Tag: Dave Aranda

Former Texas A&M OL Colton Thomasson has found a new home

Former Texas A&M OL Colton Thomasson is headed to Waco to join the Baylor Bears this season

This offseason, over 20 players entered the transfer portal. Still, just like former Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher’s final offseason in 2023, most of the transfers were either backups or first/second-year players looking for more playing time next season, including sophomore offensive tackle Colton Thomasson.

Thomasson, a promising four-star prospect from the 2023 recruiting class, stood out with his impressive physical attributes-standing at 6-8 and weighing nearly 300 pounds. Hailing from Spring Branch, Texas, he was expected to make a significant impact in College Station. However, with the departure of Jimbo Fisher and the arrival of the new Mike Elko regime, Thomasson decided to explore other opportunities, entering the transfer portal last week.

Looking to stay close to home in the Lone Star State, it has been announced that Colton is headed to Baylor for the 2024 season. Bears head coach Dave Aranda needs improvement in the trenches, especially at the tackle position.

We wish Colton all the best in his new football journey at Baylor for the 2024 season! We’re excited to see how he will contribute to the Bears under the guidance of head coach Dave Aranda.

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Former Wisconsin star linebacker joins Baylor coaching staff

Former Wisconsin star linebacker joins Baylor coaching staff

Former Wisconsin star linebacker Chris Orr has accepted a position on Dave Aranda’s Baylor coaching staff.

This move means Orr officially retires from professional football. He spent the last few years with the Birmingham Stallions of the UFL. That move followed a brief stint with the Carolina Panthers after signing as an undrafted free agent in 2020.

Related: Wisconsin football 2024 spring transfer portal window tracker

Orr’s LinkedIn page lists his position at Baylor as ‘Assistant Linebackers Coach.’

He joins a Baylor program led by Aranda — Wisconsin’s defensive coordinator from 2013-2015. Aranda and Orr overlapped during the linebacker’s freshman season in 2015.

Orr’s Wisconsin career finished in 2019 after 188 total tackles, 21 tackles for loss, 15.0 sacks, two interceptions, three forced fumbles and eight pass deflections.

He now begins a coaching career that predictably starts thanks to a Wisconsin connection. Wisconsin has a new coaching staff in place, but Orr ending up on the Badgers staff wouldn’t be a surprise.

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Baylor retains Dave Aranda as head coach, eliminating him from USC DC search

Cross Dave Aranda off your lists, #USC fans. He has been retained by Baylor for one more season.

The coaching carousel news cycle is in overdrive on Sunday, with teams’ regular seasons ending and schools making official announcements on firings and retentions for 2024. The Baylor Bears have announced that head coach Dave Aranda will be retained for 2024, putting him off the market as a possibility for USC’s open defensive coordinator position.

Many people thought Aranda would be fired, given how much Baylor cratered late in the 2023 season. However, the Bears — realizing that Aranda did win the Big 12 championship and the Sugar Bowl in the 2021 season — have decided to give him one more year. Aranda will be on the hot seat in 2024, but he will at least get one more chance to save his job in Waco.

USC does have Tom Allen of Indiana to consider. Allen was fired by Indiana earlier on Sunday, putting him on the market as Lincoln Riley’s potential new coordinator. We will see if USC interviews Allen. We will keep you updated on USC’s defensive coordinator search, which now becomes more intense since the Trojans can interview lots of candidates. Expect USC to have a new coordinator in the next five days.

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USC defensive coordinator search update for November 20, with notes and analysis

Dave Aranda is likely to be fired. Tom Allen is likely to be fired. Lincoln Riley should have great choices for #USC DC.

USC football is a total mess right now. To be clear, the Trojans’ problems go far beyond their defensive coordinator. They probably need to fire strength coach Bennie Wylie, but if they don’t, Lincoln Riley must at least reconsider how he structures his program and organizes his practices. If USC doesn’t change at least one of those two components — strength and conditioning or practice structure — the Trojans are likely to remain stuck. They will continue to be mediocre.

This is why the defensive coordinator search is both important and fascinating, however. When defensive coordinator candidates interview for this job in the coming weeks, they will ask Riley about his methods and his strength program. If the answers Riley gives them are turn-offs, or Riley insists he won’t make changes to his operational philosophy (or both), those elite coordinators might choose to not come to USC. If Riley realizes elite coaching talent is staying away from USC because he’s unwilling to change his larger methods, that could force Riley to make changes on a larger scale.

It will be interesting to see if the interview process forces Riley to make bigger changes, or if Riley already knows he has to make those changes. One way or the other, those bigger changes need to be made.

Having established that key point, let’s now look at the updated situation involving the USC defensive coordinator search. The big story: Lincoln Riley should have a great candidate pool to choose from. We’ll explain why in our latest update:

8 college football coaches on the hot seat, including Houston’s Dana Holgorsen

Jimbo Fisher was the first major domino to fall in what could prove to be a wild coaching carousel.

In contrast with the chaos of the college football coaching market the last two years, it’s been a bit of a slow burn to start the 2023 carousel.

As the calendar turned to November, the only Power Five openings were Michigan State and Northwestern, both of which opened for non-football reasons. It looked like we could be heading for a relatively quiet cycle.

