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Baylor Football
"It's Done": Dave Aranda's new Baylor contract is finished per AD Rhoades
Dating back to the final weeks of the 2021 calendar year, Baylor Vice President and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades has remained adamant that head football coach Dave Aranda’s “contract enhancement” was being finalized. With nearly two months of water under the bridge and no official or unofficial announcement surfacing, however, speculation continued to make its rounds.
On Tuesday, Rhoades once again affirmed the progress with SicEm365 Radio, this time saying that the contract has been completed.
“I'll take it one step further than maybe a week ago,” Rhoades said. “We're just looking for the right date, but Baylor family can can rest easy. It's done.
“We'll provide a few more details at the right date.”
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Dave Aranda led Baylor to its first 12-win season in program history.
According to Rhoades, the initial conversations with Aranda, the former LSU defensive coordinator and fan favorite in Baton Rouge, began when it was announced that former LSU head coach Ed Oregeron would not return for the 2022 season.
And that’s where any concern that Aranda would have an interest in leaving Baylor was squashed.
“Actually, it was really the Sunday after LSU announced that that that Oergeron would not be coming back,” Rhoades said. “We had that conversation and some subsequent conversations, but he told me right off the bat he wasn't going anywhere and I take him for his word.
“He's one of the people certainly in my life that I take for his word.”
“And that's his mindset and that's where we are. ‘I'm going to be here. I'm going to be the head football coach at Baylor for hopefully a long time and nothing more needs to be said.’”
So why the delay? There have been a variety of factors, but primarily because Aranda was set on avoiding distractions at all cost. The Bears were in the midst of a run to the program’s third Big 12 Championship, a Sugar Bowl victory and the first 12-win season in program history.
“If he had his way there would be no conversation about it. There would be no declaration that it's done. There would be no formal announcement. And it's not because he doesn't understand that it's important, but it's because it's not about him.”
To a lesser extent, there were also the factors of the typical head coaching contract change and a variety of other “parallel paths” that led to getting the contract finalized.
“But at the same time working with Coach Aranda, and his agent, and as you can imagine, a head coaches contract is more complicated. And there's different buckets of compensation, whether it's employment or licensing or deferred, and there's tax implications.”
Aranda was also tasked with replacing three on-field coaches during that time frame. The final of the three to be filled, the wide receivers position, was completed on Friday with the addition Dallas Baker from the University of Buffalo.
Aranda was also working ahead of the curve to keep the other major pieces of his assistant tree together.
“You're trying to be proactive, and do things because you know that other people will be interested in services (of the assistants). And we had— I'm trying to think out loud here — three leave from the 10 on field and those weren't the only three that were contacted, and people wanting the services.
“To answer your question, that was a big part of it. And I think we did a really good job of being proactive, and working on those things.”
“I hope the Baylor family is excited because he's a heck of a person, and a heck of a coach.”
Being proactive was also part of the game plan for Rhoades as he attracted and is now retaining Aranda. Led by Rhoades, Baylor is set to break ground on the Fudge Football Operations Center this spring, a key piece to the future of the football program in Waco.
The $80 million project will include 100,000+ square feet of new space for the Baylor Football program including offices for coaches, equipment staff, medical trainers and a locker room for student-athletes, as well as a medical training room, equipment distribution room, a strength and conditioning weight room and a large team meeting room.
The facility was an integral element in the continuing elevation coming off of a stretch of 12 seasons where the program won three Big 12 Championships, six double-digit win seasons, a Heisman and Biletnikoff Trophy, three Big 12 Defensive Player of the Years, two Big 12 Offensive Players of the Years and registering eight consensus All-Americans.
It has been the best run in the history of the small private university in Central Texas. Now it’s time for Aranda to continue and build on the the success.
“I hope the Baylor family is excited because he's a heck of a person, and a heck of a coach.”
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