WACO – Jake Spavital is learning to love meetings. 

He apprenticed under Dana Holgorsen and Kliff Kingsbury, after all. And they learned from Mike Leach. Talking some ball over a drink late at night? Absolutely. Meeting at a predetermined time at the football offices multiple times a day? Eh. 

His new boss, Baylor head coach Dave Aranda, also spent time at Texas Tech with Leach, but the stoic Aranda is cut from a different cloth. He’s a defensive guy. A planner. An organized machine who Spavital has never seen eat and isn’t entirely convinced sleeps. He’s also entertaining, and his analogies always bring a smile to players and assistants when brought up. 

“He has a unique way of making points,” Spavital said. “One day we’ll watch some of the Three Amigos. The next day it’ll be a UFC fight or a Joe Burrow clip. You’re sitting there like, ‘where is this going?’ but I love it because he always spins it back to a great point he’s making. I’ve never enjoyed meetings more.” 

Spavital didn’t plan on a move to Waco until Aranda called him with an offer. Aranda planned to return to his roots as a defensive play caller. He wanted an offensive coordinator with previous head coaching experience and an up-tempo offense that can score points in bunches. Texas ties wouldn’t hurt. 

Spavital checked every box. He’s a Tulsa, Okla. native who played quarterback at Missouri State, but he spent time at Houston as a GA, Texas A&M as an offensive coordinator, and Texas State as a head coach. The move from Cal to Baylor is the first lateral move of Spavital’s career. Being closer to family and getting his kids into the same school played a role in the return to the Lone Star State. As did the opportunity to serve as unofficial head coach of the offense. He knows how hard it is to call plays and be a head coach – a task facing Aranda in 2024. 

“It is hard to call plays and be a head coach. I’ve been in that position before,” Spavital said. “I just try to be the best assistant coach I possibly can and not have things go to his desk. I try to cut out all the drama.” 

Aranda enters the 2024 season firmly on the hot seat. His Bears won a program record 12 games in 2021 en route to a Big 12 championship and a win in the Sugar Bowl. Baylor is 9-16 since the win over Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl with a 6-12 mark against the Big 12. Aranda is 23-25 overall at Baylor. His team has posted a losing record in three of his four seasons, including the last two. 

The 3-9 finish in 2023 almost cost him the job, but a plan to invest in NIL, take over defensive play calling, and hiring an offensive coordinator with experience as a head coach convinced the Baylor brass to run it back at least one more time. Hiring assistants in such an environment can be tricky, but Spavital never blinked over Aranda’s long-term status. 

“Everyone is on the hot seat,” he said. “We were going to be on the hot seat at Cal. That’s how life is as a coach.” 

Spavital cared far more about backroom support. Call it PTSD from taking over a Texas State program that had invested just enough to reach FBS status but not enough to achieve real success ahead of the 2019 season. The only nutrition the school supplied to his players at first was a few cold cut sandwich meat trays from the nearby H-E-B.  There weren’t enough Jugs machines or cones. Assistant coaches needed to recruit in areas they grew up so they could sleep on a family or friend’s couch to avoid hotel fees that ate into the recruiting budget. 

“When I first took the job, I did have a moment where I was like, ‘man, what did I do?’” Spavital admitted. “You learn patience. You learn sticking with it. We didn’t win enough games, and that’s life as a head coach. But I thought we were close. And I’m proud of what we did there.” 

What Spavital does, at least as a play caller, evolved over the years. He started out as a Leachean Air Raid disciple who spent most of his time in 10 or 11 personnel. He added more run game and extra tight ends at West Virginia. He says the varied fronts that defenses now run forced the old Air Raid worshippers to mix in a couple of curve balls. Holgorsen says this is why Leach kicked most of them out of the club – they ran the ball too much. 

What Spavital still believes in is tempo. His time as a head coach taught him to look at the whole instead of the parts and occasionally take his foot off the gas for the sake of balance and his defense, but he still wants to go fast. And score points. A lot of points. And that’s what Baylor needs. 

“Our guys figured out around practice no. 8 of the spring that tempo can keep those exotic looks defenses like Dave’s love in the back pocket,” Spavital said. “Going up against his defense every day has made me a better coach. I’m hoping I’ve done the same for the defense. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when we mash it together in Week 1.”