By Dylan Fink | Sports Writer
The long wait of winter is over. The flowers are blooming, the sun is shining and Baylor football has made its way back to the banks of the Brazos. The Bears went back to the practice field in full football mode Tuesday afternoon, marking the first sight of spring ball in Central Texas.
With the arrival of spring practice comes a collection of both familiar and fresh faces, as head coach Dave Aranda enters the seventh year of his tenure in Waco.
“I thought today was a real productive first day,” Aranda said. “It kind of flew by … but today was a good first step.”
This upcoming season could mark a pivotal point in Aranda’s career, with many eyes searching for signs of development during spring ball. The Sugar Bowl-winning coach finished 2025 with a disappointing 5-7 record that led many Baylor fans to call for his removal.
Now firmly on the hot seat, Aranda is looking to attack the practice field hard this spring to get the new faces ready to hit the gridiron for the green and gold.
The experienced head coach is searching to find ways to light a fire underneath his program in Waco. This spring, with the arrival of a whole new load of transfers and freshmen, the attention appears to lie first on the team’s camaraderie.
“We’ve spent maybe half of the time we normally do on football so far,” Aranda said. “I’ve met with each of the guys individually, and [offensive coordinator Jake Spavital] has done the same. We’ve spent more time on people and that’s made a difference … having those connections.”
Aranda, a former national championship-winning defensive coordinator at LSU, spent the past season calling defensive plays for the Bears. New defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman will take over that duty this spring.
The hire allows for Aranda to focus primarily on his head coaching role and serve the team as he sees fit through a “birds-eye view.”
“It was fun doing that today,” Aranda said. “I liked bouncing between the individual periods, and I liked having a birds-eye view for the team periods, coaching up whatever caught my eye there.”
The green and gold will be donned by a number of new transfers this season, including junior quarterback DJ Lagway. The former five-star recruit was the highest-rated transfer the Bears received over the offseason and will be expected to bear the yoke of the offense this season.
“He seems like he loves it here,” former Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson said of Lagway at the Bears’ pro day. “I can’t wait to see what he does … I’m going to help in any way I can for him, but just a great individual.”
Accompanying the fresh faces on the field are a trio of notable returners in the running back room: redshirt junior Dawson Pendergrass and sophomores Caden Knighten and Michael Turner. The returners will face the tall task this fall of filling the hole left by record-setting halfback Bryson Washington, now at Auburn.
The running backs have high expectations, as both Pendergrass and Knighten come into the spring at 100% following serious injuries sustained in the fall.
Pendergrass suffered a foot injury two weeks before the home opener last fall and missed the entire season. Knighten had an impressive freshman campaign that was ended in the last game of the year, with the Oklahoma native being carted off the field on a stretcher.
“It’s definitely a little different being one of the older guys in the room,” Pendergrass said. “I’m not used to that ... but I’m feeling great. We have a great medical team, and they have me confident that I’m at 100%.”
The Bears will continue to host spring practice up until Baylor’s Fan Fest on April 25, followed by an open practice at McLane Stadium.
