Dave Aranda’s future at Baylor has been a talking point for much of the past two seasons, as the Bears have struggled on the field since Aranda led them to a Big 12 title and Sugar Bowl berth during the 2021-2022 season.
Following Baylor’s impressive 49-35 road win over West Virginia on Saturday, Aranda received the news he had been hoping for from the BU administration.
As CBS Sports reported, a school spokesperson informed the media outlet that Aranda would be returning for the 2025 Football season.
Aranda took over in Waco before the COVID-shortened 2020 season after former Bears head coach Matt Rhule departed to coach the Carolina Panthers in the NFL.
After a difficult 2-7 inaugural campaign, Aranda and his team shocked the nation by going 11-2 in 2021, which included knocking Oklahoma State out of the College Football Playoff by beating the Cowboys in the Big 12 title and winning the Sugar Bowl over Ole Miss.
But, the program fell back down to Earth during the past two years, with Baylor going a combined 9-16 during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
It was apparent that Aranda would need to put forth a strong season in order to retain his job, but things appeared to be trending in the wrong direction following a 43-21 loss to Iowa State on October 5 that dropped the Bears to 2-4 on the year.
But, following a bye week, the team has ripped off four-straight wins, including impressive road victories over Texas Tech and West Virginia as well as a heart-stopping win over rivals TCU.
Baylor closes the season with a trip to Houston before it welcomes Kansas to Waco.
This follows a recent trend of programs announcing that coaches would return publicly during the season, something that has only become common in this transfer portal era where players need to be able to trust that there will be stability from a coaching staff. Thus, it pays for the school to publicly announce its backing of a head coach.
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