Notes from Dave Aranda’s Saturday Press Conference

This past Saturday, Dave Aranda addressed the local media and took questions after the Bears’ third Saturday practice of the spring.

With Coleton Price working on his snaps alongside OL coach Mason Miller and the WR room doing up-downs in the background, Aranda offered that some things were starting to click for this team.

Quarterback Battle

At the top of the mind for everyone is the competition for the starting quarterback job. Aranda noted that Sawyer Robertson has used good decision-making to push Toledo transfer Dequan Finn. Both quarterbacks have been good in directing protections, but where Robertson has his decision-making, Finn has been very good making plays with his feet.

Other Offensive Notes

Other notes from the head coach on this side of the ball included, for one, that they have done a better job of getting their receivers into space.

When it comes to the offensive line, the Bears “need to get everyone healthy” and are adjusting to working against multiple fronts at tempo. They have their struggles as a unit right now, but Aranda is hopeful that those struggles will pay off in the fall.

One way that hope is founded comes from Aranda’s observations of the demeanor and actions of the OL. The unit has “had an edge… and it’s in their play not their talk”.

Defensive Notes

When talking about this side of the ball, Aranda immediately mentioned sophomore DL Brendan Bett and redshirt sophomore LB Keaton Thomas.

Bett has clearly flashed, but Thomas has been more consistently good. When asked for more on Thomas, Aranda offered great praise of his speed of learning and ability to take things from his film study to the field.

This reminded me a bit of Mike Smith last year, but watching Keaton Thomas on the field, he looks faster and more physically imposing than I remember Smith.

His presumed starting partner at inside linebacker is Matt Jones. When it comes to Jones, Aranda said that he is making plays and really serving as the glue guy of the defense.

The position group as a whole, now under Aranda’s direct supervision, has improved and they are impressing Aranda in ways. However, the head coach qualified his statement by saying that this is all relative to where the group was heading into the spring. 

Elsewhere, Devin Lemear and Devyn Bobby have apparently been doing well in the secondary while Garmon Randolph received great praise at JACK.

Randolph is “playing the best he has at Baylor” and “he’s a different dude”. If it really has clicked for the 6-foot-7 270-pound edge defender, he will be very fun to watch in the fall.

One other JACK mentioned was Texas Tech transfer Steve Linton who is coming off of his best week as a Bear in the words of his head coach.

Overall Notes

It is easy to hear the belief that progress is being made in what Dave Aranda said on Saturday. There was one key quote from Aranda:

“I think I feel pissed off a whole lot more. I don't know if I’m supposed to say that. But I feel I get mad more than I normally would. And so I think the intensity of everything is way risen up. And I just think to win games on defense, it's got to be fourth and one every day … I know that everybody feels the urgency and the intensity, and it's got to start with us as coaches.”

So progression is not just being seen in the players. Coach Aranda has also changed in ways to try to improve results. 

How do the changes affect the final product on the field and in the standings? We will have to wait till the fall to truly see.