College athletics money, from public records
Public Cap

What can your team actually afford?

Power 4 football · revenue sharing · what they can spend · NIL on file.

Blog · Oct. 25, 2026

Yahoo Sports says Baylor owes Dave Aranda about $12 million. The school has not released terms.

Public Cap ·

Baylor relieved Dave Aranda of his duties as head football coach on Oct. 25, 2026. The school has not released his contract. The dollar on this site is a reported figure, not a term Baylor printed.

Yahoo Sports reporter Ross Dellenger wrote that day that Baylor is expected to owe Aranda around $12 million (Dellenger, Oct. 25, 2026). This site prints about $12 million because Dellenger did not print an unrounded dollar and Baylor has not disclosed terms. That figure is the one on the Dave Aranda paid-buyout page.

USA TODAY, in a story updated Oct. 25, 2026 at 12:14 p.m. ET, says Baylor, a private university, does not release contract information, and attributes a $12 million buyout to Dellenger (USA TODAY, Zac Al-Khateeb). Front Office Sports reports a buyout of around $12 million (Front Office Sports, Oct. 25, 2026).

By the numbers

What the school announced

Baylor Athletics posted the change at 11:05 a.m. on Oct. 25. The release timestamp does not print a time zone. Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Doug McNamee announced that Aranda has been relieved of his duties as head coach. Defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman is interim head coach for the remainder of the season. The release lists Baylor at 4-3 (2-2 Big 12). It does not print a buyout (Baylor Athletics).

USA TODAY reports the move as a firing after a 25-24 loss at Kansas on Oct. 24, a 40-40 record over seven seasons, and a 12-2 season in 2021 that included a Sugar Bowl win (USA TODAY). KWTX reports that the 2021 season also included a Big 12 championship (KWTX). ESPN reports the move as a firing (ESPN).

Klanderman's pay is not public, and neither is an if-fired dollar for the interim chair. On the 2026 directory he was defensive coordinator and safeties coach. The Baylor buyout page is his page now, and it stays blank on purpose.

The older database number is not this bill

Before the firing, the USA TODAY coaches salary database listed Aranda's total pay at $4,702,570 as of Oct. 8, 2025 (USA TODAY, Baylor team page). This site keeps that cell on the 2025 chair. It is his pay for a season already on the books. It is not Klanderman's pay, and it is not the amount now owed.

Baylor had not published a buyout figure for the chair. The school still has not. The about $12 million line is Dellenger's report, labeled reported, not a contract term.

This site does not have an offset clause on file for the Aranda buyout. When a contract says a new job shrinks the old school's bill, that clause is tracked on coach free agency. Aranda is not on the hot-seat list. That list is coaches still in the job. Money already owed after a firing is on paid buyouts.

Dellenger's same post puts a rounded-up total of fired head-coach buyouts this season at $32 million, with his rounded lines of $12 million for Aranda, $10 million for Doeren, and $10 million for Locksley. This site does not book that $32 million total. Dave Doeren stays at ESPN's $10.3 million (ESPN, Oct. 24, 2026). Mike Locksley stays at USA TODAY's approximately $9.7 million (USA TODAY, Oct. 21, 2026).

Where the bill sits in the department

The reported buyout is one check against a department that already publishes a federal year. Those filings are FY2025, the year before this firing.

Baylor athletics reported $144,126,427 in revenue and $144,126,427 in expenses (EADA, unitid 223232). The federal report prints the same dollar on both lines. This site does not turn that pair into a surplus.

Baylor is private. Knight-Newhouse does not publish a membership-financial-report split for student fees or institutional support, and this site does not have an athletics-debt total. The health page leaves those factors unavailable, so the grade is Incomplete.

Football brought in $44,260,293 (EADA, men's football team revenues). Football spending was $41,050,130 (EADA, football expenses). Both figures are on the Baylor money page.

Baylor does not have a booked revenue-share total on this site. The NIL and player-pay page leaves that cell blank.

More on this site: the dollar on the Dave Aranda paid-buyout page, the rest of paid buyouts, Klanderman's blank chair on the Baylor buyout page, coaches still in the job on the hot seat, offset clauses on coach free agency, and the department on the Baylor school page.

Takeaway: Yahoo Sports (Ross Dellenger, Oct. 25, 2026) says Baylor is expected to owe Dave Aranda around $12 million. This site prints about $12 million and labels it reported. Baylor has not disclosed contract terms. USA TODAY attributes $12 million to Dellenger, and Front Office Sports reports around $12 million. Joe Klanderman is interim. Aranda's USA TODAY pay of $4,702,570 as of Oct. 8, 2025 stays on the 2025 chair. In FY2025 the department reported $144,126,427 in revenue and the same dollar in expenses, $41,050,130 in football spending, and an Incomplete financial health grade.

Sources

  1. Baylor Athletics, 'Baylor Announces Change in Football Leadership,' Oct. 25, 2026, 11:05 a.m.: https://baylorbears.com/news/2026/10/25/baylor-announces-change-in-football-leadership
  2. ESPN, 'Baylor fires head coach Dave Aranda, sources say': https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/50277585/baylor-fires-head-coach-dave-aranda-sources-say
  3. USA TODAY (Zac Al-Khateeb), 'Dave Aranda fired: What to know about Baylor football coach's contract, buyout,' updated Oct. 25, 2026, 12:14 p.m. ET: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/big12/2026/10/25/dave-aranda-fired-baylor-football-coach-contract-buyout/92430832007/
  4. Yahoo Sports (Ross Dellenger), Oct. 25, 2026: https://x.com/RossDellenger/status/2114385400559030429
  5. Front Office Sports, Oct. 25, 2026: https://x.com/FOS/status/2114397444138299683
  6. KWTX, 'Developing: Baylor fires head football coach Dave Aranda,' Oct. 25, 2026: https://www.kwtx.com/2026/10/25/developing-baylor-fires-head-football-coach-dave-aranda/
  7. USA TODAY Sports football coach salary database, Baylor team page, Total Pay as of Oct. 8, 2025: https://sportsdata.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/football/coach/team/3484
  8. ESPN (David Hale), 'NC State fires Dave Doeren amid 3-4 start in 14th season,' Oct. 24, 2026: https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/50270498/nc-state-fires-dave-doeren-amid-3-4-start-14th-season
  9. USA TODAY (Jordan Mendoza and John Brice), Maryland / Mike Locksley buyout, updated Oct. 21, 2026: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/bigten/2026/10/21/maryland-fires-mike-locksley-contract-buyout/91959683007/
  10. U.S. Department of Education, Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act data, 2024-25 (FY2025): GRND_TOTAL_REVENUE and GRND_TOTAL_EXPENSE for Baylor University, unitid 223232: https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/api/dataFiles/file?fileName=EADA_All_Data_Combined_2024-2025_SAS_SPSS_EXCEL.zip
  11. EADA 2024-25, men's football team revenues (REV_MEN_Football) and football expenses (TOTAL_EXPENSE_ALL_Football), FY2025: https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/datafile/list

More from the blog