Editor’s note: Second in a series previewing each team in the Big 12 in 2024
Credit Baylor football coach Dave Aranda for the most honest, and succinct, quote at last week’s Big 12 football media days in Las Vegas.
Asked why the program has experienced a sudden upsurge in recruiting success by the website SicEm365.com despite back-to-back losing seasons on the field, Aranda’s answer was simple and direct.
“We are paying players,” Aranda said.
So is everybody else, but to hear a respected coach say it that plainly illustrates just how much college football has changed the past few years, thanks to the legalization of basically putting players on the payroll in the name of NIL and the transfer portal.
By all accounts, this is a huge season for Aranda, who is clearly on the hot seat after the Bears went 6-7 in 2022 and 3-9 in 2023. The program that won the Big 12 championship game — a 21-16 victory over Oklahoma State — and the Sugar Bowl (a 21-7 conquest of Ole Miss) just three seasons ago has suddenly plummeted, and another one will not go over well in Waco.
The Bears are picked to finish 12th in the Big 12 football media preseason poll, a spot ahead of BYU, which visits McLane Stadium on Sept. 28 in a game that could determine which faith-based school makes it to a bowl game in 2024. Baylor plays at Utah — which is picked to win the league — on Sept. 7, but that rematch of last year’s 20-13 Utah win in Waco is not considered a league game because it was scheduled before Utah was invited to join the Big 12.
“I have seen the media poll and kind of where we are predicted to finish, and so I am excited to prove that wrong,” Aranda said. “I think in the past couple years, we’ve done that pretty successfully, both ways. So, we are excited to get to work and to prove that we’re a better team than what we are perceived as.”
Baylor, BYU and three other schools did not take a quarterback to the talk-fest in Las Vegas, which usually is not a good sign. However, big things are expected of Toledo transfer Dequan Finn, who started for three years for the Rockets.
The backup is likely Sawyer Robertson, after two-year starter Blake Shapen — who lost to BYU in 2022 in Provo — transferred to Mississippi State.
Baylor and Aranda had been accused of not using the transfer portal and NIL well in the past, but as the coach said at Allegiant Stadium, it is a whole new ball game, and he’s now solidly on board.
“We’re full invested now in the transfer portal,” he said. “We’re fully invested with name, image and likeness. I am fully invested in football, which I think is probably the number one thing … that just put us in position to be a much better team. There’s just an energy around the building that I think shows that.”
Aranda got rid of offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, the former BYU OC, and replaced him with former Texas State head coach Jake Spavital and four other new assistant coaches on the offensive side of the ball. Spavital brings a fast-tempo attack to Waco, and Baylor’s top five receivers are back to give Finn plenty of targets.
“I am excited about this group of players and the staff that we’ve put around them,” Aranda said. “There has been an edge in our building since January, and it has been healthy. There’s a belief that we’re going to win, and that’s cool to see.”
Defensively, Aranda is taking over a unit that gave up a Big 12-worst 33.3 points per game last year. He is going to call the defensive plays, which will be interesting considering he called the plays as LSU’s defensive coordinator in 2019 when the Tigers won the national championship.
Along with the stark comments about paying players, Aranda had some interesting things to say about the future of the Big 12, and how the league is sort of up for grabs at the top after losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC.
“This is a vital time, and I know everyone else in our league thinks the same way,” he said. “For Baylor, or whatever team you support, to take charge of the league, to take that step, because it is wide open right now. I think the opportunity that’s in front of us is not going to be there for long, so I think there needs to be a team that takes command and kind of leads the charge, so to speak. We need Baylor to be that team.”
Baylor Bears 2024 preview
2023 record: 3-9 (2-7 Big 12)
Local ties:
• Long snapper Garrison Grimes (American Fork High School)
• Offensive lineman Campbell Barrington (former BYU OL)
• Quality control coordinator Joe Ludwig (former Utah fullback)
2024 schedule
Aug. 31 — Tarleton.
Sept. 7 — at Utah.
Sept. 14 — Air Force.
Sept. 21 — at Colorado.
Sept. 28 — BYU.
Oct. 5 — at Iowa State.
Oct. 19 — at Texas Tech.
Oct. 26 — Oklahoma State.
Nov. 2 — TCU.
Nov. 16 — at West Virginia.
Nov. 23 — at Houston.
Nov. 30 — Kansas.