Sources: Baylor football coach Dave Aranda to return in 2024

By
PETE THAMEL via <a href="http://espn.go.com/" title="ESPN" class="espn_sc_byline">ESPN </a>
via
November 26, 2023, 3:09 PM ET
3 min read

Baylor coach Dave Aranda will return to coach the Bears in 2024 but without his two coordinators, sources told ESPN on Sunday.

The decision came after the culmination of multiple meetings with school officials following a 3-9 season, and there's a belief in a viable path forward for Aranda and Baylor despite recent results, sources told ESPN.

Aranda's return comes with significant changes on and off the field, including the dismissal of offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes and defensive coordinator Matt Powledge, sources told ESPN's Adam Rittenberg.

The school will make a commitment for an uptick in Baylor's NIL investment, sources told ESPN.

Crucial to Baylor moving forward will also be a commitment to help keep a strong core of young players in the program. Baylor played the most freshmen in the Big 12 in 2023, with 24 true and redshirt freshmen playing nearly 4,500 snaps.

There's a belief that experience can be built on in 2024 and beyond. The talented true freshman core includes cornerbacks  Caden Jenkins and  Carl Williams IV and tailback Dawson Pendergrass.

Aranda is four years into his Baylor tenure and has a 23-25 overall record. His lone winning season -- when the Bears went 12-2 in 2021 -- is considered the best in school history, as the Bears reached No. 5 in the Associated Press rankings and won the Big 12 title and the Sugar Bowl.

Since then, Baylor is 9-16 overall, and it went 2-7 in Big 12 play this season. Baylor was upset by Texas State to open the year, lost a close game to No. 12 Utah in the second week and never found its footing thereafter.

Grimes was a finalist for the 2021 Broyles Award, which goes to the nation's top assistant, and also was nominated for the award while serving as BYU's offensive coordinator in 2020. Baylor's offense slipped significantly the past two seasons, ranking 95th nationally in scoring this fall.

Powledge replaced Ron Roberts as Baylor's defensive playcaller, returning to the Bears' staff after spending 2022 as Oregon's co-defensive coordinator. Baylor fell to 111th nationally in points allowed this season, and gave up 135 in its final three games.