Bearfan21 said:

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Linda is a proven, incompetent clown. Can't read a room, mishandled COVID, treats Baylor like a pine cove summer camp for adults.

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She's a DEI hire who was installed as president a year after CAB was fired for all the usual virtue signaling reasons. It is what it is. There is no will within the SBC nor the BOR to rid ourselves of her.

Not that it matters, but I think Aranda's staying is contingent on winning one of these last 2 games and becoming bowl eligible.

Finishing 5-7 and missing a bowl might be enough to make a BMD say they've had enough and pull the plug.

We'll know by 4 pm tomorrow whether we'll be locked into the postseason or fighting for our lives on November 29.

If it's the latter, then the chance that Aranda gets canned with a loss on Senior Day becomes a possibility again.

Depending on how long it takes to hire the new AD, I can see some value in not making it a big fire drill for them to hire a new head football coach.

Look on the bright side, this gives Coach Briles extra time to assemble his staff for his return.

IowaBear said:

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It's funny you mention Steele. That's exactly where Dave's program is headed. But pop the champagne bottle Party. Your boy Dave gets to come back another year and continue burying the program.

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Continue burying? Let's face it, we are talking Baylor football. The winning and good seasons are the outliers, not the other way around. Dave has maintained the Baylor football tradition going back to the 50's. Even under Teaff, if we won the Conference or went to a major bowl is was a major surprise.

You guys keep acting like we are Penn State. Briles 3 year run was an anomaly that was accomplished with players that NO school could get through admissions.

Admire the desire for excellence, but to act like this season is some type of catastrophe upsetting a pristine University record, is ridiculous. This is normal and have been for quite some time. Why the surprise?

This season by all accounts is a gigantic failure. Dave called this his best roster since 21. And he's going to be 5-6 after tomorrow. It's OK to have some expectations. What Baylor has historically been doesn't mean one has to be ok with the utter failure that is Dave Aranda. By the way you're want concrete proof none of Briles studs could get in anywhere else. Others I'll just file that under **** that didn't happen. If you think his run was an anomaly than you're truly ******ed

FLBear5630 said:

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IowaBear said:

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It's funny you mention Steele. That's exactly where Dave's program is headed. But pop the champagne bottle Party. Your boy Dave gets to come back another year and continue burying the program.

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Continue burying? Let's face it, we are talking Baylor football. The winning and good seasons are the outliers, not the other way around. Dave has maintained the Baylor football tradition going back to the 50's. Even under Teaff, if we won the Conference or went to a major bowl is was a major surprise.

You guys keep acting like we are Penn State. Briles 3 year run was an anomaly that was accomplished with players that NO school could get through admissions.

Admire the desire for excellence, but to act like this season is some type of catastrophe upsetting a pristine University record, is ridiculous. This is normal and have been for quite some time. Why the surprise?

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Your loser mentality is disgusting. And your insult to the individuals on Briles' football teams is a low blow. Briles proved that Baylor has all the intangibles necessary for winning. The only thing keeping our university from achieving excellence is the sorry attitude your post exhibits.

I think we will be fine as long as we hire a defensive coordinator. Lockeroom loves Dave

Everyone calling for the firing of CDA plus no AD, they can't just not say anything.

IowaBear said:

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This season by all accounts is a gigantic failure. Dave called this his best roster since 21. And he's going to be 5-6 after tomorrow. It's OK to have some expectations. What Baylor has historically been doesn't mean one has to be ok with the utter failure that is Dave Aranda

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I am not talking what Dave said or the expectations of fans that think they know college football.

I am talking reality of what Baylor is and has been in the CFB world. I don't care what Dave thought or what you do (I don't mean that as an insult, rhetorically just where we really are as a program and school).

This should be NO surprise. There is absolutely no evidence under the current leadership you would get anything more. They made it VERY clear, being a nice guy and not getting in trouble is THE most important thing. They will take the empty stadium and the Armed Forces Bowl as the peak season. And be happy.

I bet if you look they are not including any revenue from MacLane Stadium besides season tickets, as long as that covers maintenance they are golden.

marigold23 said:

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Everyone calling for the firing of CDA plus no AD, they can't just not say anything.

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They sure can. You've put out a statement retaining Aranda but also letting the new AD make the decision. It infuriates the fans now.

So we now have a situation that signals we aren't going to be active in the coaching market until and if we have an AD.

In the meantime, we commit to Dave for no other reason and need to find a DC and whatever else for the next year.

