LSU will see a familiar face when it meets Baylor in the Texas Bowl
LSU football will head to Houston to face Baylor in the Texas Bowl. We’re still a few weeks away from kickoff on New Year’s Eve. But once the transfer portal talk settles down, attention will shift to the game.
LSU will see an old friend on the opposite sideline — former LSU defensive coordinator [autotag]Dave Aranda.[/autotag]
Aranda spent four years at LSU, coordinating some of the best defenses in the country. In 2016, Aranda’s first year with the Tigers, LSU ranked fifth nationally in scoring defense. LSU ranked in the top 15 again in 2017.
In 2019, Aranda led the defense as LSU went on to win a national title. LSU’s defense finished 20th in SP+ while facing one of the toughest schedules in the country.
Aranda parlayed that success into the gig at Baylor.
In 2021, Aranda led Baylor to a Big 12 championship and Sugar Bowl title. That was followed up by back-to-back losing seasons, but Aranda and Baylor found new life in 2024. Baylor enters the Texas Bowl at 8-4, riding a win streak.
Aranda’s name was tossed around when LSU was looking for a new head coach in 2021. Given the previous connection and the success Baylor was having at the time, the match made sense. Aranda opted to sign an extension with Baylor while LSU hired [autotag]Brian Kelly.[/autotag]
Aranda is a head coach now, but he’s still considered one of the top defensive minds in the game.
Two head coaches and an offensive coordinator were fired on Sunday, we look at five more who should keep their heads on a swivel.
The coaching carousel began to spin on Sunday when three coaches were fired after lackluster performances on the job. Mike Houston and Will Hall haven’t been up to snuff over the last several seasons while Oklahoma OC Seth Littrell commanded one of the worst offenses in college football.
At a university like Oklahoma, that just wasn’t going to cut it. It didn’t help matters when his unit turned the ball over on three straight possessions and put his team in a 21-0 hole just six minutes into the game. While that should quiet the locals who have been fed up with Littrell for weeks, I am not sure anything other than an influx of talent is going to fix that unit this season.
More on the Oklahoma situation at another time. The carousel started up much later than we have seen in recent years, some of that can be like attributed to the transfer portal and the number of players we have recently seen opt to redshirt the season with the intention of entering the portal. With the portal a team can turn around much quicker giving some coaches more of a leash.
However, this might be the opening of the floodgates in the coming weeks and we have a list of coaches who should have their heads on a swivel. Five coaches who could be next on the chopping block.
Dave Aranda, Baylor Bears
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This past weekend the Baylor Bears took out a lot of frustration on the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the 59-35 victory. For Aranda to earn more time in Waco they will need more of those types of performances. The positive news is the Bears don’t have a daunting schedule over the next six weeks with home matchups against Oklahoma State, TCU, and Kansas. They will go on the road to face West Virginia and Houston. Aranda must do no better than 3-2 the rest of the way and win a bowl game to earn another season, otherwise he could be on the chopping block.
Billy Napier, Florida Gators
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Over the last four games, Billy Napier might be working his way off the hot seat for this season. During that stretch, Florida is 3-1 and the only loss came in overtime to the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville. He isn’t out of the woods just yet with games against the Georgia Bulldogs, Texas Longhorns, LSU Tigers, and Ole Miss Rebels in November. Napier needs just two wins to get to bowl eligibility and they have a hapless FSU Seminoles team on the schedule as well, getting to 6-6 feels like a win with the schedule they had in 2024. However, we know it can unravel at any time, which is why he is still on our red alert list.
Sonny Dykes, TCU Horned Frogs
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Much like Dave Aranda, Dykes hasn’t looked quite the same as his one magical season upon his arrival in Fort Worth, Texas. You could argue that his last season and a half look reminiscent of his time at Cal-Berkley. Following the loss to Georgia in the 2022 CFP title game, the Frogs have been a meager 9-10 in those 19 games since. Not having Gary Patterson’s players on the roster has had a negative impact. The Frogs may not make a move this season unless they fail to make a bowl game for the second consecutive season.
Mack Brown, North Carolina Tar Heels
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The second tenure in Chapel Hill started off on the right track but the train has started coming off the rails as of late. The Tar Heels are losers of four straight including a 70-50 high-scoring affair against James Madison that started the streak after beginning the year 3-0. It isn’t just the fact that UNC has dropped four in a row but the manner in which some of these games have ended. The Tar Heels blew games against rival Duke and Georgia Tech in two of the last three. It might be time for Mack to retire and this time for good.
