🏈 LSU reportedly works to add fired Baylor coach Dave Aranda

Dave Aranda was fired by Baylor on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, and by Thursday, Nov. 5, he was reportedly back in Baton Rouge. CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz reported that LSU is working to add the former Baylor head coach in an "analyst-type role," according to Yahoo Sports and Saturday Down South, which both cite his post. The sources read do not give a time of day for the report.

The money angle is the part the record does not deliver. MrMuscles went through the pack looking for the buyout Baylor owes, the years left on Aranda's contract and a comparison with other recent dismissals. None of it is in the reports read. Those numbers are not on record here, and we are not going to guess them.

Who says what

KWTX reported on Oct. 25 that Baylor's vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics, Doug McNamee, confirmed the firing, and that ESPN's Pete Thamel was first to report it. The station says it came after a 17-6 home loss to TCU and a 25-24 loss at Kansas on Saturday. Aranda's record at Baylor ended at 40-40, with a 4-3 (2-2) mark in 2026.

On the LSU side, Yahoo Sports, citing Zenitz, says Aranda is already in Baton Rouge. Another Yahoo Sports piece, carrying a Heavy report, cites On3's Pete Nakos saying Aranda was reportedly watching practice for a few days but that "nothing is finalized or in the works at this time." Those two accounts do not match. One says LSU is working to add him; the other says nothing is in the works. Both are attributed reports, not announcements.

The response

McNamee said in the Baylor statement that Aranda "is a gifted coach and a brilliant football mind," and that "a change in leadership is necessary at this time for our program." No public response from Aranda or from LSU was found in the reports read.

"He is a gifted coach and a brilliant football mind whose leadership brought some of our best Baylor football memories."

Doug McNamee, Baylor athletic director, in a statement carried by KWTX, Oct. 25, 2026

What happens next

Yahoo Sports says LSU plays Alabama at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, then hosts Texas, and visits Tennessee and Arkansas. No source read states a date for any LSU announcement. Baylor, per KWTX, goes to Orlando to face UCF with Joe Klanderman as interim head coach.

Backstory

Baylor hired Aranda from LSU in January 2020, per ESPN. Under him, the Bears went 12-2 in 2021, won the Big 12 title and beat Ole Miss 21-7 in the Sugar Bowl, per KWTX. Since that title year, KWTX says Baylor went 26-31.

The paper trail that does exist is from his LSU days. ESPN reported in January 2018, citing a source, that Aranda's new four-year LSU deal paid $2.5 million a year and that the entire $10 million was guaranteed. That is a figure from a different job and says nothing about Baylor.

As of Nov 5, 8:26 PM ET, the firing is confirmed by Baylor's athletic director through KWTX, and the 40-40 record is on record. LSU's interest is a CBS Sports report relayed by Yahoo Sports and Saturday Down South, while On3 says nothing is finalized. The Baylor buyout, the remaining contract length and any comparison with other coaching dismissals are not in the reports read, and no response from Aranda was found.