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Baylor Football

BREAKING: DC Ron Roberts, Safeties Coach Ronnie Wheat out at Baylor

December 1, 2022
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Baylor Defensive Coordinator Ron Roberts and Safeties and Special Teams Coach Ronnie Wheat are no longer with the program, SicEm365 has learned through multiple sources. Baylor officials have not confirmed the news at the time of this report.

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Roberts, also the inside linebackers coach, joined Dave Aranda at Baylor for 2020 following after two seasons as the Defensive Coordinator at Louisiana. Roberts’ 2021 Baylor defense led the Bears to a 12-win season and a Big 12 Championship, leading the conference in interceptions (19), turnovers gained (27), turnover margin (0.93) and defensive touchdowns (3). 

Wheat spent a single season at Baylor after joining the program in the 2022 offseason. Wheat replaced Matt Powledge who left for Oregon as the co-Defensive Coordinator.  Wheat came to Waco to join Aranda’s staff after two seasons as a full-time assistant at the University of Nevada.

The moves are on the heels of Baylor’s 6-6 campaign in 2022, a season which the the Bears were picked to win the league by the media.  

 

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BREAKING: DC Ron Roberts, Safeties Coach Ronnie Wheat out at Baylor

36,994 Views | 99 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by IowaBear
IowaBear
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5:43p, 12/1/22
Leonhard or Phil Parker. If he's willing to can Roberts he better go big
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Art_E_Guinn
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In reply to blairbear • 5:48p, 12/1/22
blairbear said:
Jim Leonard spent a year after retiring from the NFL with Dave Aranda who was the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin at that time. 2015. He and Aranda watched film and diagnosed how to defend college offenses. Leonard was hired as defensive backs coach at Wisconsin in Feb. 2016. Now considered by many to be one of the top five defensive coordinators in college football. I agree with Iowa bear that this should be the top choice and the timing of all of this has me thinking that Aranda has spoken with Leonard.
copy/paste from Wikipedia and you can't even spell the guy's name right.

Jim Leonhard, not Leonard

he's reportedly a finalist for the Cincy job, though it's possible they've found their man and he gave Aranda a call. that would be one of the top assistant hires this offseason, no doubt. absolute home run.

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boognish_bear
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5:58p, 12/1/22
I will say it's nice to see that Aranda isn't sitting on his hands after an underwhelming season.

I would also think these moves being taken would indicate he's not about to be heading to Stanford.
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Mothballs
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In reply to Fre3dombear • 6:23p, 12/1/22
Fre3dombear said:
jbw_sicem4413 said:
Guessing Jedi has a big upgrade in mind


Patterson coming

Somebody warn Golden Coral
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DanaDane
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6:59p, 12/1/22
What am I missing on the timing? Why wouldn't you have waited until after the bowl game? What's the advantage in firing him now instead of 3 weeks from now? I don't believe it's just a built in excuse in case you lose. Aranda doesn't strike me as that kind of thinker.

Is it a sign that he has someone already lined up and he wants the team to get the extra practices under that person?
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Fre3dombear
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In reply to PaperBear89 • 7:03p, 12/1/22
PaperBear89 said:
My guess is that after this year, Aranda realized just how quickly the iron to be struck can cool down.

The dude is a long-term thinker and a cold-blooded killer, if you haven't figured that out yet.

Plan is to get a top-level DC in here with the lure that it would be a great path to an HC gig (maybe even here) and then CDA will not pass up the opportunities when his star rises again.


Why does everyone think Aranda is some cold blooded assassin? Cause he's bald and talk quietly and looks pensive and measured?

So far he appears to have caught lightning in a bottle with someone else's guys.

I hope he's extremely successful. My new measure of our coaching staffs are who can beat tcu.

He's 0-3. Including in a year we won the sugar bowl. If he can't have the team ready for a faux rivalry game and win it consistently, then I'm not feeling the assassin vibe.
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Doc Holliday
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In reply to gturner3312 • 8:17p, 12/1/22
gturner3312 said:
I have a feeling that Coach Aranda is not done with staff changes,
Good
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historian
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8:19p, 12/1/22
FWIW, Drake Toll over at SI's Fan Nation has a list of potential candidates for DC that includes Kevin Steele & Gary Patterson!

https://www.si.com/college/baylor/.amp/football/baylor-bears-football-next-defensive-coordinator-hot-board-gary-patterson-dave-aranda

