Baylor is hiring Joe Klanderman as defensive coordinator for 2026, sources confirm to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. Klanderman spent the last seven years at Kansas State, including the last six as defensive coordinator of the Wildcats. The Bears decided to keep head coach Dave Aranda for 2026 but he won’t be calling defensive plays after a two-year failed experiment where they finished 81st in scoring defense in 2024 and 122nd in 2025. 

The Wildcats were 80th in scoring defense in 2025 while allowing 26.7 points per game. They had finished inside the Top 50 in scoring defense in the previous four years under Klanderman. Kansas State head coach Chris Kleiman announced his retirement last week and he’ll be replaced by current Texas A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein, who was a Heisman finalist for the Wildcats. 

Klanderman will be the fourth defensive play caller in the Aranda era, which enters Year 7 in 2026. He went through Ron Roberts and then Matt Powledge before becoming his own defensive coordinator ahead of 2024. The 2021 season was the lone elite defense Aranda has fielded as head coach and that was the year Baylor won the Big 12 and set a school record with 12 wins.