Then, a major domino fell. In what became something of a “Black Sunday” for college football coaches, Texas A&M decided to part ways with coach Jimbo Fisher (and pay the $76 million buyout that came with that decision).

Since then, we’ve seen a few more changes, including in the SEC West. Mississippi State fired first-year coach Zach Arnett just 11 games into his tenure after he took over last December after the death of coach Mike Leach.

In the Group of Five ranks, Boise State axed third-year coach Andy Avalos, and San Diego State (and former Michigan) coach Brady Hoke announced his retirement.

These were the first moves to be made, but if history is any indicator, they’ll be far from the last. Here are eight more coaches who find themselves on the hot seat with two weeks left in the regular season.

Former LSU player Jacoby Stevens joins coaching staff

A former LSU defender has joined the Tigers coaching staff.

LSU football began fall camp on Thursday and a familiar face was working with the defense. Former linebacker and safety [autotag]JaCoby Stevens[/autotag].

Stevens signed with LSU as a five-star athlete in 2017. He initially played offense, catching two passes his freshman year before moving to the defensive side, where he proved to be a versatile playmaker for defensive coordinator [autotag]Dave Aranda[/autotag].

Stevens racked up 21.5 tackles for loss in his LSU career with four interceptions and four fumble recoveries. He was a member of the 2019 national title team.

He played one year with the Philadelphia Eagles, appearing in three games and making one start.

Stevens’ versatility as a player should help him in the coaching ranks. This is a guy who played all over the defense in several schemes and also had a cup of tea on offense.

Stevens isn’t the only recent former player to be on staff. Last year, [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] brought back former running back [autotag]Nick Brossette[/autotag] to serve as the Director of Alumni Relations and High School Outreach.

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CBS Sports Big 12 Hot Seat Ratings: ‘Pressure is mounting’ for Brent Venables

In their updated hot seat rating for the 2023 season, CBS Sports believes “pressure is mounting” for Oklahoma’s Brent Venables.

Coming out of a 2022 season where the Oklahoma Sooners had their first losing season since 1998 with one of the worst defenses in the team’s history, it’s not unreasonable to have questions about the direction of the program.

At the same time, it’s only been one year, and we haven’t seen Venables’ recruiting classes take the field and play significant snaps yet. The team may not have much success to speak about on the field yet, but the coaching staff has done a tremendous job off of it on the recruiting trail.

They’ve put together two top 10 classes, and with the way things are shaping up, the Sooners are looking at a third straight top 10 class in the 2024 cycle.

Ahead of the 2023 season, CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd took a look at every head coach in the FBS and determined where they stood on his “hot seat rating system.”

It’s a system that rates coaches from 0-5. “Zero” represents coaches that are untouchable, like Nick Saban or Kirby Smart. “Five” represents coaches that are in must-win mode heading into 2023.

Here’s a look at where the 14 Big 12 coaches stand heading into 2023. We also included where each coach ranked in CBS Sports’ head coach rankings in the Big 12 and overall and their career winning percentages.

Longhorns Big 12 team to beat, Sooners third in preseason media poll

The Oklahoma Sooners were picked to finish third in the Big 12 preseason media poll while their Red River Rivals look like the team to beat.

Next week, all 14 teams in the Big 12 will descend upon Arlington, Texas, for Big 12 Media Days at AT&T Stadium.

It marks a landmark season for the conference in what will be the last year featuring the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns before they depart for the SEC next summer.

The Big 12 is as wide open as it has been recently. If one team leads the pack in the public eye, it is the Texas Longhorns.

Their combination of incoming talent and returning star power them as the favorite to win the conference early on.

Ahead of next week’s media days, here’s how those that cover the Big 12 voted in the preseason poll.

CBS Sports ranked every coach in the Power Five, how did the Big 12 fair?

How did Brent Venables and the Big 12 fare in CBS Sports ranking of each Power Five coach?

The expansion to 14 teams for the 2023-2024 academic year provides a unique environment for the Big 12 in its final year with Oklahoma and Texas. New teams mean new faces in the coaching ranks.

Over at CBS Sports, they ranked each coach in the Power Five, so we’ve collated where the Big 12 head coaches stack up ahead of the 2023 season.

CBS Sports coach rankings No. 26-69.

CBS Sports coach rankings No. 25-1.

Four Big 12 coaches landed in the top 25, but none made it into the top 10. It’s a pivotal season for several guys. Here’s a look at how the Big 12 coaches faired in CBS Sports Power Five head coach rankings.

Five coaches who could be LSU’s future head coach

Five coaches who could lead LSU in the future whenever the Brian Kelly era comes to an end.

The [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] era is young.

Kelly had a successful first year in Baton Rouge, and if he remains on that track, he’ll stick around for awhile.

But this is the coaching industry — nothing is certain and nothing is forever. Things happen. Coaches take unexpected jobs, retire without warning or get canned after one bad year.

Point being, change happens and it happens fast.

I think Kelly will remain at LSU for some time. I’ve always been optimistic about this administration, and Year 1 only furthered that belief. But there will be a day when Kelly is no longer leading LSU, and a replacement will be needed. It could be in two years or it could be in 10. This exercise is just for fun — until it isn’t.

Here are some coaches who could lead LSU in the future.