Robert Griffin III, the only Heisman Trophy winner in Baylor history, said Monday that he wants to be the Bears' next football coach, even though he has never coached.
Baylor fired Dave Aranda on Sunday after a tenure of 6½ seasons in which his teams went 40-40. Joe Klanderman was named interim coach for the remainder of the season.
Griffin discussed the opening during an interview on "The Dan Patrick Show." He said he had spoken with athletic director Doug McNamee. When Patrick asked whether he was interested in the job, Griffin did not hesitate. "Yes, 100 percent," he said.
He argued that the program needs people who understand what winning at Baylor looks like. "If Baylor wants to get back to winning and have a university that isn't just respectable on the football field, but the fans can be proud of, they need people who know what it looks like to win at Baylor," Griffin said. "So yeah, I would 100 percent be interested."
Griffin won the Heisman Trophy in 2011, when Baylor went 10-3. That year he threw for 4,293 yards with 37 touchdowns and six interceptions, and added 699 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. It was the school's first 10-win season since 1980.
Now 36, Griffin works as a college football analyst and broadcaster for Fox Sports. Washington selected him second overall in the 2012 NFL draft, and he played seven seasons in the league, including one with the Cleveland Browns and three with the Baltimore Ravens.
McNamee said in an open letter Monday that the search for the next head coach is already underway. He added that the logistics of the football calendar make it likely that a hire will not come until December.
"We want to bring in someone who will launch a generation of consistent winning," McNamee wrote. He said there are non-negotiables in how Baylor wins and represents itself and its Christian mission, but stressed that "it is imperative that we win because there is no substitute for how it fuels our priorities, our goals, and our future."
The Bears are 4-3 this season and 2-2 in the Big 12. They are 26-31 overall since a school-record 12-win season in 2021, Aranda's second year, which included a Big 12 title and a Sugar Bowl victory.
Baylor lost 25-24 at Kansas on Saturday after having a field goal blocked in the final minute. That followed a 17-6 home loss to struggling TCU a week earlier, which ended a four-game winning streak.
