What is Dave Aranda's ethnicity? Baylor HC's background explored
Baylor coach Dave Aranda is renowned as a defensive guru and is even referred to as 'the mad scientist' by some former players. Aranda is a Kern County, California native, but what exactly is his ethnicity?
Dave Aranda was born to Mexican parents, Paul and Marguerite Aranda, who immigrated to the USA from Guadalajara to southern California. He is, therefore, Latino American and has a brother named Mike.
He is married to Dione Aranda, and they have three kids together.
Aranda has had extensive success as the Baylor Bears coach, unexpectedly winning the Big 12 championship in 2021 during his first full year as a head coach.
Dave Aranda lost his father in July
Aranda lost his father, Paul, to stage IV pancreatic cancer in July, and the Baylor HC paid tribute to him during the Big 12 Media Days.
"We're going to have a celebration of life coming up this Sunday, and there's going to be just so many people that are going to be there that my dad touched," Aranda said.
"Family members that didn't know they were a part of the family, relatives that needed help that my dad was there for, and all these things, and I'm just way proud to be his son."
Is Dave Aranda's job in jeopardy?
Dave Aranda is a veritable legend in Baylor circles after leading the Bears to their best-ever season in year one when he took over in 2021.
Unexpectedly, the Bears under Aranda went 12-2 overall and 7-2 in conference play, the most wins in the program's history. He then beat Oklahoma State 21-16 in the championship game.
Since then, it has been downhill, though. Last season, the Bears had a 6-7 losing season, and maybe too late, Aranda admitted that he had not embraced the benefits of the transfer portal.
“I think one of the struggles for me has always been if you say yes to something, a player outside of your team that's in the portal, you're saying no to a player on your team,” Aranda said.
“I think for me to kind of come to grips with hey, this is what needs to happen for the betterment of the team as opposed to just looking at what’s best for that one particular player on your team.”
It might be too late for Dave Aranda to right the ship as Baylor has started the season 1-3, and a meeting against last year's college football playoffs finalists, the TCU Horned Frogs, still looms large on the horizon.