New Baylor head coach Dave Aranda is a defensive coordinator by trade, so his choice of defensive coordinator will be an interesting one. Will he call it himself or hand the reins to someone else, bursting a blood vessel all the while as he looks on as someone else has the audacity to handle his baby different from him?
According to multiple reports Tuesday, Aranda will hire Louisiana-Lafayette defensive coordinator Ron Roberts to serve in the same post in Waco.
Roberts helmed the Ragin’ Cajuns’ defense for the past two seasons, helping the club go 18-10. His 2019 defense led the Sun Belt in scoring (19.7 points per game) while ranking second in the league in total (371.8) and per play (5.45) defense.
More than his work in Lafayette, Aranda was impressed by his run as the head coach at Division II Delta State, a run that saw him go 47-16 with four Gulf South Conference titles from 2007-11. Working under his wing for that 2007 season was a young Aranda, who served as the Statesmen’s co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
Roberts hasn’t been announced yet and so we’re far from a determination as to whose lips the play calls will emerge from, but the guess here is Aranda and Roberts will work like the arrangement Jimbo Fisher and Darrell Dickey have at Texas A&M, where the head man calls plays while working in lock step with the coordinator.