Baylor football coaching search 2026: Candidates, hot board, names to watch from Bears experts

The third Power 4 program to make a coaching move in the 2026 college football carousel was Baylor as the Bears moved on from head coach Dave Aranda on Sunday, Oct. 25. A celebrated defensive coordinator at Wisconsin and LSU, Aranda landed at Baylor before the 2020 season. In 2021, he went 12-2 with a Sugar Bowl win and a top-5 finish in the AP Poll. He was never able to sustain that success, however, as the Bears were sub-.500 overall for the rest of his tenure both overall and in the Big 12. Baylor beat UCF 41-9 in the debut of interim head coach Jon Klanderman in Week 9.

Who are the top names on the Baylor hot board? If you want the latest on the Baylor football coaching search, see what the proven team of experts are saying at Bears Illustrated, the 247Sports affiliate that covers Baylor.

If you want all of the latest Baylor news and scoop, there's no better place than Bears Illustrated. It's the most trusted source for intel on the Bears and has the largest and most dedicated community of Baylor fans. The staff led by Tim Watkins and it will tell you what's happening before it happens. Sign up for a VIP membership now and uncover all the insider info, analysis and more.

And right now, Bears Illustrated is offering 50% off annual subscriptions*, so now is the time to sign up. The team at Bears Illustrated has revealed some names to watch in the coaching search, and and there are some surprising names in the mix. Head to Bears Illustrated now to see them all.

Top Baylor football coach candidates One name that Watkins has identified as a potential target in his look at what the next Baylor football coach could be like, is UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor. He is 58-27 overall as the head coach at UTSA since taking over in 2020 with a 37-12 conference mark split across time in Conference USA and the AAC/American Conference.