On3 has been on the Baylor beat pretty quickly, as news has spread that they fired Dave Aranda. The top candidate is UTSA’s Jeff Traylor, who previously interviewed at Texas Tech, and A&M and who has recently reminded everyone of how happy he is with his 10-year contract on a radio appearance.
North Texas’ head coach Neal Brown has not been mentioned outside of random social media posts from fans doing a bit of trolling. It looks like the candidate list is Traylor, Kinne, and then a grab bag of agents angling for their clients and long shots. Is Lincoln Riley leaving LA for Waco? Just because he loves Texas that much? I doubt it but it is possible.
Beyond that the Baylor AD Doug McNamee is being patient and won’t do what Texas Tech reportedly did, and require the coach to “start immediately.” That decision reportedly caused Traylor to decline, and he subsequently signed his big renewal.
You can see how these things work. A coach is fired and it affects the entire landscape of football.
MGN’s thinking is that one American Conference title puts Neal Brown at the top of these kinds of lists for the offseason. A 10-win season probably boosts him to the “other candidates to watch.” Neal Brown is not hyped up for his offense (wrongly) but he has North Texas at 4th in the country — just 4 yards per game behind Morris’ old North Texas-infused Cowboys and about eight yards ahead of Baylor candidate CJ Kinne.
If this year goes the way we want, we’d be employing a coach who will have won multiple G6 titles, with experience at the P4 level, and a reputation for offense. Sounds enticing, no? I’m sure it will to the many programs who will become unhappy with their teams. Arkansas is already regretting not hiring Morris and instead hiring Silverfield, for example.
Whatever Baylor does will shift the landscape. Hiring Kinne or Traylor means those jobs become open and coordinators and former head coaches will want to move. Maybe we see a Patrick Cobbs get some shine somewhere? Maybe we see a Skyler Cassity move up and out?
Right now North Texas sits in a good spot. Having been poached and picked over last year— basically the entire football staff and roster — things are relatively settled. But you start winning again and people notice and begin to covet what you have.
The game is the game.