Source: Baylor to hire LSU DC Aranda as head coach
Backup QB Brice to transfer from Clemson
Baylor was finalizing a deal Thursday to make LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda the coach of the Bears, according to a person with knowledge of the agreement.
That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Big 12 school was not ready to make an official announcement on Matt Rhule’s successor.
Aranda will be a head coach for the first time and take over a Big 12 program that is in much better shape than it was when Rhule got there just over three years ago. Rhule was hired as head coach of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers on Jan. 7.
Aranda, the highest-paid college assistant at $2.5 million a season, was a Power Five defensive coordinator the past seven seasons. He was at Wisconsin from 2013-15 before a four-year span at LSU, capped by a win Monday night in the national championship game against Clemson that gave the top-ranked Tigers a 15-0 record.
The 43-year-old Aranda takes over a team seemingly on the rise. The Bears lost to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, but finished 11-3 and ranked 13th in the final AP Top 25 poll.
MICHIGAN: The Wolverines are reportedly hiring Bob Shoop as a defensive assistant coach, according to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.
Shoop, 53, was the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Mississippi State over the past two seasons. He has a long track record coaching at the Power 5 level.
MIAMI: Alonzo Highsmith won’t be hired in an administrative role with the University of Miami football program, despite a brief second flirtation with the idea.
Highsmith, a former Hurricanes legend and the Cleveland Browns’ vice president of player personnel, was pushed by a handful of powerful Board of Trustees and football donors to accept a “Chief of Staff” role to help coach Manny Diaz and athletic director Blake James, according to sources.
A week ago, the Highsmith deal was confirmed as dead due to a lack of interest from Diaz and James. It was revived briefly when James then phoned Highsmith and once again discussed the possibility of him joining the program in some uncertain role.
Ultimately, though, that phone conversation went nowhere. Diaz and James were never comfortable with Highsmith’s role, according to sources, and he won’t be joining the program.
CLEMSON: Backup quarterback Chase Brice announced his decision to leave the program on Twitter. He has two more years of eligibility left.
The Georgia native was 50-of85 passing for 581 yards with four touchdowns this season. As a redshirt freshman, Brice was 32 of 51 with five touchdowns. Against Syracuse, He came in for an injured Trevor Lawrence and led game-winning drive as the Tigers overcame a doubledigit deficit to beat the Orange.