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Dave Wilson, ESPN Staff Writer
Baylor has hired Jake Spavital as its new offensive coordinator, it was announced on Thursday.
Baylor coach Dave Aranda was retained after a 3-9 season, but offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes was dismissed after the Bears finished the year ranked 70th in total offense, scoring fewer than 20 points in five games.
Sources say Aranda zeroed in on Spavital in an attempt to bring an up-tempo spread attack to Baylor, which utilized an NFL-style approach offense under Grimes.
It will mark a return to Texas and the Big 12 for Spavital, the former Texas State head coach as well as an offensive coordinator at Texas A&M and West Virginia. He was the offensive coordinator at Cal this season, where he had also previously worked under now-TCU coach Sonny Dykes. Including his time as a quarterbacks coach at Houston and Oklahoma State, Spavital has coached several notable QBs, including Brandon Weeden, Case Keenum, Geno Smith, Will Grier and Johnny Manziel.
Six times in his career, Spavital’s units have finished in the top 20 nationally in total offense. In his only season at Cal, he improved an offense that ranked 96th nationally in scoring at 23.9 points per game to 40th at 31.6 this year, and Jaydn Ott led the Pac-12 in rushing with 114.5 yards per game.
