Baylor fires OC Jeff Grimes, coach Dave Aranda to reportedly call defensive plays

With Dave Aranda reportedly back for the 2024 season , the Baylor head coach is already tweaking his staff after the Bears went 3-9 overall and 1-7 at home in 2023.

Baylor offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes was reportedly fired Sunday afternoon, according to SicEm365. Grimes — who was hired in 2021 — helped lead the Bears to a program-best 12-2 season that year, in which they won a Big 12 championship and the Sugar Bowl .

BREAKING: Jeff Grimes is out as Baylor's offensive coordinator. pic.twitter.com/aCunAYS5V2

— Baylor Athletics on SicEm365 November 26, 2023

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg also reported that first-year defensive coordinator Matt Powledge will return but that Aranda will take over play-calling, so Baylor will have new play-callers on both sides in 2024.

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Aranda, who took the Baylor job after four years as the defensive coordinator at LSU (2016-19), hasn’t called plays on defense since the 2022 Armed Forces Bowl , when the Bears lost to Air Force 30-15 in Fort Worth. Aranda had fired then-defensive coordinator Ron Roberts in the weeks preceding that bowl.

Correction on earlier tweet: Jeff Grimes will not return as OC at Baylor. Dave Aranda is expected to call defensive plays for Baylor in 2024.

— Adam Rittenberg November 26, 2023

Grimes was a top-five finalist for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant, after the 2021 season. He was also a finalist for the award when he served as the offensive coordinator for BYU in 2020. Grimes was a rumored candidate for prominent head coach openings entering the 2022 season.

Baylor’s offense averaged over 30 points per game in Grimes’ first two years as OC but dropped to 23.1 points per game in 2023.

also reported that Aranda will be looking for an offensive coordinator with “head coaching experience and an explosive offensive style,” mentioning Matt Wells, Dino Babers, Sean Lewis and Jake Spavital.

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