Baylor Football

Report: Baylor to Promote Austin Woods to Full-Time Offensive Line Coach

Baylor is expected to promote Austin Woods to full-time offensive line coach and Craig Watts to assistant offensive line coach.
By SicEm365 Staff
January 1, 2026
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Photo by Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365

Baylor is expected to promote Austin Woods to full-time offensive line coach and Craig Watts to assistant offensive line coach, SicEm365 has learned; Zach Smith of the Waco Tribune-Herald first broke the news.

Following the midseason departure of former offensive line coach Mason Miller, Woods and Watts helped lead the unit through the final month of the fall.

Before arriving at Baylor, Woods was the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at the University of Incarnate Word. In 2023, the Cardinals ranked No. 2 in the FCS in total offense (480.2 yards per game), while ranking No. 12 in scoring offense (33.4).

Woods, originally from Rockwall Heath, played offensive line and long snapper at Oklahoma (2010-13); he was named a team captain and was a three-time Academic All-Big 12 Conference selection.

Woods stayed in Oklahoma following graduation and spent eight years rotating between various coaching roles under Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley; he then followed Riley to USC for one season as a defensive analyst.

Watts joined the Baylor coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 2023 before being elevated to a quality control coach this fall. 

A native of Fort Hood, Texas, Watts was a four-year starter and All-American offensive lineman at West Texas A&M (2010-13) before spending two seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers and two seasons with the New York Jets.

16 Comments
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Jake Spavital Offseason offensive line Dave Aranda Craig Watts Austin Woods Football Baylor 2025
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Report: Baylor to Promote Austin Woods to Full-Time Offensive Line Coach

3,739 Views | 16 Replies | Last: 5 days ago by Bearknuckle
Dia del DougO
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9:12p, 1/1/26

So hopefully coach Woods will bring some of his guys with him through the portal....?
"The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool."
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DTBear
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9:47p, 1/1/26
Portal money
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Danielsjackson114
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In reply to DTBear • 10:00p, 1/1/26
DTBear said:
Portal money


They still have to be coached lol

This is pretty underwhelming being that our last month we took nothing, but Ls…


Decaf Dave, does it again!
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dstaylor57
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8:17a, 1/2/26
Aaaaand Coleton Price hits the portal.
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Bearknuckle
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In reply to dstaylor57 • 8:35a, 1/2/26
dstaylor57 said:
Aaaaand Coleton Price hits the portal.

he's got a visit to Kentucky scheduled. That feels like a fight we can win...but not if he doesn't like Woods & Watts.
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Youre a clown
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8:52a, 1/2/26
Definitely feels like a money saving move
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Dia del DougO
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10:13a, 1/2/26
Probably a tougher hire to get an OL coach for an offensive staff that is already filled. But seems like there should be more candidates out there.

But maybe they really feel he's gonna be good. You gotta make your early mark somewhere.
"The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool."
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DTBear
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10:14a, 1/2/26
Red flag. Baylor will have the least experienced OL coach in the state, all of P4. It can work but like the AD this is a huge long shot
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Bearknuckle
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In reply to Dia del DougO • 10:31a, 1/2/26
Dia del DougO said:
Probably a tougher hire to get an OL coach for an offensive staff that is already filled. But seems like there should be more candidates out there.

But maybe they really feel he's gonna be good. You gotta make your early mark somewhere.

Wickline had tons of experience/pedigree and was a big dud here.

Mateos was an unknown to us, flashed in year 1 and regressed rapidly from there.

Miller was a Mateos redux to a degree (great year 1, year 2 totally fell apart).

Point is, it's really hard to have a good read on OL coaches, even for dedicated fans.

My main hope in bringing in a big name was that such a person would theoretically bring in a few high-caliber players with him...but given our obvious budget woes, that was clearly not a viable option.
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ImABearToo
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12:30p, 1/2/26
More rearranging of the deck chairs on the titanic.
“Life is short, eat desert first!”
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Bearwhiz
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12:40p, 1/2/26
Wish Dave would try to get Jeremy Scott back to Baylor to head up our S&C
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DTBear
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12:47p, 1/2/26
I would get the guy who was at Abilene Christian the last 5-6 years who moved on to be the assistant SC coach at the Saints this year.
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Bearwhiz
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In reply to DTBear • 1:01p, 1/2/26
Luke Lancaster?
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perrynative
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In reply to DTBear • 2:49p, 1/2/26
DTBear said:
Red flag. Baylor will have the least experienced OL coach in the state, all of P4. It can work but like the AD this is a huge long shot


White flag
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Dia del DougO
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In reply to Bearknuckle • 3:38p, 1/2/26
Bearknuckle said:
Dia del DougO said:
Probably a tougher hire to get an OL coach for an offensive staff that is already filled. But seems like there should be more candidates out there.

But maybe they really feel he's gonna be good. You gotta make your early mark somewhere.

Wickline had tons of experience/pedigree and was a big dud here.

Mateos was an unknown to us, flashed in year 1 and regressed rapidly from there.

Miller was a Mateos redux to a degree (great year 1, year 2 totally fell apart).

Point is, it's really hard to have a good read on OL coaches, even for dedicated fans.

My main hope in bringing in a big name was that such a person would theoretically bring in a few high-caliber players with him...but given our obvious budget woes, that was clearly not a viable option.

Yeah, that was the hope for getting a couple of decent OL guys.

Doesn't seem like a good sign that the starting center entered the portal right after the new OL coach was hired. Probably just a coincidence.

Anyway, I'm not really knocking the guy. He may be a great young coach on the rise. Gonna be hard to show real results without some big dudes up front, though.
"The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool."
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Bearknuckle
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In reply to Dia del DougO • 3:49p, 1/2/26
Dia del DougO said:
Bearknuckle said:
Dia del DougO said:
Probably a tougher hire to get an OL coach for an offensive staff that is already filled. But seems like there should be more candidates out there.

But maybe they really feel he's gonna be good. You gotta make your early mark somewhere.

Wickline had tons of experience/pedigree and was a big dud here.

Mateos was an unknown to us, flashed in year 1 and regressed rapidly from there.

Miller was a Mateos redux to a degree (great year 1, year 2 totally fell apart).

Point is, it's really hard to have a good read on OL coaches, even for dedicated fans.

My main hope in bringing in a big name was that such a person would theoretically bring in a few high-caliber players with him...but given our obvious budget woes, that was clearly not a viable option.

Yeah, that was the hope for getting a couple of decent OL guys.

Doesn't seem like a good sign that the starting center entered the portal right after the new OL coach was hired. Probably just a coincidence.

Anyway, I'm not really knocking the guy. He may be a great young coach on the rise. Gonna be hard to show real results without some big dudes up front, though.

The Price situation doesn't seem great, I agree there. That said, Koltin Sieracki has shown real promise at Center though, so it's not inconceivable that they've chosen to roll with the guy with more years left rather than trying to pay them both enough to stick around.
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