Stan Drayton, Temple Owls
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Stan Drayton earned his mettle as a running back’s coach at the collegiate level. Most notably with the Texas Longhorns and Ohio State Buckeyes working with Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson, and Ezekiel Elliott. He is well equipped to coach the backs but being a head coach might not be his calling, however, winning at Temple seems laborious. Drayton is 3-16 in AAC play over the last three seasons and just 8-23 overall. The Owls will likely join the coaching carousel sooner rather than later.
Five more to monitor
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Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (8-22 since 2022)
Trent Dilfer, UAB Blazers (5-14 since 2023)
Mike Locksley, Maryland Terrapins (33-36 since 2015)
Ryan Walters, Purdue Boilermakers (5-14 since 2023)
These seats are getting hot midway through the season.
We saw plenty of action on Saturday, some good and some not-so-good. The same can be said of the coaching over the last seven weeks of action. There could be quite a handful of coaches who could be on the unemployment line before the year comes to an end.
At the top of our list, we have Dave Aranda of the Baylor Bears who has not enjoyed much success this season. Currently, Baylor is 0-3 over their last three games. The Bears aren’t the only team struggling this season with their coach under scrutiny, look no further than out in the Sunshine State with the Florida Gators. Head coach Billy Napier has been a topic of conversation all season and it continued with some questionable decisions on Saturday night in Knoxville.
As we approach midseason, these five coaches have the hottest seats:
Dave Aranda, Baylor Bears
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The further we get from the 2021 season the more it looks like an aberration. Under Aranda’s guidance, the Bears are 13-27 in the other three and half seasons compared to 12-2 in the Big 12 championship season of 2021. The Bears haven’t defeated a Power Four team since Oct. 21 of last season against the Cincinnati Bearcats. This coming Saturday they play the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who blasted them last year 39-14 in Waco.
Billy Napier, Florida Gators
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There was a moment or two where I thought that there was a path for William Napier to survive the 2024 season. That completely went out the window when the Florida Gators head coach went ultra-conservative and played for overtime. Fortune favors the bold and when the Gators had a chance to bury the Tennessee Vols in Knoxville, the embattled head coach had second thoughts about going for two with just 29 seconds remaining.
After this week’s matchup against Kentucky, the Gators will face Georgia, Texas, LSU, and Ole Miss before wrapping up against Florida State. This feels like a third-straight losing season for the Gators and an offseason filled with yet another head coach search.
Mack Brown, North Carolina Tar Heels
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It is almost surprising that UNC head coach Mack Brown is roaming the sidelines given the fallout of the loss to James Madison on Sept. 21. On that day the Tar Heels scored 50 points and still lost by three touchdowns. That was followed up by UNC blowing a 20-0 lead against rival Duke, who scored 21 unanswered to steal the win in Durham. In each of the last three losses to ACC opposition, they had a chance to win but found ways to lose. While I understand letting a coaching legend go on his terms, it might be time to re-think that mentality in Chapel Hill.
Hugh Freeze, Auburn Tigers
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The good news is that Auburn didn’t play this past weekend so quarterback Payton Thorne didn’t have to worry about being thrown under the bus again. Now for the bad news, the Tigers are still searching for the first SEC win of the year. The Missouri Tigers are up next for Freeze, who stated he is looking for guys who will fight for 60 minutes of football. Perhaps if you fell on the sword every once in a while instead of acting like a petulant child in your post-game pressers, they might be willing to play harder.
Trent Dilfer, UAB Blazers
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When Bill Clark retired due to back issues, the Blazers went with Bryant Vincent as the interim head coach. The team looked promising during that 2022 season. However, the school opted to get former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer as their next head coach. Dilfer was coaching at the high school level with some success but in just 18 games the team looked barely competitive. This season the Blazers have lost games by a combined 144 points. That breaks down to an average margin of victory of 28.8 points.
Whose seats are warming up after the first month of the college football season?
We’re now more than a month into the 2024-25 college football season, and that means that preseason prognostication has mostly now been thrown out the window in favor of cold, hard data.
And with the calendar turning to October, we begin to approach the time in which programs are forced to make tough decisions regarding underachieving coaching staffs.
With the early signing period and transfer portal window, we’ve seen coach firings happen earlier and earlier as schools attempt to get a leg up on the search process and, in turn, the offseason roster-building process.
Keeping that in mind as we look at the Week 6 slate, there are quite a few games that could make or break the futures of current coaches within the Power Four ranks. Here are four who desperately need a win on Saturday to avoid the hot seat.
