WACO, Texas — The Baylor Bears hired LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda as their new head football coach, according to multiple reports and now, Baylor's Twitter page.
Aranda replaces Matt Rhule, who last week left to become the head coach of the Carolina Panthers. The forty-three-year-old Aranda has been in Baton Rouge for four seasons, arriving from Wisconsin as one of the top defensive minds in college football and sits as the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football at $2.5 million annually.
Aranda is the second high-profile LSU assistant to leave the Tigers. Passing game coordinator Joe Brady joined Rhule as an offensive coordinator for the Panthers.
“Today is an exciting day for Baylor," President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mack B. Rhoades said. “Dave is a special person who loves football and his student-athletes, is highly intellectual, and is a great mission fit for both Baylor Athletics and the University at large. Along with demonstrated success on the field, Dave shares in our vision of Preparing Champions for Life and our collective commitment to live by One Standard and in One Accord. We look forward to him carrying those values forward as the next leader of our football program. Join me in welcoming Dave, Dione, Jaelyn, Jordyn and Ronin to Waco.”
