Baylor University fired football coach Dave Aranda on Sunday after more than six seasons and promoted defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman to interim head coach for the rest of the season.
Aranda’s dismissal came a day after the Bears lost at Kansas, 25-24, to fall to 4-3 overall this season and 2-2 in the Big 12 Conference. The Jayhawks earned their first win over Baylor since 2007, ending a 14-game losing skid to the Bears when Blake Herold blocked a field-goal attempt in the final minute.
Baylor became the third Power Four conference program in a five-day span to fire its head coach. Big Ten member Maryland ended Michael Locksley’s tenure Wednesday after a 2-5 start to his eighth season, while Atlantic Coast Conference program North Carolina State dismissed Dave Doeren on Saturday, less than 24 hours after a loss dropped the Wolfpack to 3-4 in his 14th season.
Aranda took over the program in Waco, Texas, in 2020 after serving as the defensive coordinator on the 2019 LSU team that went undefeated while winning the College Football Playoff national championship.
After going 2-7 in his debut campaign, Aranda led the Bears to the Big 12 title and a Sugar Bowl victory the following season, but he couldn’t maintain that success. Baylor has just one winning season since then, and Aranda leaves with a 40-40 record.