What Baylor's Fall Camp Told Us About Coach Aranda's Vision for This Season
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Baylor's Head Coach Dave Aranda says, "Football's fun" when explaining the difference between last year and this year. Remarking on the heat as the sun shined brightly overhead at the time of taking questions, "It's hot," Aranda said as he brushed some sweat off his forehead adding, "We've been out here a minute," but reassuring that "the guys were having fun...where in the past you couldn't say that."
A Culture, A Brotherhood, A Family
When asked how he would rate Baylor's defense this year, "Crazy good" were the first words safety Micah Gifford said without missing a beat and with a smile on his face, a look of enthusiasm and high spirits.
Continuing to answer questions, Gifford would remark that "it feels like a brotherhood," and "everyone's just having fun, really." Although Gifford is expected to play and contribute this season, though he isn't likely going to be the starter.
Fellow teammate Kyler Jordan also added when he was asked a similar line of questioning, "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."
A Sickness for Quickness
Speed is the name of the game this year as strength coach Vic Viloria has swapped high-weight for high-repetition and explosiveness in movement in hopes of increasing overall team speed. The emphasis on the "conditioning" aspect of "Strength and Conditioning" should see returns not just in the early minutes of the game, but in the later stages of the third and fourth quarter.
It would be reasonable to expect a higher tempo of play this season due to the increased focus and attention on the speed of each player, but that's currently speculative until week one provides us a basis on which to judge.
Aggressive Portal Use
It's been noted and it's been written about, but it's important enough to mention. 32 players through the transfer portal. With the league average being around 15 per team, Baylor is tied at 9th most players through the transfer portal this season with Kentucky and California.
Whether through graduation (Sawyer Robertson, Michael Trigg, etc.) or through transfer (i.e. Bryson Washington to Auburn), Baylor's starting squad this season will be nearly unrecognizable to last year's team
The Writing is on The Walls
Coach Aranda certainly isn't oblivious to his critics and his status on "the hot seat." This shift in culture and focus on person-over-player, as well as the addition of Joe Klanderman essentially being tossed the keys and allowed to operate the lion's share of defensive calls and decisions this season, all seem to be an attempt to right the ship and get Baylor back to being a contender in the Big XII Conference.
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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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