Wednesday Evening Staff Updates: Joey McGuire Staying; Vince Guinta Coming

Let’s get to the big news first: former Interim Head Coach (post-Matt Rhule) and Associate Head Coach and Defensive Line Coach (under Rhule) Joey McGuire, hailed by some as a must-keep due to his connections in Texas high school football and the “continuity” he would give the program during this transition—as well as the possible runner-up to Dave Aranda for the head-coaching job—has decided to remain at Baylor as part of Aranda’s coaching staff going forward. David Smoak reported the news first, which ends the uncertainty around McGuire’s immediate future and reflects another positive step for Aranda and Mack Rhoades in rebuilding Baylor Football after Rhule’s departure for the NFL.

As Smoak says in the tweet above, McGuire had reportedly been courted heavily to leave Baylor after not getting the head job by other schools in Texas and Oklahoma, including both Texas and Oklahoma, as well as TCU, among others. The reasons for that are obvious—in addition to being a stellar football coach (he reportedly played a big role in the switch to the 3-man front on defense this year), he’s extremely well respected across the state by high-school football coaches and beloved by his players. He’s also a strong recruiter that should only get better with more experience at the CFB-level. Though McGuire is said to love Baylor, has a son on the team, and was both recruiting for the Bears and traveling with Aranda this week, it wasn’t clear that he would stay after not getting the head job, despite both Aranda and Rhoades indicating this week that they’d pull out all the stops to keep McGuire in green and gold. That he did in the face of other legitimate options and after experiencing something that had to be incredibly disappointing reflects both a deep commitment to the University and a belief in the direction of the program under Aranda.

McGuire’s role on Aranda’s staff is yet to be disclosed and may not yet be finally determined. When he first got to Baylor, McGuire coached tight ends for two years before being elevated to Associate HC and DE coach this past season. It wouldn’t surprise me if he stayed in that same role—Associate HC/DE—going forward, but he might move back across to the offense. We just don’t know yet. Regardless the role, keeping McGuire in Waco and part of the Baylor family is a huge coup for Aranda and something that I know Baylor fans, players, and parents are going to celebrate. I think I can speak for the ODB community when I say I’m extremely glad that he decided to stay at Baylor and help continue our program’s positive momentum.

You should throw @CoachMcGuire_BU a follow on Twitter if you don’t follow him already and maybe a “thank you” for his commitment to Baylor. I’m sure he would appreciate it.

In slightly less noteworthy (solely in terms of how many people will probably take note of it, not in terms of impact), Baylor is bringing in Vince Guinta from Oregon State University, where he was the Assistant Athletic Director for Player Personnel (which typically means he is responsible for oversight of recruiting). Guinta previously worked with Aranda at Wisconsin in 2013 and 2014, where he was the director of recruiting, and Oregon State folks seem to think this will be a big loss for them. This is the kind of move that fans don’t typically realize is actually extremely important given the impact that a Recruiting Czar-type person has on the program (if indeed that is the role he assumes here). Hopefully we get some clarity about his role and/or title when Baylor announces it in the coming days.

Beyond those two there isn’t much certain to report at this time. We still don’t know for sure if Dennis “Meatball” Johnson will be leaving LSU to come to Baylor—reports are conflicting about whether that’s a done deal—or who our offensive coordinator will be. There are certainly rumors, including some about Jorge Munoz that I mentioned yesterday, but nothing concrete yet. When/if we hear more, I will get it to you as quickly as I can.