Dave Aranda committed to evolving as a person and a leader after a two-win 2020 campaign as the first-year head coach of the Baylor Bears. The program went 11-3 the year before under the direction of Matt Rhule. The only losses that season were by three points to Oklahoma in the regular season, by seven in overtime to those same Sooners in the Big 12 Championship game, and to the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl.
“A lot of my success is owed to Matt Rhule and the groundwork he laid, so I tried to be too much like him,” Aranda admitted. “I took the slogans he had. I’d try to do the things I’d think he’d do or say the things I’d think he’d say. I wasn’t comfortable being myself yet.”