Baylor keeping coach football Dave Aranda after AD’s departure

By Canadian Press on November 21, 2025.

WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor addressed questions about football coach Dave Aranda’s future on Friday, with the school’s president saying that the Bears are keeping their sixth-year coach.

A letter from Linda Livingstone came a day after athletic director Mack Rhoades stepped down from his position after he had previously taken a leave of absence for personal reasons.

Livingstone wrote that a comprehensive review of athletic leadership and the future of the football program had already been underway over the past several weeks. She said that included careful evaluation and consideration on the decision to retain Aranda, who is 36-35 overall with a Big 12 championship in 2021, and is under contract through 2029.

“We recognize this decision will generate strong opinions,” Livingstone wrote. “Let me be clear: Baylor expects excellence, accountability and competitiveness at the highest level. We are not complacent, and we are not settling for mediocrity.”

Baylor (5-5) has lost three of its last four games, and has to win one of its remaining two games to get bowl eligible. The Bears, with national passing leader Sawyer Robertson (321 yards per game) play Saturday at Arizona, then end the regular season at home Nov. 29 against No. 25 Houston.

“We acknowledge the frustrations many of you feel, and we share in them. Baylor football has experienced both historic highs and challenging seasons under coach Aranda. While we celebrate the Big 12 championship and Sugar Bowl victory in 2021, we know this season has not met our shared expectations,” Livingstone said. “Please know that our team respects and loves playing for coach Aranda. I can also attest he aligns with Baylor’s Christian mission and is an incredible ambassador for our university.”

Livingstone said the decision to retain Aranda reflected several critical factors.

Those include stability during the search and installment of a new athletic director, who would have the opportunity to assess the football program and chart its long-term direction, while also retaining the current roster and protecting a touted recruiting class. There is also a financial element.

“In an era of extreme volatility in college athletics with NIL, the transfer portal, revenue-sharing, and much more, this approach allows us to invest wisely in the program’s future rather than incur significant buyout costs during an unprecedented turnover of coaches across the country,” she wrote.

Baylor is a private school and doesn’t provide specific contract details for coaches.

Aranda got a contract extension in 2022. The Waco Tribune-Herald wrote that the school’s most recent tax filings suggest his buyout would be at between $15 million and $20 million.

The 49-year-old Aranda hadn’t been a head coach before being hired by Baylor in January 2020 after Matt Rhule left the Bears for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. Aranda had been then defensive coordinator at LSU, which was coming off an undefeated national championship.

Baylor went 2-7 in Aranda’s altered and shortened debut season, when he wasn’t even able to have spring practices with his new team because of the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bears then won the school-record 12 games in 2021, with the Big 12 title and Sugar Bowl victory leading to a No. 5 ranking in the final AP poll, their highest ever to end a season.

They slipped to 6-7 in 2022 after losing their last four games, then went 3-9 in 2023. With questions already about Aranda’s future, Baylor had a 2-4 start in 2024 before winning its last six regular-season games. A loss loss to LSU in the Texas Bowl gave them an 8-5 record.

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The Associated Press

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