FanPost

The Absolute State of Baylor Football

Every year, that special 12 weeks or so comes around where we get College Football. My excitement grows so much, that it cannot be contained with just Saturday action. I end up watching the NFL on Sundays, even though college is the superior game in my humble opinion, but still it is not enough. In the olden days of 2013, back before the world went crazy, I would supplement my football intake with a steady diet of EA Sports' NCAA 14. I could have have the experience of college football every day, and even coach my Baylor Bears! It was heaven. Now all we have is EA Sports' Madden series. It isn't as good, but it will do in a pinch if you are feeling deprived. I liken it to drinking the Budlight in the fridge from that leftover gathering you had after you run out of the good beer. Last night I was playing the latest installment Madden 21, specifically the Face of the Franchise story mode. For those of you that don't know or care, it is a mode where you create a quarterback and take him through high school, college, and ultimately the NFL. There are cutscenes interspersed that tell a story, and you can make choices to progress certain character traits, but the story never really changes. As I was playing through it, I noticed something in the story that really stuck with me. Spoilers ahead if you care.

The college story line revolves around your player being involved in a QB battle. You committed to a college for the head coach, but he steps down and the star defensive coordinator takes over as the new head coach. During the preseason, he tells both you and your friend/competition for the QB spot that he isn't picking a starter, and that he is going to do a two QB system. AT your protest he says "this is a defense first team...I just need someone to make sure that the offense doesn't give the game away because my defense sure won't." Ultimately he is a grade A...well A hole. After you finish the season, he has a heart to heart with you and and essentially apologizes for being said A hole, and admits that he was not being fair to you or your competition. He wants to turn things around and treat both of you right. To do that he is going to name a starter, and he is going t make the difficult decision based on who is best for the team.

As I was playing through this, I got to thinking about how this relates to the current Baylor Bears situation. After all, we have our own star defensive coordinator who is now a first year head coach. I started to see the similarities. The talk about the role of an offense in a defense specialized team made me really think. Is this how defensive coaches think? Is this how Aranda is thinking? While I highly doubt that Coach Aranda expects our defense to win games on their won, the line invokes a sense that the coach in the game, Coach O'Brien, is not very hands on with the offense. He refers to them as "the offense" and the defense as "my defense". Clearly he takes more pride in the D, but also is more hands on with them. In the real world, we see Coach Aranda on the sideline with his mic up during offensive drives. Is he calling plays? Is he delegating the role of offensive management solely to the OC? Is Fedora the one who has complete control here? Most head coaches have at least some input on the offense but it does not seem to be the case with us.

The next thing that got me thinking was the confrontation that Coach O'brien has with your player before the next season. He talks about what he has learned from his first season caching, and how he has out off a very difficult, and frankly uncomfortable, decision for too long, and it has hurt the team. I have seen a surprising number of people taking about the need to change the coaching staff. Some discussions are about getting rid of Fedora, others are about firing Aranda. It's the latter that really surprises me. What we saw against TCU this weekend was abysmal. I have seen intramural football teams with the entire team being hungover from the night before be managed better. However, firing Coach Aranda, or even contemplating that at this juncture seems heavily premature to me. This is his first season, not just as our head coach, but as any head coach. I want you to think back to your first professional job, if you have made it to that point in your life. Were you perfect from the start? Did you make mistakes? I know I have and continue to learn. There are obviously lessons that you should have learned by now, like don't punt from the red zone, but the nuance of managing a team is something that I would imagine is filled with pressure and a steep learning curve. There is plenty to learn and plenty of time for Aranda to learn it, and while there is no excuse for the way we have performed with the talent this team has, the miscues and questionable decisions on the coaching front will get better with time. That is about the only think I am confident will improve in the near future. Maybe someone does need to be fired, but it is not Aranda, not this soon. There is still time for him to develop into a fine coach.

That leads to my final thought. I personally hate confrontation. I can do it and turn into a bear (no pun intended) if need be, but would prefer to let things work themselves out. I also have the luxury of not being the head coach of a football team. Just like Coach O'Brien had to make a tough decision in the game, Coach Aranda has got to make some tough decisions now. If Fedora is in complete control of the offense, he needs to re-evaluate and possibly take back some control because what we have seen is not working. If he is not confident in his ability to do so, then he needs to bring in someone who can manage the offense better. What we see now is a complete failure on all fronts with the offense. You got players who are not progressing, and seem to be regressing from week to week. You have two leaders on the offense essentially quit on the team, only to be convinced to stay later after the news goes public. You have whatever that was that we saw for most of the game against TCU. Something is rotten on the offensive side of the ball, and whatever happens, something needs to change. Your own fans should not be booing at you and cussing at you at a home game. I don't know hat the answer is, and I don't know if Fedora should be fired, but I am not the leader of the team either. There is a reason Fedora got fired from his last job, that I do know. Fix the problem.

The decision needs to be made about the Charlie Brewer. It is uncomfortable, it is difficult, it sucks. If y'all recognize my name it is likely because you have seen the stuff I have said about him and his play. I have not had a lot of good to say. Let me reiterate again, I do not mean any of this as a personal attack against Mr. Brewer. He seems like a great guy, and I would be honored to have a beer with him. He has been a great leader, and a cornerstone of this program since he came in. He is the heart of the offense if not the team. But his play has been atrocious. I would argue this was so since the beginning of last season, but I understand there are those who disagree. A blind person could see that he has been abysmal this season since day one. You can say it's COVID, you can say it's the line, you can say it's the play calling. He has been doing this for so long, that missing some games and practices due to COVID should not result in this level of ineptitude. The O-Line has not been great, but has given him more than enough time in many cases. The play calling is limited greatly by his ability or lack thereof. This isn't cutting it, and is a huge reason why everything has fallen apart on the side of the ball where we should be strongest. If it wasn't clear before TCU, it is crystal now. Keeping him in is indefensible. We have guys under him that have shown the ability to do what he cannot and it is time to at least give them a shot. If it does not work, at least you can say that you did everything you could to try and win. Fix it.

I love Baylor Nation, I love this team. I have faith that Coach Aranda will develop into a fine Head Coach, given time. Why do coaches at Texas always end up failing? Because they do not have time to develop or improve because the pressure is unrealistically high for them to win every year. We are not that team. If you give it your all and still fail, I will be disappointed, but proud. I will shake your hand and say "let's get 'em next time". But you have to show me that you are trying. So far I am not seeing that. The inability to make these tough decisions is killing this team, and is starting ti look like apathy. I know that is not the case, but there comes a time to out on the big boy pants and make some tough calls. I have faith, but faith only lasts for so long. We won't be faithful forever if nothing changes.

Fanposts on ODB are user-submitted and do not necessarily reflect the opinions/views of OurDailyBears.com, SB Nation.com, or any of the writers, editors, or contributors here.

In This FanPost

Teams