We could be a one- or two-year stepping stone for that type of coach if the right Big Ten or SEC job wasn't open at the time, but that's all we'd ever be. And because we don't get the $60-plus million a year that Big Ten schools do, we likely wouldn't be able to capitalize on those one or two years to the degree that Indiana has.BayouCity said:bear2be2 said:BayouCity said:bear2be2 said:Quinton said:
Genuine question: this fire and leadership just doesn't come naturally to Dave. It feels like he finally realizes this is it, and he's throwing absolutely everything into making this a decent year. But even if they pull off a 9-win season, does he actually have what it takes to summon the energy again and sustain that?
Probably not. He's already proven he doesn't have "it" -- not just in his press conferences or public presence, but in his ability to inspire these guys for a full 60 minutes.. to get them to play smart and execute on a consistent basis.. to play physical. Does he finally find his eureka moment in Year 7? Who knows. But we all probably know the answer.
Contrary to what you see posted here, Dave Aranda does have strengths as a head coach.
While many fans have quit on him, his players and coaches never have, which tells you the culture he builds is real. As a lifelong Baylor fan, I've seen teams quit on a coach several times. That's never happened with Aranda in games, seasons or between seasons.
Every time I think he's going to bottom out the program, he manages to pull a win out of his keister -- be that an actual win, a recruiting win or significant coaching hire I didn't think we had the cache or momentum to make. There's something to be said for getting buy-in regardless of results. That's a strength that could be harnessed if he could ever get things right on the football side.
Which brings me back around to why I have some optimism. I think he's finally solved the football side by hiring good people and getting himself out of day to day of it. I think if he lets this staff coach and these players play and focuses on the things he does well, this team can be competitive and fun to watch, which is all I really desire out of our football team. In the NIL era, I have no delusions that we'll ever be a juggernaut because we don't invest at the level needed to do so.
I have no interest in Baylor just being "competitive and fun to watch". IU showed us that you can hire the right coach at any school and they can win. Yes, Cig seems like a generational type of hire, but why not us? Why can't we do the same?
Fine, the players and coaches never quit on him. Sure, the culture he builds is real. However, it is a losing culture based on a bunch of moral victories and metrics that don't lead to winning games.
Let's assume that he's solved the football side by hiring good people. What happens when those good people leave? We are still left with a coach who can't win on his own. I don't want that anymore.
Indiana, while historically a football graveyard, is in the Big Ten, which is no small detail in the Power 2 era.
The new Big 12 will likely never get a coach the quality of Cignetti, who is truly one of one. And if a Big 12 school ever was to luck into such a coach, he'd be gone for the SEC or Big Ten at the first sign of success.
Too many of you are operating under the realities and expectations of a bygone era. Unless we find a billionaire benefactor willing to bankroll our program at the level that Cody Campbell and Co. are spending at Tech, our days as a contender for anything meaningful are almost certainly done. And the same is true for everyone else in the Big 12 not named Tech and everyone in the ACC not named Florida State, Clemson and Miami.
That sucks, but it's reality. We've already been relegated. That doesn't mean we can't have a one off season here or there where we put everything together and compete for a Big 12 title, but we're not sustaining anything because we don't invest/pay enough to do so.
It will be important then to hire good coaches who can take advantage of market inefficiencies and maximize the talent we're able to acquire, and I think a very strong case can be made that Dave's not that guy. But any coach we hire is going to be fighting an uphill battle because the deck is stacked against us in the NIL era.
Cignetti came from JMU. Are you saying that if Baylor had offered to hire him and IU wasn't on the table, he would have declined on the grounds that he was waiting for a bigger conference? Maybe, but I doubt it. Look what that did for Billy Napier. His name was on everyone's list for several years while he waited around for a big SEC job. That didn't last long.
IU did what they did last year without the big money donors stepping up the way they are now. It very well may take big support from alums like Mark Cuban for them to maintain that level, but they won without a huge payroll.
Again, why not us?
The media money gap has created a caste system that many of you don't want to acknowledge. When it comes to picking coaches and recruiting talent, we're getting what the Power 2 allows us to have and only for as long as the Power 2 allows us to have it.