How long do we keep Dave? What happens if he wins out? What happens if he goes 7-5 next year? Do we give his DC 2 years to get his guys and systems in? Do we a do a midseason firing next year when it should've been done this year?

Do we expect the coaching candidate pool to be better next year? How do we know who is good when everything will be picked clean this cycle? Do we offer the Rice coach a job for winning two non-conference games? How do we know that the next CUSA conference champion isn't lightening in a bottle and the coach was only as good as his players?

We have targets that are available this year and available now. We do not need to wait for an AD to make a decision. Why did we rush Mack out the door if not to clear the runway for a move this year?

PartyBear said:

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I see it as a serious move on the AD front. If this had been rushed like some wanted an inexperienced person would have been promoted today, about which the same folks would be *****ing about today, to fire Aranda now. An outside experienced AD is not going to be able to start until likely the end of this school year or at least not within a week or two.

Nevertheless the new AD will have time to navigate all of this. Also the BMDs may have concluded they would rather spend alot more money on players and see how that goes.

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I will ask again: What BMDs?

ursamajor said:

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We must not have the money.

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See my response to the comment immediately preceding yours.

So just to be clear because some of you don't get this. This is Livingstone saying she is not going to micro manage the football situation. She is going to hire a new professional in that area to come in to handle what needs to be done there. This is good leadership actually to delegate this. Some of you particularly those who don't like her, are actually arguing for her to come in and micromanage by firing Aranda and picking a new HC for us. She is wise not to give y'all your way.

Jacques Strap said:

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I ran that email thru google translator and this came back:

The BMDs who were friends with CAB still hold a grudge and are not going to pay for Mack's contractual buyout mistake. There isn't enough money to pay for a new AD and a new head coach and a new coaching staff and fund NIL and keep Scott Drew happy.. So, we're going to roll with co-head ADs and CDA for the foreseeable future. And lest you forget… it's basketball season!!

I know some of you are saying you will check out, but you know deep down, like me, you just have to stay and watch.

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Train wrecks have that effect.

The coaching pool is not good THIS year, there are 13 open positions majority of which are at least equally as attractive as Baylor. No matter the year, hiring a new HC will always be a gamble. Like two years ago when everyone begged for GJ Kinne…but based on TX State's record we'd likely be in the same spot we are with CDA. My point is, the risk is high no matter how you spin it. But the best decision for everyone (except the fans) is to hire a new AD and let him make personnel decisions.

Just came across this. No other program in the country (including those with nowhere near Bu top end success) would keep this guy.

I've said it earlier but I've run into a lot of fans who were completely out on Dave heading into this year. Completely done with him. Imagine now.

One of the best athletic years of any program ever in 21' to this. Literally higher success than pretty much any team in this league has ever seen in the three majors, to this.

Never seen a program in the history of modern athletics so desperately try to drag a guy to success. He doesn't have it and he doesn't want it. Let him fail graciously.

Ok st is thanking us. Some of their candidates were waiting for our decision first, before jumping to them.

The problems we had with the program following '21 were related to NIL and our inability or refusal to adapt to it. We pumped "player over program" and stuff like that thinking it would swing the needle. IT. DID. NOT.

Dave is an average coach and a poor talent evaluator. He should be fired, but the truth is that, unless our donors are willing to step up to a $15-18M NIL budget, next year is going to be terrible anyway, no matter who the coach is.

Who?

marigold23 said:

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The coaching pool is not good THIS year, there are 13 open positions majority of which are at least equally as attractive as Baylor. No matter the year, hiring a new HC will always be a gamble. Like two years ago when everyone begged for GJ Kinne…but based on TX State's record we'd likely be in the same spot we are with CDA. My point is, the risk is high no matter how you spin it. But the best decision for everyone (except the fans) is to hire a new AD and let him make personnel decisions.

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A lot of the positions are already filled but yet to be announced I bet. Including some of the HCs folks here want and think we can have if we just had an opening being off the table and lined up to be the new hire somewhere unbeknownst to posters here.

No, that's completely incorrect. This is absolutely Linda micromanaging the situation. Before a new AD is even hired she has stated that Aranda will be retained. She's not allowing the athletic staff to make this decision.

Financial stewardship: In an era of extreme volatility in college athletics with NIL, the transfer portal, revenue-sharing, and much more, this approach allows us to invest wisely in the program's future rather than incur significant buyout costs during an unprecedented turnover of coaches across the country.


Significant buyouts……….
Screwed by Mack again.

bear2be2 said:

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This is such a "**** you" to a fan base that has been hanging on by a thread for three-plus years now with this clown.

