Coming Home to Waco? Heisman Winner Robert Griffin III Expected to Interview for Baylor's Head Coaching Job

Robert Griffin III brought a Heisman Trophy to Baylor in 2011. Now he may get the chance to lead the program from the sideline.

The 2011 Heisman Trophy winner is expected to interview for Baylor's head coaching job, sources told ESPN on Friday. The report, first published by On3, was quickly picked up by news outlets in Waco, where Griffin remains a beloved figure.

Baylor fired Dave Aranda on October 25, the day after a 25-24 loss at Kansas, and promoted defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman to interim head coach for the rest of the season, the Associated Press reported. Aranda finished his tenure 40-40 overall and 26-32 in Big 12 play.

Since the change, the Bears have responded. Baylor is 6-3 overall and 2-0 under Klanderman, coming off a 41-32 win over Iowa State, according to the school's athletics department. That means a team that stood at 4-3 the day Aranda was let go has won every game since, a turnaround that gives Klanderman a real argument of his own. The Bears travel to Provo on Saturday to face No. 12 BYU, with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. Central on FOX.

Griffin has not been shy about wanting the job. Asked whether he was interested, he answered, "Yes, 100%," ClutchPoints reported. He has also said he spoke with Baylor athletic director Doug McNamee, ESPN reported.

Griffin currently works as a college football analyst for FOX and has never coached at the college level. That is the obvious question hanging over his candidacy, and some commentators have been blunt about it, with one rumor column carried by Yahoo Sports labeling him an unqualified candidate.

Griffin has also publicly said Klanderman deserves consideration for the permanent job, ESPN reported. That is a classy gesture toward the man currently leading his alma mater, and it says something about the kind of leader Griffin wants to be.

The case for Griffin is easy to make. He knows Baylor. He knows Texas high school football, the recruiting ground that every Big 12 program lives or dies on. He has name recognition that opens doors in living rooms and with donors in an era when name, image and likeness money and the transfer portal drive roster building. And no one connected to Baylor football carries more goodwill.

The case against is just as plain. Running a modern college program is a massive executive job: hiring a staff, managing a large budget, building a roster of well over 100 young men and answering to administrators, boosters and parents. Being a great player and a polished broadcaster does not guarantee success at that. The schools that have taken a chance on a famous name without a long coaching résumé have seen mixed results.

Here is my take. Baylor should take the interview seriously, and so should Griffin. A head coach at a Christian university is responsible for far more than wins and losses. He is shaping young men during some of the most important years of their lives. If Griffin can show McNamee a real plan, an experienced staff around him and a commitment to the players as people, he deserves a fair hearing. If he cannot, the Bears already have a coach on the sideline in Klanderman who is winning games right now.

Baylor hopes to name its next coach in the final week of November, according to reports on the search. That leaves Klanderman a few more Saturdays to make his own case, starting with a tough trip to BYU.

For Griffin, the interview is a homecoming of sorts. Fifteen years after he brought a Heisman Trophy to Waco, he is asking his alma mater to trust him with its future. Whatever Baylor decides, it will be one of the most watched hires of the college football coaching carousel.