Baylor is going to look completely different during the 2026 college football season and it is not a result of a head coaching change like other programs with similar issues. Rather, the opposite.
Dave Aranda somehow got another year!
The head coach will need to rebuild the vast majority of his starting lineup for his seventh (and final?) college football season at the helm. As things currently stand, the Bears are set to return five starters. That’s it. Only five (kind of six) out of 22 players (really more) are coming back.
Dave Aranda is back.
Baylor, against all odds, decided to retain its head coach after its third losing season in four years. The decision stemmed from a severe lack of stability within the athletic department after the sudden resignation of now-former athletic director Mack Rhodes amid yet another scandal in Waco.
Aranda got lucky but he must now deliver if he wants to make it through the end of the season.
The Bears have lost won more games than they have won since his arrival.
- 2020: 2-7
- 2021: 12-2
- 2022: 6-7
- 2023: 3-9
- 2024: 8-5
- 2025: 5-7
An impressive and unexpected finish to 2024 barely saved his job after the fans stopped showing up. It was more of the same in 2025.
Baylor lost (pretty much) its entire starting lineup.
It is actually much easier to name all of the starters from last season who will be back in 2026 than to name all of the starters who won’t. Whether it be because the others graduated or entered the transfer portal, only five will be back.
- Right tackle Kaden Sieracki
- Rover (defensive back/linebacker) Kyland Reed
- Free safety Jacob Redding
- Kicker Connor Hawkins
- Punter Palmer Williams
That’s it. Running back Dawson Pendergrass might’ve factored into the lineup last season if he was healthy. He is currently expected to return so make it six. But no more than six.
Baylor will lose its starting quarterback, starting running back, starting right guard, starting center, starting defensive tackle, four wide receivers, three tight ends, two left tackles, two defensive ends, four linebackers and six defensive backs. That’s all.
This kind of thing happens often on the Group of Six level. Especially when the head coach takes a bigger job— like what happened at James Madison over the last few weeks.
For this to happen to the Bears after a frustrating losing season with a lame duck head coach (for the third year in a row) does not bode well for 2026. Dave Aranda better get to work in the portal!