It had to be done. After a disastrous season on defense, Coach Brian Kelly had to make big changes on defense. Two days after the season ended, Kelly announced the firing of defensive coordinator Matt House and three other assistants.
House had two years left on his contract and LSU will owe him nearly four million dollars.
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A change was needed based on the eye test and the numbers. LSU ranked 105th in the nation in total defense, allowing 417 yards a game. They gave up 28 points a contest, third worst in the SEC and for the second straight season, LSU failed to get off the field on third down. This year they ranked 114th in allowing teams to convert on 3rd down at 45%. Also 115th in passing defense, giving up 257 yards per game through the air.
You could point to reasons other than coaching for LSU’s poor play on defense. It started right before preseason camp when defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey was hospitalized with a medical emergency. The D-Line lacked an experienced position coach.
In September, senior leader and safety Greg Brooks Jr underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.
Two cornerbacks selected out of the transfer portal completely flamed out in Duce Chestnut and Denver Harris.
There was also a drop off in talent from 2022 to 2023. 2022 stars on the defense BJ Oljulari, Ali Gaye, Jarrick Bernard-Converse, Mekhi Garner, Jaquelin Roy and Micah Baskerville are now on NFL rosters.
But the bottom line, there was no real improvement throughout the season. LSU’s defense was nearly run off the field by Florida State in the season opener and in the regular season finale, a mediocre offensive team in Wisconsin looked like the Green Bay Packers with Aaron Rodgers in his prime.
Kelly is well-connected and it shouldn’t take long to replace the four coaches fired on Wednesday. It became obvious midway through the season that significant changes were needed, so Kelly should have developed a solid list of coaching possibilities.
Some potential candidates have surfaced through media reports. Texas A&M ranked number one in the Southeastern Conference in total defense. The Aggies defensive coordinator in 2023, D.J. Durkin, is currently unemployed as he was not retained by new Aggies coach Mike Elko. The 45-year-old was also a defensive coordinator at Ole Miss. He was the head coach at Maryland, but left in scandal when a player died during an offseason workout.
Missouri finished fourth in total defense in the SEC and the Tigers defensive coordinator is Blake Baker, who is married to a former All-SEC soccer player at LSU. Baker played college football at Tulane and spent the 2021 season as the linebackers coach at LSU. Baker was also the defensive coordinator at Miami in 2019 and 2020 and Louisiana Tech from 2015 to 2018.
Speaking of Louisiana, Miami defensive coordinator Lance Guidry has also emerged as a possible candidate. The Welsh native is a former star football player at McNeese and was a head coach at Leesville and Carencro.
Guidry was the head coach at McNeese for three seasons. He’s also been a defensive coordinator at Western Kentucky and Marshall. Miami’s defense was ranked 24th in total defense this year.
Michigan has the nation’s top ranked defense and with Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh expected to make a jump to the NFL, could Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter be available? Minter was Vanderbilt’s DC in 2021.
Kelly could also look internally. Bob Diaco won the Broyles Award in 2012 when he was Kelly’s defensive coordinator at Notre Dame. The former Connecticut head coach served as LSU’s special teams coordinator and outside linebackers this past season.
After two seasons at LSU, Kelly believes the foundation has been set to compete for championships in the future. He has a vacancy at offensive and defensive coordinator, these upcoming hires will go a long way to determining if LSU will get back to a national championship.