WACO, Texas — On Thursday, Baylor University announced they have zeroed in on LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda as their next head football coach.
Coming off a national championship season with the Tigers, Aranda isn’t exactly a stranger to the Big 12 Conference.
He was a graduate assistant for Texas Tech from 1999 to 2001. This time frame encompasses the last year of Spike Dykes as head coach and the first two years of Mike Leach’s tenure.
In 2012, he was the DC at Utah State while Texas Tech head coach Matt Wells was the offensive coordinator. This was a year before Wells would assume the head coaching position.
He also worked for current Kansas head coach Les Miles at LSU during the 2016 season as defensive coordinator.
As the highest paid assistant coach in the country while at LSU, it is virtually guaranteed Aranda will see a significant pay day with this move to Baylor. He was raking in $2.5 million annually with the Tigers.
Aranda also inherits a significantly different program than departed coach Matt Rhule did just three years ago.
The Bears are fresh off of a run to the Big 12 title game and New Year’s Six bowl appearance. He will also retain several veteran players including quarterback Charlie Brewer.