I suspect it's just a guessing game & click bait but those certainly are interesting choices.
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IowaBear
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In reply to historian • 8:22p, 12/1/22
That list is underwhelming to say the least
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SMack
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8:37p, 12/1/22
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boognish_bear
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8:38p, 12/1/22
I know it's logical to look at some coaches he's had past connections with because HCs often do that….but did Aranda have any past connection to Grimes before picking him up? I don't remember a connection.
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Hob Howelll
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In reply to historian • 8:39p, 12/1/22
historian said:
FWIW, Drake Toll over at SI's Fan Nation has a list of potential candidates for DC that includes Kevin Steele & Gary Patterson!

https://www.si.com/college/baylor/.amp/football/baylor-bears-football-next-defensive-coordinator-hot-board-gary-patterson-dave-aranda

I suspect it's just a guessing game & click bait but those certainly are interesting choices.


He doesn't know anything. It's Clickbait. Maybe Aranda has talked about potential replacements with Mack in order to discuss the budget, but these are just names he's pulling out of a hat

And I can tell you Kevin Steele and Patterson wouldn't come coach here in 1 million years.
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Hob Howelll
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In reply to boognish_bear • 8:39p, 12/1/22
boognish_bear said:
I know it's logical to look at some coaches he's had past connections with because HCs often do that….but did Aranda have any past connection to Grimes before picking him up? I don't remember a connection.


I think maybe Grimes was the offensive line coach for a year at LSU while Aranda was still defensive coordinator
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IowaBear
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8:41p, 12/1/22
So who is everyone hoping we hire ?
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CTbruin
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8:41p, 12/1/22
And we wouldn't ask them to in a million years
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Feel The Floyd
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In reply to boognish_bear • 8:41p, 12/1/22
boognish_bear said:
I know it's logical to look at some coaches he's had past connections with because HCs often do that….but did Aranda have any past connection to Grimes before picking him up? I don't remember a connection.


LSU offensive line coach through 2017
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Hob Howelll
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8:42p, 12/1/22
One thing I will mention with Roberts is that I don't think he was a huge asset in the recruiting game, and I know Aranda is trying to emphasize recruiting with his staff hires. I don't think you can roll Gary Anderson or Kevin Steele out there on the recruiting trail and expect much to happen
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Hob Howelll
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In reply to IowaBear • 8:46p, 12/1/22
IowaBear said:
So who is everyone hoping we hire ?


Does it have to be realistic? Ha ha

I don't think Leonhard is realistic. If he doesn't get the Cincinnati job, I think he can get some other non-P5 head coaching job which is better than defensive coordinator.

I do think Aranda will hire someone who has worked with him in the past and "gets" him and his defense. If nothing else, I think he'll hire an up-and-coming position coach that can be a stud on the recruiting trail to make up for the loss of Maguire and that can be his co-defensive coordinator of sorts with Aranda being the primary playcaller during games.

My best guess? I think he takes a guy like Cory Raymond that at least has some degree of understanding of his defensive philosophy and utilizes him as an assistant coordinator. That's what other defensive minded coaches have done at other schools
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IowaBear
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In reply to Hob Howelll • 8:57p, 12/1/22
Doesn't have to be realistic my list would be Leonard and Parkerabd I'm not sure either are realistic at all
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boognish_bear
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9:04p, 12/1/22
A couple of names that haven't already been mentioned….

https://www.si.com/college/baylor/football/baylor-bears-football-next-defensive-coordinator-hot-board-gary-patterson-dave-aranda

1. Gary Andersen | Analyst, Weber State
The 58-year-old Andersen is a big name in college football. Previously serving as the head coach at Utah State, Wisconsin and Oregon State, Andersen has a 63-70 record but a WAC title and Big Ten West Division title to his name. More importantly, Andersen hired Aranda at Utah State in 2012 and took the Bears' current headman to Wisconsin with him in 2013. The relationship is there, and Andersen helped jumpstart Aranda's career. Can Aranda revive Andersen's?

2. Corey Raymond | Cornerbacks, Florida
Raymond would be a home run hire. The former cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator at LSU, Raymond was in Baton Rouge during the entirety of Aranda's stint with the Tigers. His 2019 secondary at LSU forced opposing quarterbacks into an average of 18-35 for 223 yards and just 1.3 touchdown passes per game. The unit also nabbed 16 interceptions thanks to big names like Derek Stingley Jr. and Kristian Fulton.

