Baylor football faced one major dilemma before taking on West Virginia Saturday. Is this the game that seals Dave Aranda’s fate?
Aranda sat on the hot seat throughout 2024. The Bears became an underachieving bunch and endured two heartbreaking losses to Colorado and BYU in consecutive weeks. Rumors were circulating, though, that Aranda was trending towards safe.
Baylor defeated the Mountaineers 49-35 to clinch bowl eligibility. And in the process, Baylor made the final decision on Aranda’s future, confirmed by NBC Sports’ College Football insider Nicole Auerbach.
“Baylor will keep Dave Aranda as its head football coach. Been trending that way for weeks, good to see it now official,” Auerbach said on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Aranda can breathe out relief. He’s guaranteed a sixth season in Waco.
How did he change his fortunes? He got the Bears to roll off four straight victories to seal the 13th contest on their schedule. Aranda even got Baylor to shake off the embarrassing 43-21 loss to Iowa State to explode on this winning streak. He’s won back the Baylor faithful. But he’s also got the backing of one prominent school legend.
Baylor legend chimes in on Dave Aranda’s future
Even the most popular Bears player ever is an Aranda believer. The school’s only Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III watched how his former school embraced Aranda.
“The players at Baylor want Dave Aranda to be their coach and are playing like it with,” Griffin posted on X. “Four straight W’s to get Bowl eligible. O [offense] is averaging 45.7 ppg over the last four, OC [offensive coordinator] Jake Spavital has Sawyer Robertson playing the best ball of his career and Bryson Washington is a walking TD.”
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If RG3 approves, then Baylor is going in a better direction under Aranda. The last four contest point to exactly that.
Baylor has gone from mustering just 21 points in that infamous Cyclones loss to scoring past 37 since. His quarterback Sawyer Robinson has tossed 11 combined touchdowns and one interception during the streak. Running back Bryson Washington is also thriving under Aranda — scoring nine times in the quartet of victories.
The defense, Aranda’s area of expertise, have snatched 10 sacks the last four games. Overall, he witnessed his players never waver in their confidence following the rout of Oklahoma State.
At 2-4, Aranda’s coaching seat was hot like the Texas humidity. But now, the temperatures under that very seat Aranda sat have dipped before winter. Aranda has Baylor back in a bowl game. In the process, he’s a sure bet to walk around the Baylor sidelines for the 2025 season.