One of the hottest seats in college football entering the 2026 season is now vacant.
One day after a 25-24 loss to Kansas, Baylor fired coach Dave Aranda seven games into his seventh season at the school.
Aranda, a longtime defensive coordinator, got off to a hot start with the Bears, going 12-2 in 2021 in his second season at the school, which was capped off by a Big 12 championship and a Sugar Bowl victory.
He was never able to come close to those heights again, though. Baylor finished with a losing record in three of the next four full seasons. This season, Aranda initially appeared to quell questions over his job
security with a 4-1 start, but the Bears lost 17-6 to TCU in Week 7 before face-planting on Saturday, Oct. 24 against a Kansas team that entered the matchup with a 2-4 record.
With Aranda gone, what’s next for Baylor?
Here’s a look at some potential candidates for the role:
Baylor football coach candidates
Lincoln Riley, USC coach
Things are getting dicey for Riley at USC, where the Trojans are 6-2 in a make-or-break fifth season for Riley at the school after a 24-7 loss at Wisconsin in Week 8. A chance to start fresh in his home state and in a conference where he was wildly successful at Oklahoma could be attractive, especially with games still remaining against top-10 teams Ohio State, Indiana and UCLA. Then again, aside from personal pride, why leave for another job when he’s due a reported buyout around $70 million if he’s fired?
Jeff Traylor, UTSA coach
In a state where the role of high school football is immeasurable and relationships with high school coaches are paramount, Traylor is about as Texas as Texas can get. The Gilmer, Texas native was a decorated high school coach in the state for 25 years before moving on to roles as an assistant at Texas, SMU and Arkansas. In seven seasons at UTSA, he has gone 60-27 and made a bowl game every season while successfully navigating a move from Conference USA to the more difficult American Conference. Prior to Traylor’s hiring, the Roadrunners were 40-55 with one bowl appearance as an FBS program. This season, he may have his best team yet at UTSA, with a 7-1 record that has it atop the American.
Jason Eck, New Mexico coach
Eck has worked wonders at New Mexico, where he has gone 15-4 seven games into his second season at the school. The Lobos went 9-4 in Eck’s debut campaign, tied for the second-most wins in a season in program history, and are already bowl eligible at a program that hadn’t been to the postseason since 2016 before Eck was hired. Though he’s known for his creative offenses, New Mexico is first in the FBS in scoring defense this season, at 11.3 points allowed per game. Previously, he was the head coach for three seasons at FCS Idaho, where he went 26-13. A Wisconsin native and former Wisconsin offensive lineman, Eck has been linked to a possible return to his alma mater, though the Badgers’ 5-2 start this season has potentially cooled coach Luke Fickell’s seat.
Neal Brown, North Texas coach
Brown has done excellent work in his first season at North Texas, where he inherited a stripped-down program after coach Eric Morris took many of the most important pieces with him to Oklahoma State. Still, the Mean Green are 5-2 with the nation’s No. 2 scoring offense, a unit that’s averaging 43.1 points per game. Brown runs a wide-open offense that would remind some Baylor fans of the program’s best years and has Big 12 experience, having spent six seasons as West Virginia coach. But his 37-35 mark with the Mountaineers may be enough to scare off a program in the same league and with relatively similar NIL resources.
Zach Kittley, Florida Atlantic coach
If Baylor’s looking for explosive offenses after seven seasons with a defensive-minded head coach, Kittley would certainly fit the bill. The 35-year-old, one of the youngest head coaches in the FBS, is in his second season at Florida Atlantic, where his team is 5-2 and averaging 37.3 points per game. With one more win, the Owls will be bowl eligible for the first time in a full season since 2019, Lane Kiffin’s final year at the school. As an offensive coordinator, he led top-five scoring offenses at Texas Tech and Western Kentucky. Kittley is an Abilene, Texas native and Texas Tech graduate who spent 10 of his 11 seasons as a coach in Texas before being hired at FAU.
G.J. Kinne, Texas State coach
Like Kittley, Kinne is a well-regarded offensive mind in his mid-30s with deep Texas ties. A Dallas-area native who played his college ball at Tulsa, Kinne is in his fourth season as the head coach at Texas State, where his teams have gone 27-19. In each of his first three full seasons, the Bobcats finished in the top 15 nationally in scoring offense. This season, after making the move from the Sun Belt to the reformed Pac-12, Texas State is 4-3 and averaging 37.1 points per game. He’s got Baylor connections, too. His father, Gary Joe Kinne Sr., was a standout linebacker with the Bears in the 1980s.
Slade Nagle, Houston offensive coordinator
If Baylor wants a productive and innovative offense, it may not have to look outside of its own conference for its next coach. Nagle has been by coach Willie Fritz’s side as he has built Tulane and Houston into powerhouses, having served as an assistant under Fritz in some form since 2016 outside of a one-year stop at LSU in 2024. He has been Houston’s offensive coordinator the past two seasons, when the Cougars have gone 16-5 and rejuvenated quarterback Conner Weigman’s career. This season, Houston’s averaging 36 points per game.
Dabo Swinney, Clemson coach
Hear me out. The Clemson machine Swinney once oversaw has sputtered in recent years, with an 11-9 record since the start of the 2025 season. There’s little chance the Tigers will fire the greatest coach in program history two years removed from a College Football Playoff appearance, especially when it would come with a nearly $60 million buyout, but perhaps the outspokenly religious Swinney might be interested in a soft landing spot at a Power-conference program at a Christian school.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Baylor football coach candidates: 8 names from Lincoln Riley to Dabo Swinney
