After Week 8, Baylor decided to fire head coach Dave Aranda. He had a 40-40 record over seven seasons at Baylor. Here are 5 potential head coach candidates for the Baylor Bears.
Traylor is the current head coach at UTSA where he has had some success. He has a 60-27 record during his seven seasons with the Roadrunners, which includes a 12-win season in 2021. His team is currently 7-1 this season. Before his time as a head coach at the FBS level, he was an assistant at Arkansas, SMU and Texas. He was a high school coach in Texas before that.
Baylor reportedly wants an offensive-minded head coach with ties in Texas, which makes Traylor the perfect candidate. He has produced good offenses, had success and also spent most of his time as a coach in Texas. Traylor has had other opportunities for big time jobs, but may take the Baylor job to stay in Texas.
Eck has coached all over the country and had success. He was an assistant at Wisconsin, Colorado, Idaho, Winona State, Ball State, Hampton, Western Illinois, Minnesota State, Montana State and South Dakota State. Idaho was his first head coaching job. With the Vandals, he had a 26-13 record and made three straight FCS playoffs, including two quarterfinal appearances. He has been at New Mexico since the start of the 2025 season and has a 14-5 overall record.
Like some others on this list, Eck will have plenty of options of where he can coach next season. While Baylor wants more of an offensive mind, they may not be able to pass up on Eck’s success. He has built the best defense in the country based on points per game and turned programs around quickly. Eck could be interested in other jobs, so Baylor may want to move early if they want Eck.
Kinne has been a head coach at Texas State for four seasons and has a 27-19 record. He has brought the program to new heights during their new stint in the FBS. The Bobcats are currently 4-3 in their first season in the Pac-12. He was also a head coach at Incarnate Word, so his ties in Texas have been developed. Kinne has been an assistant at SMU, Arkansas, Hawii, UCF and for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Like Traylor, Kinne checks a lot of the boxes of what Baylor is reportedly looking for in a head coach. He is offensive-minded and has plenty of Texas ties. Kinne is just 37 years old and can inject some life into the program as well. Baylor has a chance to hire Kinne, as he may want to stay in Texas, but also may not be a candidate for some of the jobs currently open.
Weis Jr. started getting experience on his dad’s staff at Notre Dame far before he was an official head coach. He bounced around from different jobs as an assistant with stops at Florida, Kansas, Alabama, FAU, USF, Ole Miss, LSU and the Atlanta Falcons. Currently he is with LSU where he has helped turn around the offense with Lane Kiffin in a short amount of time. He also helped develop Trinidad Chambliss at Ole Miss and ran one of the best offenses in the country with Kiffin.
While he doesn’t have the deep Texas ties, Weis Jr. has a unique offensive mind. He has helped create great offenses in the SEC and could pick up some more steam as a candidate if LSU wins some games down the stretch. The young coach could make an interesting offense at Baylor and then get more buy-in from NIL donors.
Riley is currently the head coach at USC, but he is squarely on the hot seat. He has a 96-30 record during his 10 years as a head coach, with time at USC and Oklahoma. With the Trojans, he has a 41-20 record, but he did even better at Oklahoma with a 55-10 record. Before being a head coach, Riley was an assistant at Texas Tech, ECU and Oklahoma.
To hire Riley, Baylor would have to wait a bit longer and hope he loses some games down the stretch for the Trojans. While the record he has at USC isn’t goot enough for the Trojans, it could really help Baylor build the program back up. He has an offensive-mind and also has Texas ties from his time as a player and assistant.
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