview, you can see that this is a man who cares about this university, this football program, and every single player on it. This is an all-out, Hail Mary throw of ideas and changes to evolve himself and the staff in the program, and hopefully, Baylor football fans can see a better outcome next year.