With kickoff drawing near for Baylor School’s 2025 season, Red Raiders defensive lineman Jayden Arenas-Michel realized he did not want to have any off-field distractions in his final year of prep football.
On Wednesday afternoon, he put his college recruitment to rest by announcing his commitment to Middle Tennessee State University.
“I have a great relationship with their coaches,” Arenas-Michel said of the Blue Raiders, who compete in Conference USA and have made bowl appearances in six of the past nine seasons. “I really like the facilities and their campus, and after talking about it with my family for a while, I just felt like this was the right time. The coaching staff make it feel like the team is a close-knit family, which I really like, so I have been comfortable with MTSU for a while.
“Now I can just focus completely on doing my job to help us try to win a state championship in my last season at Baylor.”
The Red Raiders have reached the TSSAA Division II-AAA BlueCross Bowl state championship game at Finley Stadium the past three seasons, winning in 2022, and Arenas-Michel is eager to help the program add its third all-time title before heading to Murfreesboro.
The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Arenas-Michel is the sixth Baylor player in the class of 2026 to commit to a Football Bowl Subdivision program. He joins offensive lineman Gabe Osenda (6-8, 325) and cornerback Jamyan Theodore (6-0, 175), who are both committed to Tennessee, offensive lineman Charlie Edgeworth (6-7, 325) and quarterback Briggs Cherry (6-4, 210), who are both committed to Louisville, and safety Kolby Barrett (6-0, 205), who is committed to Mississippi State.
The Red Raiders have two other players in their senior class who currently have FBS offers: receiver and defensive back Kaiden Dewey (6-0, 175) and offensive lineman Xavier Wade (6-5, 280).
Arenas-Michel chose MTSU over offers from Arkansas State of the Sun Belt Conference and Memphis of the American Conference.
“The progress he has made in the last year is incredible,” said Red Raiders head coach Erik Kimrey, who was an assistant at South Carolina before coming to Chattanooga ahead of the 2022 season. “He added 20 pounds of muscle in the weight room, is way more explosive than he was last year, and has developed the ability to use his hands to go from run stopper to pass rush.
“His potential is not close to being tapped yet. There’s just an incredible upside there for Jayden.”
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com.