1. Billy Napier, Florida
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In the case of Napier — whose record over two seasons and change in Gainesville is just 13-16 — it’s going to take a lot more than a win over UCF to preserve any chance of sticking around in this job in 2025.
It seems like more of a “when” than “if” question when it comes to Napier’s future, but a home loss to UCF would likely be seen as the final straw for Florida’s brass and fan base after a 2-2 start given the gauntlet the Gators close the year with, featuring games against Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss and LSU.
It would take a truly shocking turnaround for Napier to survive the 2024 season in Gainesville, but without a win against the Knights, it seems unlikely he’ll even survive the weekend.
2. Sam Pittman, Arkansas
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Entering the season, Pittman’s seat at Arkansas was viewed as one of the hottest in America. But after a solid start, it seemed like the strange marriage between himself and offensive coordinator (and former Razorbacks head coach) Bobby Petrino may have been working.
But the Hogs missed a major opportunity early in the season on the road as they choked a game away against Oklahoma State, a loss that has not aged particularly well given the Cowboys’ recent struggles. It beat Auburn but struggled with offensive efficiency in a loss to Texas A&M last week.
Now, it draws a Tennessee team that looks like one of the best in the SEC. Demanding a win from Pittman’s squad is a tough ask, but it needs to at least be competitive against the Vols. The Razorbacks were handed a back-loaded schedule and managed just a 3-2 start.
They enter the thick of that schedule this week, and it’s pretty easy to see how this story ends if Pittman can’t pull off a stunning upset or two.
3. Mack Brown, North Carolina
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Brown, the oldest head coach in the FBS ranks at the age of 72, has been on retirement watch for the last few seasons, despite both his and North Carolina’s insistence that he has no such plans. But now, given the way things have played out in 2024, I’m wondering if it’s time for the hot seat conversation, instead.
Brown later apologized for his conduct, but for lack of a better term, the vibes here stink. In his defense, quarterback Max Johnson was lost for the season in Week 1, but the offense hasn’t been the problem. Instead, it’s the defense, now led by a new coordinator in former Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins, that continues to be this program’s Achilles heel.
Now with a hot Pittsburgh offense coming to town, it feels like a do-or-die moment for UNC. With every bad loss, I think an offseason divorce here feels increasingly more likely. And while I’d probably bet that separation happens on Brown’s own terms, the performance on the field could dictate otherwise.
4. Dave Aranda, Baylor
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Along with Napier and Pittman, Aranda was one of the names you were most likely to see on a preseason hot seat list. After winning 12 games and a Big 12 title in his second season in Waco, Aranda is just 9-16 in his last two seasons. He survived a 3-9 finish in 2023 but was forced to make staff changes.
And to be fair to Aranda, those changes seem to have helped — at least a bit. Baylor is improved defensively and is at least managing some production on offense despite a midseason quarterback change. But the Bears are also 2-3 after some tough losses — including the Hail Mary heartbreaker against Colorado, which it later lost in overtime, and last week’s valiant but ultimately failed comeback effort against BYU.
Those losses to solid teams aren’t exactly damning of Baylor, but Aranda needed to win them. Now, the Bears draw a ranked and undefeated Iowa State team on the road. Is it fair to expect a win? Probably not.
But even with a fairly manageable schedule the rest of the way, it’s hard to imagine Aranda picking up enough wins to stick around this season if his team can’t pull the upset on Saturday to get back to .500.
Coach Prime shared his initial thoughts on Colorado’s Week 4 opponent
Unlike last week, there seems to be mutual respect between the Colorado Buffaloes and their upcoming opponent, Baylor.
Bears head coach Dave Aranda shared some kind words about the Buffs on Monday, and Colorado football head coach Deion Sanders returned the favor during his weekly press conference the following day. Coach Prime was quick to praise Baylor’s discipline, which helped the Bears close their nonconference slate at 2-1.
“Coach Aranda has done a great job of having his team disciplined,” Sanders said. “In the things they do well, they really do well. We got to, first of all, stop the run. I don’t know which quarterback they’re gonna feature this week, but we’re preparing for both quarterbacks. They have athletes, they’re physical, they’re strong. They don’t make a lot of mistakes.”
Regarding Baylor’s quarterback situation, Week 1 starter Dequan Finn is currently considered day-to-day with a shoulder injury, forcing the Buffs to plan for both Finn and backup Sawyer Robertson.
Baylor did lose three fumbles in its 31-3 Week 3 win over Air Force, but the Bears’ defense held the Falcons to only 218 total yards of offense.
Colorado is set to host Baylor on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT (Fox).