I have never in my life rooted for a Baylor team to fail, but I hope we go 2-10 next year and play every home game in front of 15,000 fans.

That's what this administration deserves. Everyone who said that our leadership doesn't actually care about winning was proven right today. And it cares even less about the fans who pay their hard-earned money and carve out weekends at a time to support this ****-ass program.

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Realistically, is there REALLY any way football could be successful in '26? Based on history, I can't get excited for the AD, whoever it is. The task in front is overwhelming. And that's considering a "unique " individual takes the job.

canoso said:

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PartyBear said:

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I see it as a serious move on the AD front. If this had been rushed like some wanted an inexperienced person would have been promoted today, about which the same folks would be *****ing about today, to fire Aranda now. An outside experienced AD is not going to be able to start until likely the end of this school year or at least not within a week or two.

Nevertheless the new AD will have time to navigate all of this. Also the BMDs may have concluded they would rather spend alot more money on players and see how that goes.

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I will ask again: What BMDs?

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No nothings throw that term around here all the time. They have no clue who they are or what they are - it's like magical pixie dust cash floating around in the ether.

After a full national search for a baseball coach we got the baseball coach from the JC across town. What with the AD search look like?

BBWCBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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This is such a "**** you" to a fan base that has been hanging on by a thread for three-plus years now with this clown.

I have never in my life rooted for a Baylor team to fail, but I hope we go 2-10 next year and play every home game in front of 15,000 fans.

That's what this administration deserves. Everyone who said that our leadership doesn't actually care about winning was proven right today. And it cares even less about the fans who pay their hard-earned money and carve out weekends at a time to support this ****-ass program.

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Realistically, is there REALLY any way football could be successful in '26? Based on history, I can't get excited for the AD, whoever it is. The task in front is overwhelming. And that's considering a "unique " individual takes the job.

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That's the depressing part. Everyone knows how this will go and there's no selling it as anything other than a looming disaster. At the very best, it will be more of the disappointing, mediocre slop we've been force-fed the last four years.

What should happen is the administration should just come out and say this is strictly a financial move to save buyout money, so fans can say, "OK, well we're going to save our money, too. See you in 2027."

So much of being a sports fan is just about finding hope. There is no hope in Baylor football right now and won't be until we make our inevitable coaching change sometime next season -- likely after starting 2-4.

BBWCBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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This is such a "**** you" to a fan base that has been hanging on by a thread for three-plus years now with this clown.

I have never in my life rooted for a Baylor team to fail, but I hope we go 2-10 next year and play every home game in front of 15,000 fans.

That's what this administration deserves. Everyone who said that our leadership doesn't actually care about winning was proven right today. And it cares even less about the fans who pay their hard-earned money and carve out weekends at a time to support this ****-ass program.

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Realistically, is there REALLY any way football could be successful in '26? Based on history, I can't get excited for the AD, whoever it is. The task in front is overwhelming. And that's considering a "unique " individual takes the job.

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Guess that means we should plan to suck in 27 for doing the rebuild that should've been in '26 (and also '25 and '24).

ursamajor said:

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We must not have the money.

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Agreed

They essentially said they will be investing more on getting players rather than spend money on a buyout right now.

Yeah that's what Dave needs more NIL funds to piss away. What's next years excuse going to be after his 3-9 season?

KotSitsWhenTheyPee said:

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I think we will be fine as long as we hire a defensive coordinator. Lockeroom loves Dave

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It would be nearly impossible to hire any new assistants with the program in such a ****ty state today. No one is coming here expecting Dave to be canned after next season.

IowaBear said:

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Yeah that's what Dave needs more NIL funds to piss away. What's next years excuse going to be after his 3-9 season?

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New DC needs two years to get his guys in.

Kinda sucks that the biggest reason this is happening is Mack was banging some teacher and got caught

Yeah and Dave needs another 5 years because ya know it's his 1st HC gig

Baylor has officially accepted mediocrity.

Sad. I can't accept that.

IowaBear said:

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Yeah that's what Dave needs more NIL funds to piss away. What's next years excuse going to be after his 3-9 season?

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There won't be any more excuses at that point. He'll just get fired. That's the frustrating part. Everyone knows where this s*** show is headed. We've just inexplicably decided to punt the entire 2026 season.

No one actually believes in Dave at this point. Listen to him talk, Dave doesn't even believe in Dave. We're just kicking the can down the road to save a few shekels.