Dave Aranda goes deep on offensive philosophy

Aranda has been a part of multiple winning programs with wildly different offensive philosophies? Which are best and when?

At the 2021 Big 12 Media Days, Dave Aranda had a lot to say about a new direction for offenses in the Big 12. Particularly his offense at Baylor.

The main thrust of his argument regarded how Big 12 defenses had adopted heavy movement up front to thwart spread run schemes without committing numbers to the box.

Make it hard enough to block the defensive front and you don’t have to overcommit to the run.

Aranda’s solution? To build on what Iowa State had been doing, adding tight ends to the field and running wide zone to thwart D-line twist, stunts, and blitzes. He hired Jeff Grimes from BYU to install a Shanahan-style wide zone offense at Baylor and was expressing thoughtfully how he believed this was the right direction for their future in the Big 12.

I was kinda dubious at the time, but Baylor’s new direction allowed converted linebacker Abram Smith to run for 1,601 yards and the Bears won the Big 12 Championship.

Nevertheless, I was curious given Aranda’s background with the 2019 LSU team, how his views on offense had evolved. So I planned out the following exchange I was able to have with him at the 2022 Big 12 Media Days.