LSU football: Tigers hire Vikings assistant as new defensive coordinator
LSU Football head coach Ed Orgeron hires former Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach Daronte Jones as defensive coordinator.
The LSU Football program’s search for a new defensive coordinator has come to an end on Monday afternoon as former Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach Daronte Jones is expected to be announced as the team’s new DC for the upcoming 2021 season.
SOURCE: #Vikings DB coach Daronte Jones is expected to become the new DC at #LSU. Jones, a protege of Dave Aranda coached under the ex Tigers DC when he was at Wisconsin. Jones, who spent the day interviewing w/ Ed Orgeron, was DC for 5 yrs at Bowie St. and had the No. 1 D in D2.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 25, 2021
Jones enters his first season with the LSU Tigers in 2021, having served multiple roles on almost every level of football over his 20-year coaching career.
After finishing his football career as a defensive back for Morgan State, Jones began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Lenoir-Rhyne in 2001.
His first marquee coaching role came in 2010 where he served as the cornerback’s coach at UCLA.
After one season with the Bruins, Jones transitioned to the Canadian Football League where he was the defensive backs coach for the Montreal Alouettes for one year.
In 2012, Jones accepted a role coaching the secondary at Hawaii for three seasons, followed by a one-year stint as defensive backs coach for Wisconsin in 2015 under former LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda.
Jones spent the last five years as a defensive backs/secondary coach for three NFL organizations, including the Miami Dolphins (2016-17), Cincinnati Bengals (2018-19), and the Minnesota Vikings (2020).
In what will be his biggest role of his coaching career, the Morgan State alum will be tasked to restore an LSU defense that mightily struggled last season under former defensive coordinator Bo Pelini.
After a 2019 season that saw the Tigers bring home a national championship, LSU finished the 2020 campaign with a dismal 5-5 record in a COVID-19-riddled season.
Jones and LSU head coach Ed Orgeron will need to improve on the last year’s 97th nationally ranked scoring defensive (34.9 points per game) and 124th ranked total defense (492 yards allowed per game).
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