Dave Aranda Sits Down In-Studio With SicEm365

Baylor football head coach Dave Aranda joins 365 Sports to discuss his thoughts on the importance of hiring Jake Spavital quickly, what he will bring to this Baylor team, what other staff changes will occur, how Jake Spavital’s offense will transfer to this Baylor program, and more.

Top Highlights (Non-Direct Quotes):

• Aranda said that quarterback Blake Shapen was meeting with Spavital today to discuss his future.
• Aranda compared the new NIL valuation to the real world. He noted Baylor has to maintain the “person-over-player” mantra but will adjust to the transactional nature of everything and accept that players are potentially worth different amounts of dollars.
• Mentioned that as soon as the spring semester starts, the team will start meetings, walk-throughs, etc., which normally isn’t the case.
• Looking forward to next year, Aranda stated that the corner group of LeVar Thornton, Caden Jenkins, and Carl Williams is very talented.
• Aranda said that he thinks the talent on offense will fit well with Spavital’s offensive scheme but noted that the transfer portal will be used and hinted at the need for experience on the perimeter and the offensive line.
• On the last question, Aranda said that he was extremely impressed by Matthew Powledge’s ability to motivate players despite a really disappointing season. Aranda mentioned that the record and the stats make him feel ill but that it’s great motivation for the future.

Top Quotes:

• How important was it to get Jake Spavital hired as quickly as possible, plus what was it about him that made him the right fit (0:00-2:30)?

  “The thing that I saw first and that stuck out in my mind was that he went to Cal, and Cal was a pro-style offense that recruited for a pro-style offense and in a year went from 23 points to 31 [points per game] and went to over 400 yards [per game] with the recruiting classes that they had … Whatever it was [personel-wise], he was able to make it work, and in a lot of ways, that’s our situation offensively – we have similar numbers.”

• Spavital brought in a ton of guys from the transfer portal at Texas State. Will that be the philosophy at Baylor (4:00-5:50)?

  “We feel really good about the personnel we have … We have guys that really fit what we can do. Our ability to get everybody to see the vision and see what it can be and to have a refresh on that is way important … It’s important to have experienced guys up front and experience on the perimeter; there will be portal guys coming in.”

• Does Aranda feel like getting another year is a new lease on life (11:40-14:05)?

  “To embrace the truth, it starts with me … We’re going to start [practice] as soon as we get back on campus. We’re going to be having meetings, walkthroughs, and all of it in January – as early as we can go. We have to get the football right. Whether we’re embracing NIL, the transfer portal, we have to keep our culture and use that to get better play and execution on the field.”