Baylor’s head football coach Dave Aranda apologized for quoting a popular Leonardo DiCaprio movie when talking about bringing athletes to his school.
Appearing at the Texas High School Coaches Association in late July, Miranda admitted that he is not “comfortable” with some of the aspects of the NCAA transfer process and that he hopes to maintain his integrity while trying to attract players to his school.
During this process, Miranda said part of recruiting athletes is making them feel like they belong with the team, and it was at this point the coach began reciting a scene from the 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
‘The midgets may think we’re making fun of them.’
Aranda referred to a scene in the movie where DiCaprio’s character, along with co-star Jonah Hill and others, are discussing bringing dwarves into their office to throw them at a novelty-sized dartboard.
“There’s a scene in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ where they talk about throwing midgets,” Aranda began. “It’s like, ‘Hey, this midget, can he roll there?’ And you go, ‘No, he doesn’t roll. You throw him. They’re made for throwing,'” the coach recited.
The scene in question has the characters discussing the legal ramifications of their event, eventually acknowledging that the “midgets” get together and talk, so it is important to make them feel like they are part of the group.
In front of reporters, Aranda discussed the scene in great detail as it relates to getting players to come aboard at Baylor.
“After a while, they start talking and they go, ‘Well, you know what? I think, if you start talking, they may think we’re making fun of them. The midgets may think we’re making fun of them.’ … And then the guys go, ‘Well, what we need to do is make them think they’re one of us.’ And they go, ‘One of us! One of us!'” Aranda chanted, as the characters did in the movie.
The coach concluded, “I think that’s the thing with coaching, call it recruiting, is it’s that way. They talk about acquiring players, getting rid of players, just like that. And the whole thing underneath all that is they make them think they’re one of us, you know what I mean?”
Although Baylor cut the coach’s re-enactment of the movie from their version of the broadcast, the clip was so widely seen that it garnered a reaction from a dwarf advocacy group called Mascots Matter.
The group said it was “appalled” by the coach’s remarks, which the group said “contributed to the normalization of ableism, which continues to affect millions of people with disabilities.”
According to KWTX-TV, the advocacy group claimed the “outdated and offensive language” has lasting consequences.
“This is concerning because such comments coming from a leader in the sports community, whose influence does extend to young athletes and fans, further stigmatizes people with disabilities.”
Aranda followed up by issuing a brief apology when he caught up with reporters back at Baylor’s facilities last week.
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“I wanted to say, last time we spoke, I had a misstep and hurt a bunch of people, so I apologize for that,” Aranda said, per KCEN-TV. “That was not what I intended to come across, so I’m sorry for that.”
Regardless of this apparent “misstep,” Aranda is firmly secured in his role after signing an extension with the school in 2022 that will have him coaching there until 2029. Baylor has not finished a season with a coveted top-25 ranking since 2021, when Aranda led the team to a Sugar Bowl victory, which sparked the contract extension.
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