By Carson Vercoe | Sports Writer
Baylor’s defense looked to find success in 2025 behind a combination of change and continuity.
The Bears seemed confident in veteran leaders at all three levels of defense behind Devyn Bobby, Keaton Thomas and Jackie Marshall. They also found a spark in transfers like Emar’rion Winston and Travion Barnes.
The promising defense got picked apart in 2025. The unit ranked near the bottom of the Big 12 defensive standings, giving up an average of 32.6 points per game along with 392 yards per game. With former defensive coordinator Matt Powledge leaving for North Texas, head coach Dave Aranda was forced to look for a replacement.
The Bears eventually landed on Joe Klanderman.
He previously served as defensive coordinator at Kansas State and held other defensive coaching stops at Minnesota and North Dakota State and arrives in Waco with plenty of coaching experience.
In Klanderman’s six years with Kansas State, his defense’s numbers consistently ranked in the top of the Big 12 and nationally. From 2021-2024, the Wildcats allowed 21.8 points per game, ranking 24th nationally. In that same span, the Wildcats caused 62 turnovers, leading the Big 12. Klanderman’s defense was also an essential part of the Wildcats’ 2022 Big 12 Championship run.
However, Klanderman’s challenge doesn’t stop at just improving Baylor’s statistics. Klanderman’s biggest task is establishing a new standard for a defense that lacked consistency and physicality.
“I’m trying to create something that the players can be proud of so that they do want to own it, so they do want to capture it, and so they do want to enhance it,” Klanderman said.
Klanderman will not be the only new face for the Bears, as they had success in the portal, bringing in 14 new defensive players, including an overhaul of the defensive line.
Of those 14 defensive players, the Bears were able to land Hosea Wheeler. Wheeler, a defensive tackle transfer from the 2025 national champion Indiana Hoosiers, comes to Waco with extensive high-level experience. Wheeler will prove to be a fundamental part not only of the brand-new defensive line, but of the defense as a whole.
“He is dominant, and you can tell he is when he’s out there,” Klanderman said.
Klanderman will bring four former Wildcats with him to help boost Baylor’s defense. Senior JACK Ryan Davis, fifth-year cornerback Jayden Rowe, fifth-year safety Colby McCalister and senior safety Daniel Cobbs will be featured in the Bears’ new defense and will help players adjust to Klanderman’s new scheme.
“Knowing the playbook from my previous school, I feel it’s my job to help the new guys and the guys who have already been here, and I feel I’ve done a good job of that,” McCalister said. “As I’ve said before, I’m an open book, so these guys can come to me and I will help them out.”
Although the defense is filled with new changes, Baylor’s defense will still feature some of the same defensive playmakers. Players like senior safety Jacob Redding, senior cornerback LeVar Thornton Jr. and senior safety Tyler Turner will be tasked with learning a new system while still leading the new players.
“My goal is to do whatever the team needs, whatever my room needs, whatever the defense needs, to win football games,” Redding said. “Whether that’s playing 67 snaps a game, whether it’s helping the young guys develop, whether it’s making plays, whether it’s off the field leading guys, just making myself as useful as possible,” Redding said.
Baylor’s new-look defense has the pieces in place to make its leap from being a lower-tier defense in the Big 12 to one of the conference’s best, but an all-around improvement could take some time.
“In what we do, and the volume, and the checks that come with it, it’s a process that takes a couple of years, but we don’t have a couple of years,” Klanderman said. “We have weeks and months, but we did a good job in the spring and made good progress in the summer, and right now we’re at a level we haven’t been at.”
After ranking near the bottom of the Big 12 defenses, Baylor’s new-look defense will aim to create a new identity under a proven coordinator in Klanderman. Whether that identity can translate into wins and success remains to be seen.
