By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
Coming off a disappointing 6-7 season, the Baylor football team doesn’t need much motivation to put together a better campaign. With fall camp taking up the month of August, the Bears have shifted their focus to the 2023 season, which kicks off against Texas State University on Sept. 2 at McLane Stadium.
Head coach Dave Aranda said he thought this summer “was one of the better summers that our guys have had” and said he’s seen growth from his group throughout the early fall period.
“We were outside in the stadium,” Aranda said. “We didn’t have an indoor [stadium] during that time, and we weren’t on the practice fields. And so it’s 110 [degrees] in the stadium, and our guys crushed it. So there’s a good amount of confidence and a good amount of, ‘Hey, I’m fighting for something. I’m sacrificing for something.’ And so there’s a lot to build off of that.”
Aranda is entering his fourth season at the helm of the Baylor football program, and he’s admitted that he’s had to adapt to different coaching methods. Baylor went 2-7 in Aranda’s first year, but the Bears bounced back with a 12-2 season, the best in program history, in 2021. The team capped off their Big 12 championship season with a Sugar Bowl trophy.
The team entered 2022 with sky-high expectations but lost four games straight to close the lackluster year. In the spring, Aranda said he needed to be harder on his athletes and not give out as many second chances. He said his other mistake was not utilizing the transfer portal following the historic 2021 season.
With several newcomers having since been ushered in via the transfer portal, Aranda said this fall has been essential for getting those athletes comfortable with
the team.
“I think from a scheme perspective and player development perspective, it’s a little chopped up just because of what we first addressed in the beginning with new guys coming and getting acclimated and a couple of new guys still yet to come,” Aranda said. “But I think overall as a team — and the chemistry part and the confidence part and the work to try to develop a swagger, that part — I feel strong about that. And I feel I can sense that. I can see that.”
At this point in the year, new faces are looking for someone to lean on and look up to. Seventh-year senior safety Bryson Jackson provides more experience than the typical senior, and he said he continues as a prominent voice in the locker room.
Jackson added that fall camp has been full of energy, a great deal of which can be attributed to some of the transfer additions.
“All [of] those guys are athletic. Those are our teammates; those are our brothers,” Jackson said. “So when they came in, Byron [Vaughns] and all the transfers that came in, we made connections with them. It feels like a brotherhood. That’s something that makes great teams — definitely having those guys here and seeing the energy they bring. They could be other places with that energy. You could see it the first day of practice; you could see it in the film room. It feels like something we’re going to be very good at throughout the season.”
Jackson made the switch to the STAR position in the spring following multiple years at the outside linebacker and JACK spot.
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Josh Cameron, another returner for Aranda’s group, said the excitement level to get back on the field this fall has been palpable. Cameron is poised to construct a strong campaign after breaking out in 2022. He totaled the second-most yards (386) and fourth-most catches (28) for the Bears a
year ago.
“Just being able to be back, basically getting back with my brothers, be able to run around the field again — I’ve really just been missing it,” Cameron said. “Just kind of leading up, going through the summer, you kind of just start getting that itch.”
Cameron and the Bears will get the chance to scratch that itch in their first game against Texas State University. Baylor will host a program-record eight home games in 2023, with only four road contests.
