Ron Roberts OUT as Baylor Bears Defensive Coordinator
In a season where the Baylor Bears and their defense regressed from a program-record 12 wins in 2021, to just six in 2022, defensive coordinator Ron Roberts is no longer with the program.
Roberts and safeties coach Ronnie Wheat are the first to go after the lackluster season where the Bears' defense dropped from the second-best overall defense in the conference a year ago to a middle-of-the-pack, fifth-ranked defense this year that allowed just under 27 points a game.
Roberts came over with Dave Aranda when Aranda got the Baylor job in early 2020 after two years coaching the defense at Louisiana-Lafayette. Aranda previously served under Roberts when the latter was the head coach at Delta State in 2007.
In 2021, Roberts' defense was dominant, leading the Big 12 in turnovers forced, turnover margin, and defensive touchdowns. The Bears were one of just three FBS teams to not give up more than 30 points in a single game that season and smothered Ole Miss to the tune of 10 sacks and three interceptions in the Sugar Bowl.
Even in the miserable 2-7 debut campaign under Aranda in 2020, Roberts' unit was second in the conference in total defense. Roberts has been coaching for 33 seasons and was a two-time Gulf South Coach of the Year at Delta State in 2007 and 2008.
In 2022, the Bears were 121st in the nation on opponent's third-down percentage, allowing them to convert 47% of the time, a problem that got worse as the season went on, allowing opponents to convert at a 50% clip the last three games.
Wheat just came to Baylor in January to coach the safeties and serve as special teams coordinator. Baylor's special teams struggled throughout the year, finishing sixth in the conference in net punt yards and just seventh in field goal percentage, switching from Isaiah Hankins to John Mayers for placekicking duties early in the season.
Wheat worked under Aranda for four years as a defensive analyst at LSU, winning the national championship together in 2019, before taking an assistant job with the Nevada Wolf Pack, his last stop before Baylor.
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Covering Baylor for Inside The Bears and the Locked on Baylor podcast. You can follow me for more Baylor content at @realcamstuart on Twitter. Originally from Rockland, Massachusetts and a Baylor alum, so I might mix the occasional bias and/or Boston sports tweet in there every once in a while.