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Dave Aranda shared nothing but kind words about the Buffs
Coming out of another emotionally charged rivalry week for Colorado football that included plenty of smack talk from Colorado State, the Buffs’ next opponent has decided to take a different approach.
CU will host its first Big 12 Conference game since 2010 on Saturday when the Baylor Bears come to Folsom for a 6 p.m. MT kickoff. The Bears are 2-1 with blowout wins over Air Force and Tarleton State and a narrow loss to Utah in a technical nonconference matchup.
Baylor head coach Dave Aranda met with the media on Monday to discuss the Buffs and their head coach, Deion Sanders. Aranda gave Sanders high marks for his work in Boulder:
“I got a lot of respect for him (Sanders),” Aranda said. “The enegry, the noterity, the juice he’s brought to that program, he’s doing a great job.”
The nice words didn’t stop with Coach Prime, as Aranada also complimented quarterback Shedeur Sanders and his weapons out wide.
“A lot of respect for what they do offesively,” Aranda said. “Quarterback makes some really hard throws. If he (Shedeur Sanders) knows what you are in, he eats you up. The skills (positions) are such that you can’t double cover so many people. You can see the talking, the communication up front where they’re able to hold off. Quarterback is stepping in and taking hits as he’s getting the ball out. That’s a whole NFL thing right there.”
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It was a tough weekend for two Big 12 head coaches on the hot seat coming into the season.
2024 represents a make-or-break season for both Dave Aranda of the Baylor Bears and Scott Satterfield of the Cincinnati Bearcats. Week 2 did not go well for either head coach, as the hot seat got even warmer after the performances of their teams on Saturday.
Things Are Not Well in Waco
Aranda and his Bears were not prepared for their Big 12 opener. They trailed the Utah Utes 23-0 before getting a field goal just before halftime. The Bears then scored nine points in the third quarter to make it somewhat respectable, but that was largely in part due to the injury to Utah’s Cam Rising.
The Bears quarterback play was miserable, with Dequan Finn completing just 9 of 21 passes for 115 yards in the game. On the defensive side, the Bears looked lost. Rising was torching them all over the field before the injury.
The 47-year-old Aranda has been with the Bears since 2020 and is under .500 in his career. He did have a monster 2021 season with the Bears, including a Sugar Bowl win. But, after back-to-back losing seasons, the folks in Waco are growing tired, and patience is running thin.
The heat will remain on as they host Air Force on Saturday, and then go to Boulder to take on Coach Prime and the Buffaloes on September 21st.
Epic Collapse to Rival not a Recipe for Success
Scott Satterfield was awfully good at Appalachian State and Louisville, but the 51-year-old has really struggled at Cincinnati so far. It may be too early, but a loss to a big rival such as Pittsburgh is many times a death sentence for a head coach. The loss dropped him to 4-10 as the leader of the Bearcats.
Cincinnati scored 27 of the first 40 points in the game. They led 27-6 late in the third. Then, disaster happened. Cincinnati saw Pittsburgh score three straight touchdowns and added a field goal to win the game on Saturday.
Running back Corey Kiner finished with nearly 150 yards but had a massive fumble in the game. The defense was good early, but could not get off the field when they needed to the most. Play calling, and lack of ability to put a game away, almost always falls on the head coach.
The Bearcats are at Miami OH on Saturday. A game they better be ready for, because the MAC has already shown up with big massive wins this early part of the season.
Both Aranda and Satterfield are going to be watched every game the rest of the way. If they can make it through this season, it probably is a miracle with the patience these athletic departments have when a coach is not winning.
Baylor Bears head coach Dave Aranda sits on the hot seat as the 2024 college football season gets underway.
The Baylor Bears open up the season on August 31st at home against Tarleton State. While the Texans should be no issue for the Bears, the rest of the schedule could prove to be a challenge. The man feeling the most pressure to have a big season in Waco is head coach Dave Aranda.
This is the fifth season for Aranda at Baylor. The 47-year-old came to Waco from LSU, where he was the associate head coach and defensive coordinator.
Aranda made a pair of bowl games, including a Sugar Bowl victory over Ole Miss. The last two seasons have not been great, however, with just nine wins in 22 games. The Bears are 6-12 in their last two seasons in Big 12 play.
USA TODAY Sports writer Scooby Axson put together a list of 10 head coaches who were on the hottest of hot seats to start the season. Aranda was on the list. Axson had this to say about his time with the Bears:
It seems like a lifetime ago since Baylor won the Sugar Bowl over Ole Miss (it was 2022), and any goodwill gleaned from the victory has slowly gone by the wayside. The Bears had the worst offense and defense in the Big 12, so Aranda has taken the reigns back and is calling the defense. Bringing in Jake Spavital to retool the offense was a smart move. The truth is there is no reason why the Bears can’t win this conference and win it consistently for years to come.
