Robert Griffin III says he is '100%' interested in Baylor's open head coaching job

Baylor University fired head football coach Dave Aranda over the weekend.

The Bears will conduct a coaching search to find his replacement and may consider a familiar face.

Former quarterback and current NFL and college football analyst Robert Griffin III told Dan Patrick on Monday's edition of the "Dan Patrick Show" that he is "100%" interested in the gig.

"If Baylor wants to get back to winning and have a university that isn't just respectable on the football field, but one the fans can be proud of, they need people who know what it looks like to win at Baylor. "So yeah, I would 100% be interested. I talked with the athletic director, who is a guy in Doug McNamee that knows what it looks like to win at Baylor, know how you have to win at Baylor and recruit to Baylor to make those things happen."

"If Baylor wants to get back to winning and have a university that isn't just respectable on the football field, but one the fans can be proud of, they need people who know what it looks like to win at Baylor.

"So yeah, I would 100% be interested. I talked with the athletic director, who is a guy in Doug McNamee that knows what it looks like to win at Baylor, know how you have to win at Baylor and recruit to Baylor to make those things happen."

Griffin played at Baylor from 2008-11, under then-head coach Art Briles. The Bears went 25-21 in that span, but Griffin's final season was the team's best: Baylor finished 10-3, including a win in the 2011 Alamo Bowl. In 2011, Griffin won the Heisman Trophy, Baylor's only Heisman winner in school history.

It will be interesting to see where the Bears go. Griffin has never been a head football coach and has never coached at any level.

The former quarterback's playing career ended in 2020. The next football season, Griffin signed a deal with ESPN and later joined Fox to cover the NFL and college football.

Baylor hired Aranda ahead of the 2020 season. It was his first time as head coach, and he came from LSU after four years as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator, including on the Tigers' national championship-winning squad in 2019.

The Bears went 2-7 in the COVID-19-shortened season in Aranda's first year, but bounced back in a big way, going 12-2 in 2021, including a Sugar Bowl win. That remains the most wins in a season in school history.

Aranda couldn't sustain that success, as the Bears went 6-7 and 3-9 over the next two seasons. Baylor has been to just three bowl games in the past six years and lost two. Aranda leaves Baylor with a 40-40 record.

The Bears started this season 4-1 but lost to TCU two weeks ago. Then Baylor lost to Kansas this weekend, as the Jayhawks scored the game-winning touchdown with just 1:13 left.

This loss dropped the Bears to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big 12. Baylor announced that defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Klanderman has no prior head-coaching experience, but a strong finish to the season could put his name firmly in the mix for the full-time job.

Baylor will go on the road to face UCF this Friday.