Dave Aranda on calling plays for the first time in 5 years: "I was angry a lot of times."

Before Saturday night, the last time Dave Aranda called plays was Jan. 13, 2020. He was LSU's defensive coordinator then, doing his part to cap of the Tigers' historic run to the 2019 national championship. 

His work in Baton Rouge earned him the Baylor job, where after four seasons of letting his assistants call plays, Aranda was back in the captain's chair on Saturday night.

And how did it go? 

"I was angry a lot of times," the stoic Aranda said. "You don't want to give people anything, and obviously they're always going to get things."

For the record, it was a really good night for Baylor's defense. The Bears defeated Tarleton, an FCS team, 45-3, in the process limiting the Texans to 181 total yards, nine first downs, and 2-of-15 on third down. Baylor surrendered the 18th fewest yards of all teams playing their opening games, and was one of 27 teams not to surrender a touchdown. 

"We had a professor that came to dinner on Friday night, and he asked me what it's like," Aranda said. "It's like you're a fighter pilot and you've got this great fighter jet and it's all this mach, you've got all these weapons and you get to fly the thing, but there's people out there that want to kill you. You know? You get to fly it but you don't want to die.

"So that's how I feel about calling plays. I feel that all the time," Aranda said.

Aranda initially hired Ron Roberts to run his defense, a move that in three seasons saw Baylor go 2-7 in 2020, then 12-2 with a Big 12 championship, a Sugar Bowl victory and an AP No. 5 finish in 2021, and then a 6-7 finish in 2022. Aranda dismissed Roberts and hired Matt Powledge, a former Bears position coach, as his defensive coordinator ahead of the 2023 campaign. After a 3-9 season in '23, Aranda retained Matt Powledge but took over the defensive play sheet, while hiring Jake Spavital to run the offense.

So, the fighter pilot analogy, while extreme, is understandable. If Aranda's play calls don't slow down Big 12 offenses enough for the Bears to show marked improvement, other Big 12 coaches ("people out there") will end Aranda's tenure ("kill") in Waco.   

"To prep and get people where they don't get you, that's hard to do in today's game," Aranda said. "Offenses are really good."