3. Bill Busch | Interim Defensive Coordinator, Nebraska
Similar to the aforementioned candidates, Busch has been on stops along with Aranda. Busch coached safeties at Wisconsin from 2013-2014 and led the safeties group at LSU from 2018-2020. He led Grant Delpit to back-to-back first-team All-American seasons at LSU, including a Thorpe Award in 2019. He has worked under Urban Meyer, Ed Orgeron and Tom Osborne. He's also out at Nebraska, so he certainly is willing to take a job elsewhere.
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boognish_bear
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9:33p, 12/1/22
I was just running through some names of DCs from non-P5 teams that did well in Scoring Defense. Chris Hampton is the second year DC at Tulane. Last year Tulane was ranked 114th in Scoring Defense and this year they jumped all the way up to 18th giving up only 19.8 per game.

As I was looking to find out more about him I ran across an article saying he ran a defensive set similar to Aranda….so that caught my eye. I don't think there is any connection between them.

https://www.underdogdynasty.com/2022/9/23/23365043/film-room-a-deeper-look-at-tulane-defense-willie-fritz-chris-hampton

"The Film

The Green Wave normally runs three down lineman sets, while also including a Joker position. The joker position is a combination defensive end and linebacker who normally lines up more like a stand-up edge rusher.

For the most part, these 3 down lineman sets are tite fronts, a defensive front made popular by Baylor head coach Dave Aranda. The tite front consists of the two defensive ends in a 4i alignment (inside shoulder of a left tackle) and the interior defensive lineman in a 0 technique (on top of the center)."
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PawpaBear
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9:38p, 12/1/22
For the record I think Aranda fired Robert's for ego and/or locker room issues. I think Aranda fired Wheaton for on the field performance and lack of development.

That being said… would Aranda fire Robert's if this team won the 3 close games… (BYU, West Virginia, TCU)?
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boognish_bear
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In reply to PawpaBear • 9:43p, 12/1/22
PawpaBear said:
For the record I think Aranda fired Robert's for ego and/or locker room issues. I think Aranda fired Wheaton for on the field performance and lack of development.

That being said… would Aranda fire Robert's if this team won the 3 close games… (BYU, West Virginia, TCU)?


Where did you hear about locker room issues?
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IowaBear
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In reply to boognish_bear • 9:55p, 12/1/22
Nothings been reported but there had to be something going on. They're buddies big buddies. It's one down year. Something is definitely up.
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boognish_bear
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10:01p, 12/1/22
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bear2be2
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In reply to boognish_bear • 11:10p, 12/1/22
boognish_bear said:
Can you accuse him of hiring bad coordinators/assistants?
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PartyBear
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11:25p, 12/1/22
It is clear you don't like Aranda. Just the other day you were arguing he has to do something or he needs to be fired after year 4 if we are mediocre. Now this afternoon you are arguing he is creating chaos when he takes action. He isn't btw creating chaos.
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bear2be2
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In reply to PartyBear • 12:36a, 12/2/22
PartyBear said:
It is clear you don't like Aranda. Just the other day you were arguing he has to do something or he needs to be fired after year 4 if we are mediocre. Now this afternoon you are arguing he is creating chaos when he takes action. He isn't btw creating chaos.
I have never once said the bolded. You're making **** up again.

And I don't dislike Aranda at all. I just think the shine is off the rose a little. I think our future looks far more uncertain now than it did 12 months ago, and I don't have the same confidence I did then in our present direction. Next year's a big season, but Aranda wouldn't be on the hot seat until Year 5 at the earliest.
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PartyBear
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4:49a, 12/2/22
You did say something to that effect on the thread you were fawning over Tech having a similar record to ours. I actually agreed with you that being around .500 isnt good for any coach not just a Baylor coach to be achieving. Anyway that why Aranda is taking the action he is taking. Hopefully Aranda does turn it around.
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gobears20
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5:06a, 12/2/22
Staff
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IowaBear
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6:52a, 12/2/22
Busch isn't impressive imo that would be a meh hire.
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boognish_bear
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In reply to gobears20 • 7:11a, 12/2/22
gobears20 said:


Can he bring a WR with him?

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Big_Pumpin
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7:13a, 12/2/22
Guys, clearly Dave has an issue with the name Ron. Nothing more. Nothing less.

It makes sense now why KyRON didn't see the field late in the season.
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BearFan33
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7:14a, 12/2/22
Surprised about Roberts, but not about Wheat. We took a step back on special teams this year for sure. I blamed our defensive step back on loss of personnel to the NFL. But I guess DA had other ideas.
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Mothballs
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In reply to IowaBear • 7:37a, 12/2/22
IowaBear said:
So who is everyone hoping we hire ?

Phil Montgomery should get a look for sure.
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