Baylor Football Coaching Staff

Dave Aranda

Head Coach

A 2020 National Champion and 24-year coaching veteran, Dave Aranda was named the 28th head coach in Baylor Football history on Jan. 16, 2020. Aranda comes to Waco after four seasons as associate head coach and defensive coordinator at LSU, including a 2020 National Championship and a 2019 SEC Championship. Widely considered one of the top defensive minds in all of football, Aranda has a track record of producing NFL-ready players. In six seasons as a defensive coordinator at a Power 5 Conference school, Aranda's defenses have been ranked in the Top 12 nationally in total yards five times. His defenses have also ranked among the top 10 in scoring four of the past seven years. Since taking over as the defensive coordinator at Utah State in 2014, Aranda's defenses have given up a touchdown or less in 48 of 108 games. Over LSU’s final five games of the 2019 season, including the SEC Championship and College Football Playoff, the Tigers allowed only 18 ppg with wins over No. 3 Clemson, No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 4 Georgia, Texas A&M and Arkansas. In that stretch, the Tigers’ defense allowed only 295.0 yards per game and intercepted six passes.

Jeff Grimes

Off. Coordinator & TE

Jeff Grimes has been named offensive coordinator at Baylor, head coach Dave Aranda announced Monday. A 28-year coaching veteran, Grimes, who has led the BYU offense since 2018, was named a finalist for the 2020 Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach.

Matthew Powledge

Defensive Coordinator

Matt Powledge – who spent the 2022 season as the co-defensive coordinator at Oregon following two years as the safeties and special teams coordinator at Baylor – has been named the defensive coordinator for the Bears, it was announced on Dec. 29, 2022. Powledge rejoins the Baylor coaching staff following a season as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Oregon in 2022. He spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons on Aranda’s staff in Waco, following two-year stints at Louisiana-Lafayette (2018-19), ULM (2016-17) and Sam Houston (2014-15). He opened his coaching career at Kentucky (2013), Northwestern State (2012) and Southeastern Louisiana (2010-11) after playing fullback for his hometown Sam Houston (2005-09).

Shawn Bell

Quarterbacks

Former Baylor great Shawn Bell joined the football staff in December 2016. After serving as an offensive analyst in 2017, he was elevated to offensive line coach in March 2018. He moved to tight ends under new head coach Dave Aranda in January 2020. The former record-setting Baylor quarterback returned to his alma mater following 10 seasons on the sidelines at the high school level, the last eight as head coach at Cedar Ridge, Magnolia West and Clifton.

Justin Johnson

Running Backs

Justin Johnson joined the Baylor Football staff in February 2020. He serves as running backs coach. Johnson joined Baylor following a one-year stint in 2019 as running backs coach at his alma mater, the University of Houston. He helped UH achieve its 18th straight season with at least 1,500 rushing yards in 2019. The Cougars’ rushing attack ranked 37th in FBS, averaging 188.2 yards per contest.

Eric Mateos

Offensive Line

Eric Mateos joined the Baylor Football staff in January 2021. He serves as offensive line coach. A native of Overland Park, Kansas, Mateos joins Baylor following two successful seasons at BYU from 2019-20. Mateos spent two seasons from 2017-18 as the offensive line coach at Texas State, and prior to that he served as the tight ends coach at LSU under Jeff Grimes. He also spent time on Bret Bielema and Sam Pittman’s staff at Arkansas from 2013-15. He began his coaching career as an assistant offensive line coach at Southwest Baptist in 2011 before serving a one-year stint in 2012 as the offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Hutchinson Community College.

Dennis Johnson

Defensive Line

Dennis Johnson joined head coach Dave Aranda's football staff in January 2020. He serves as defensive line coach. Johnson, a LSU graduate and member of the school’s 2011 Southeastern Conference Championship team, comes to Waco following a 2019 season spent as an analyst at LSU. He served from 2016-18 as a full-time coach, first with the outside linebackers (2016-17) before moving to defensive line (2018). He moved off the field in 2019 for medical reasons. Johnson is also a talented recruiter with an innate ability to land big-time recruits. He has played a pivotal role in LSU’s last three signing classes that ranked No. 5 (2019), No. 15 (2018) and No. 7 (2017) nationally.

Christian Robinson

Inside Linebackers

One of the top young defensive minds in college football, Christian Robinson has been tabbed to coach Baylor’s inside linebackers, it was announced on Dec. 30, 2022. Robinson joins the Baylor staff after coaching linebackers at Auburn during the 2022 season, following four seasons in the same position at Florida. He also served as a graduate assistant at Mississippi State (2017), Ole Miss (2015-16) and Georgia (2013-14). Robinson played linebacker at Georgia from 2009-12. A native of Norcross, Ga., Robinson was named to the American Football Coaches Association 35 Under 35 listing in 2022, highlighting some of the nation’s best up-and-coming coaches under 35.

Caleb Collins

Outside Linebackers

Caleb Collins joined the Baylor Family in June 2020. He worked as a quality control coach on defense for his first season, then was promoted to an on-field role as assistant coach for outside linebackers in November 2021. He joined Dave Aranda’s Baylor staff following three seasons at LSU in a similar capacity. He served as a graduate assistant on defense during the 2018 season working under Aranda with the inside linebackers. He was promoted to the role of analyst for the 2019 season as LSU won a National Championship. A native of Houston, Collins played linebacker at Southeastern Louisiana from 2012-16 under current Baylor defensive coordinator Ron Roberts.

Kevin Curtis

Cornerbacks

Kevin Curtis joined the Baylor Football staff in February 2021. He serves as cornerbacks coach. Curtis, who played safety at Texas Tech while Baylor head coach Dave Aranda was a member of the Red Raider coaching staff from 2000-01, joined the SMU program as cornerbacks coach in January 2018 after two seasons in the same capacity at Louisiana Tech. From 2013-15, he mentored defensive backs at his alma mater Texas Tech, and prior to that was his first stint at Louisiana Tech (2010-12) and two seasons (2008-09) at Navarro Junior College.

Vic Viloria

Director of Athletic Performance

Viloria spent three seasons at LSU under head strength coach Tommy Moffit from 2018-2020 after a one single season with his alma mater SMU in 2017. Prior to his time at LSU and SMU, Viloria worked as the head strength and conditioning coach under the direction of Jimbo Fisher at Florida State from 2010-2017 where he helped the program to multiple ACC titles and a national championship in 2013.