Dave Aranda
Dave Aranda went 40–39 as a head coach, 2020–2026, at Baylor. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 4–1); by them his record is 40–38. Share
- Record
- 40–39 career
- Seasons
- 7
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Born
- Sep 29, 1976
- Alma mater
- Cal Lutheran 1999
- Best season
- 2021 12–2, No. 5
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Baylor | 2–7 | 9th | |||
| 2021 | Baylor | 12–2 | 1st | Sugar Bowl W | 5 | |
| 2022 | Baylor | 6–7 | T–5th | Armed Forces Bowl L | ||
| 2023 | Baylor | 3–9 | T–11th | |||
| 2024 | Baylor | 8–5 | T–5th | Texas Bowl L | ||
| 2025 | Baylor | 5–7 | T–11th | |||
| 2026 | Baylor | 4–2 (Wikipedia: 4–1) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 21 | 6–15 | 29% |
| Against top-10 teams | 6 | 3–3 | 50% |
| Against rivals | 14 | 3–11 | 21% |
| Conference games | 58 | 26–32 | 45% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 3 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 28 | 12–16 | 43% |
| At home | 42 | 24–18 | 57% |
| On the road | 32 | 14–18 | 44% |
| At neutral sites | 5 | 2–3 | 40% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 38 | 26–12 | 68% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 41 | 14–27 | 34% |
His own 79 games on file, 2020–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Klieman 2020–2025 | 3–2 | Kansas State | 5 | |
| Matt Campbell 2020–2024 | 2–3 | Iowa State | 5 | |
| Mike Gundy 2020–2024 | 2–3 | Oklahoma State | 5 | |
| Neal Brown 2020–2024 | 2–3 | West Virginia | 5 | |
| Sonny Dykes 2022–2026 | 1–4 | TCU | 5 | |
| Lance Leipold 2021–2024 | 3–0 | Kansas | 3 | |
| Joey McGuire 2022–2024 | 2–1 | Texas Tech | 3 | |
| Kalani Sitake 2021–2024 | 1–2 | BYU | 3 | |
| Steve Sarkisian 2021–2023 | 1–2 | Texas | 3 | |
| Kyle Whittingham 2023–2025 | 0–3 | Utah | 3 |
Dave Aranda’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| TCUseries | 7 | 1–6 |
| Oklahoma Stateseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| Kansas Stateseries | 5 | 3–2 |
| Texas Techseries | 5 | 3–2 |
| Iowa Stateseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| West Virginiaseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| Kansasseries | 4 | 4–0 |
| Texasseries | 4 | 1–3 |
National title staffs
Every title staff- Won a national title on LSU’s 2019 staff (associate head coach, defensive coordinator, linebackers) · the staff · source
The champions’ staffs from 1990 on, as the schools listed them that season: Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages. Roles as the source words them.
How he was hired
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Redlands HS (CA) high school | Junior varsity coach | |
| 1996–99 | Cal Lutheran | Linebackers coach | |
| 2000–02 | Texas Tech | Graduate assistant | |
| 2003–04 | Houston | Linebackers coach | |
| 2005–06 | Cal Lutheran | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 2007 | Delta State | Co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 2008–09 | Hawaii | Defensive line coach | |
| 2010–11 | Hawaii | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2012 | Utah State | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2013–15 | Wisconsin | Defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| 2016–19 | LSU | Assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 2020–present | Baylor | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Mike LeachTexas Tech
- Art BrilesHouston
- Ron RobertsDelta State
- Greg McMackinHawai’i
- Gary AndersenUtah State, Wisconsin
- Barry AlvarezWisconsin
- Paul ChrystWisconsin
- Les MilesLSU
- Ed OrgeronLSU
Assistants who became head coaches
- Joey McGuireTexas Tech
- Larry FedoraSouthern Miss, North Carolina, New Orleans Breakers
- Ron RobertsDelta State, SE Louisiana
- Gary PattersonTCU
- Jake SpavitalTexas State
Worked under (9)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Leach | Texas Tech | 2000–02 | Graduate assistant | |
| Art Briles | Houston | 2003–04 | Linebackers coach | |
| Ron Roberts | Delta State | 2007 | Co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Greg McMackin | Hawai’i | 2008–11 | 2008–09: defensive line coach; 2010–11: defensive coordinator | |
| Gary Andersen | Utah State | 2012 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Gary Andersen | Wisconsin | 2013–14 | Defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| Barry Alvarez | Wisconsin | 2014 | Defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| Paul Chryst | Wisconsin | 2015 | Defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| Les Miles | LSU | 2016 | Assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Ed Orgeron | LSU | 2016–19 | Assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joey McGuire | Baylor, 2020–21: assistant head coach and outside linebackers coach | Texas Tech | |
| Larry Fedora | Baylor, 2020: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Southern Miss, North Carolina, New Orleans Breakers | |
| Ron Roberts | Baylor, 2020–22: defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | Delta State, SE Louisiana | |
| Gary Patterson | Baylor, 2024: consultant | TCU | |
| Jake Spavital | Baylor, 2024–26: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Texas State |
Other assistants under him (6)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Stewart | Baylor, 2020: cornerbacks coach | |
| Jorge Munoz | Baylor, 2020: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Matt Powledge | Baylor, 2020–21: special teams coordinator and safeties coach; 2023–25: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Shawn Bell | Baylor, 2020: tight ends coach; 2021–23: quarterbacks coach | |
| Jeff Grimes | Baylor, 2021–23: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| Joe Klanderman | Baylor, 2026: defensive coordinator and safeties coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | LSU | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $150,000 | $1,800,000 USA Today | |
| 2016 | LSU | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $125,000 | $1,315,000 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Wisconsin | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $132,000 | $522,200 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Wisconsin | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $117,000 | $480,000 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Aranda’s teams went for it on 39% of fourth downs and on 67% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 51% of plays and took 24.8 seconds a play, 2020–2026.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 9 g | 19 of 90 21% | 41% | 58% | 24.4 | −0.06 | |
| 2021 14 g | 35 of 104 34% | 57% | 41% | 27.6 | +0.12 | |
| 2022 13 g | 45 of 99 45% | 70% | 45% | 26.4 | +0.11 | |
| 2023 12 g | 48 of 109 44% | 78% | 56% | 25.6 | 0.00 | |
| 2024 13 g | 37 of 96 39% | 71% | 48% | 23.6 | +0.12 | |
| 2025 12 g | 50 of 94 53% | 78% | 58% | 22.1 | +0.07 | |
| 2026 6 g | 18 of 54 33% | 68% | 54% | 21.7 | −0.04 | |
| All 79 g | 252 of 646 39% | 67% | 51% | 24.8 | +0.06 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.