Dave Aranda to Become Head Coach at Baylor

Reports from Bruce Feldman this afternoon, among others, indicated that LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda would become the next head coach at Baylor. The school has now officially confirmed the move:

Aranda arrived at LSU in 2016 with one of the top reputations in the business and more than lived up to that here, leading defenses that consistently landed in the top 10 in defensive SP+. His 2019 unit, while the lowest-ranked of his tenure at 20th in SP+, still managed to hold two of the nation’s top offensive teams in Oklahoma and Clemson to some of their lowest offensive outputs of the year.

He helped coach a host of superlative players in his time here, from unanimous All-American and Thorpe Award-winner Grant Delpit, to LSU’s first ever Butkus Award winner in Devin White in 2018, and LSU’s single-season sack leader in Arden Key in 2017.

Aranda will replace another former defensive coordinator in Matt Rhule, who left for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers (and subsequently hired LSU’s Joe Brady).

We’ll have more on potential replacements later, but with the team headed to Washington D.C. for its White House visit, you can bet that Ed Orgeron’s phone is blowing up with potential applicants. A mind like Aranda is not easily replaced, but LSU will have lots of great options.