Robert Griffin III doesn’t have any coaching experience at the college level, but that reportedly won’t stop him from interviewing with his former team for its vacancy.
Griffin, who played at Baylor from 2008-11 and won the Heisman Trophy in his final season before getting drafted No. 2 overall, will interview to be the Bears’ next head coach, according to multiple reports.
Baylor fired Dave Aranda — its head coach since 2020 — last month following a loss to Kansas that dropped the Bears to 4-3.
Griffin, 36 and now working at Fox Sports as an analyst, last appeared in an NFL game during the 2020 season with the Ravens and hasn’t been on a roster since Baltimore waived him in January 2021.
But Griffin, in the aftermath of Aranda’s firing, made his case for the opening, saying on “The Dan Patrick Show” last month that he’d been in contact with athletic director Doug McNamee and definitively stated he “100 percent” would want the position.
“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 also added that “we should be back on top,” and the Bears haven’t found much success in recent years.
After a 12-2 season and Sugar Bowl appearance in 2021, they managed just two other cameos in bowl games — and lost both — across the final four full seasons of Aranda’s tenure, though the Bears have won both of the games since his firing to clinch bowl eligibility in 2026.
In 2011, Griffin helped the Bears climb as high as No. 13 in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings, throwing for 4,293 yards, 37 touchdowns and six interceptions while also rushing for 699 yards and 10 more touchdowns.
He also won the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year honor and made the Pro Bowl during his debut campaign with Washington.
If Griffin lands the Baylor job, he’d become just the latest former star to take a collegiate position at their alma mater without any prior coaching experience at the level.
Former star quarterback Philip Rivers was hired as the next North Carolina State coach — taking over the program he once played for before embarking on a lengthy NFL career — last week.
