What Baylor has meant to second-year head coach Dave Aranda

On Monday, Baylor head coach Dave Aranda set down with SicEm365 Radio’s David Smoak for an interview. In the interview, Smoak asked about Aranda’s name coming up for head coaching openings around the country and what that process was like for him.

David Smoak: Speaking of searches, the question was asked about your name out there, and Joey (McGuire's) name today, and then Gary Patterson and what (TCU) is doing. Are agents involved in telling coaches what they can say like Mike Tomlin. I don't know if you saw what he said. He said, never say never, but never. He was very angry about his name coming up. He's coaching the Steelers. They've had three coaches in forever. You gave an answer, that you love it here at Baylor. Grant Teaff told me today that you are a perfect fit for Baylor and that you're not one that's going to be looking around. How does coaches go about having to answer that? Does it get to be the kind of tiresome?

Dave Aranda: Either way, if you're losing, there's going to be stuff, and if you’re winning there's going to be stuff and so you'd rather have this stuff, I guess. But for me, the opportunity to grow as a person is really — I think I said last week, I talk more now in a day than I probably did in a week at LSU. That's kind of embarrassing to say, but that's the truth.

What Baylor provides is seeing people with spiritual growth, value in who you are as a person, and interpersonal relationships, treating people the right way, class, integrity. And those are all things that — like what Coach (Grant) Teaff was saying — they fit with how I believe, and so I think it's a growth in that space.

For almost really almost becoming a machine at LSU, for example, just as an assistant coach, which is football, and then I think you and I have talked before about the stresses, and how that can push you to extremes.

I remember when we were recruiting Apu (Ika). He wanted to get on the phone with me and I wanted to get on the phone with him, and I could tell there was some kind of awkwardness on the phone. And I go, you're probably wondering what it's like, me as a head coach. He goes, yeah, man, I don't even know. I appreciate that, man. I can see why. And so we talked about all that.

So the growth as a person. That's the thing. I think the stuff as a coach, that's just a byproduct of (being a head coach at Baylor). People would probably call them soft skills, but the soft skills do hard things, way hard things. The better you are with those skills, like empathy, and being transparent, selflessness, communication, like listening to understand, all those things have been way strong for me here.

Those things I've always believed (at LSU), or wherever I've been, but haven't always just never grown. And so I think the growth is over everything.

You can listen to the full interview below.