After Tarleton State leaves town, things get serious right away. Baylor goes on the road to Utah, which is the favorite to win the Big 12 in 2024. The Bears have a home game against Air Force, before going to Boulder to take on Coach Prime and the Colorado Buffaloes. The Bears finish September with a home game against BYU.
LSU has dropped four-straight season openers. Brian Kelly and staff will look to change that in 2025.
It’s been a long time since LSU football won the first game of the season. The last time the Tigers started 1-0, [autotag]Joe Burrow[/autotag] was playing quarterback and [autotag]Dave Aranda[/autotag] was the defensive coordinator.
After the national title win in 2019, it’s been four years of letdowns to open the year. LSU kicked off its title defense with a loss at home to Mississippi State. The next year, LSU dropped one at the Rose Bowl.
[autotag]Ed Orgeron[/autotag] was fired in 2021, giving way to [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag]. The program has made strides under Kelly with back-to-back 10-win seasons, but Kelly is 0-2 at openers in LSU.
To make things worse, LSU was the favorite in its last four openers. All four opponents were Power Five foes, but all four contests were winnable games for a program of LSU’s stature.
LSU will be tested in the opener again, this time with a neutral site meeting against USC. For the third straight year, LSU will begin its year on Sunday night in the national spotlight.
In just over a month, LSU will look to avoid the opening season letdown. Again, the Tigers are the favorite.
LSU was in a rough spot in 2020. [autotag]Ja’Marr Chase[/autotag] opted out, adding to everything LSU already lost after 2019. [autotag]Derek Stingley Jr.[/autotag] missed that first game too, and Mike Leach’s Mississippi State offense totaled 632 yards of offense.
In 2021, LSU trailed UCLA by four entering the fourth quarter, but a 14-0 Bruins run put the game out of reach.
In Kelly’s first game, LSU had a chance to force overtime against Florida State, but costly special teams mistakes cost the game.
Last year, looking for revenge against FSU, LSU positioned itself well early in the game. But failed red zone trips led to an unraveling. Florida State turned it on in the second half while LSU did anything but that.
LSU wasn’t outclassed in any of these games — the Tigers just weren’t ready.
At SEC media days, Kelly was asked if LSU needs to change anything about its preseason process. Kelly said LSU will adjust if needed, but trusts what they do now. It just comes down to execution.
This could be LSU’s most important Game 1 in some time. With an expanded 12-team playoff, a win puts LSU in control of its own destiny the rest of the way. The Tigers could be afforded a loss or two in conference play and still make the 12-team field.
If LSU comes out and drops another opener, to a USC team that might take a step back with no Caleb Williams, the narrative around LSU would not be pretty.
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Former Wisconsin DC Dave Aranda on recruiting success at Baylor: ‘We’re paying players’
Here’s a pretty effective snapshot of the current landscape of college football: Former Wisconsin Badgers defensive coordinator and current Baylor Bears head coach Dave Aranda spoke bluntly at the ongoing Big 12 media days about how his program has found recent success on the class of 2025 recruiting trail.
The question was asked to Aranda after the Bears started July with three class of 2025 commitments, including one from four-star DL Kamauryn Morgan. The class ranks No. 43 in the nation with only 11 total commitments. Though as mentioned, much of that progress was made in the last week.
Aranda says the quiet part loud and clear. The program finished the 2024 cycle with only 14 total commitments and the nation’s No. 67-ranked class. That is a low standing in a talent-rich region like Texas. Now, the program is taking forward strides in the class of 2025 after, as Aranda said, paying more players.
Dave Aranda on what's prompted #Baylor's recent run of recruiting success:
Aranda has been Baylor’s head coach since 2020. He has a 23-25 overall record in those four seasons, buoyed by a terrific 12-2 2021 campaign. Things are trending in the wrong direction over the last few years, however, with a 6-7 2022 campaign and recent 3-9 record in 2023.
The longtime defensive coordinator spent 2013-2015 at Wisconsin under Gary Andersen (2013-14) and Paul Chryst (2015). He has long been one of the better defensive minds in the sport, though has run into a few roadblocks as a head coach.
It’s easy to assume that Aranda speaks for many coaches across the sport when it comes to recruiting inducements. More money leads to better recruiting classes in today’s age of college football.
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