Brian Kelly went big-game hunting to fix his porous LSU defense, and came away with a fellow SEC big cat. After only two years with his LSU family, Kelly kicked Matt House and pretty much his entire defensive staff to the curb. Had the Tigers been better on that side of the ball, particularly in the secondary, they could have challenged for a College Football Playoff berth with Jayden Daniels.
Kelly acted swiftly and was able to poach Blake Baker away from Missouri to be the Tigers' next defensive coordinator. While Missouri had the better season, LSU did get the best of the CoMo Tigers in what eventually became Daniels' Heisman Trophy-clinching game. Baker had first joined Eliah Drinkwitz's Missouri staff in 2022 after being on Ed Orgeron's final LSU staff in 2021. He is returning!
Kelly issued the following statement on the Baker hire as soon as it came to fruition on Friday.
"Blake brings a wealth of experience and success as a defensive coordinator throughout his career, including the last two years in the SEC at Missouri. His ability to develop and motivate his players while putting together highly successful defenses sets him apart in his field."
ESPN's Pete Thamel reported it is a three-year deal for Baker worth $2.5 million annually, which will make him the highest paid assistant coach in college football. All-in on the Kelly pop year, folks!
This move is seismic in the SEC for next season and beyond. Let me briefly explain why that is so...
Brian Kelly poaches Blake Baker away from Missouri to fix LSU's defense
Under Kelly, we know that the offense will be good. Although LSU is losing Daniels to the NFL Draft, the Bayou Bengals are in great shape with proven backup Garrett Nussmeier taking over the reins of the passing game. LSU has become a wide receiver factory in recent years, so we should expect for their aerial attack to be as good as advertised. Improving the defense could make LSU playoff-viable.
As stated previously, year three under Kelly is when his team usually pops. At places like Central Michigan and Cincinnati, that means double-digits win seasons. When it comes to college football blue-bloods like Notre Dame, and potentially LSU next year, that means national championship game appearances or College Football Playoff berths. It is expanded playoff or bust next season for LSU.
With even the slightest improvement on the defensive side of the ball, that should be good enough to have LSU as one of the top four teams in the SEC next season. That is the range that will probably be required to get into the expanded playoff out of the SEC as an at-large team. You go something like 10-2 in the SEC, and that should merit being a top-10 team in most machinations of playoff rankings.
Not to say the SEC is for sure getting four teams in next year, but it is probably closer to five than it is to three. So let's just say the SEC will be getting around four teams in next season. With Oklahoma and Texas joining the league, that changes the math just a bit. If three teams are getting a team into the playoff next year out of the SEC, the smart money would be on Alabama, Georgia and now Texas.
For all intents and purposes, LSU is in that next group of three or four teams who could be playoff-viable out of the SEC, along with Oklahoma, Ole Miss ... and Missouri... You understand what I am getting at, right? Missouri may have been the third best team in the SEC this past year, but I think with Oklahoma and Texas joining the league, they were already slated to pull back. Now Baker is gone. Oof!
Overall, Kelly picked Baker to lead his LSU defense because he trusts him to take care of that side of the ball. He is more of an offensive-minded head coach anyway, but this will further allow him to get the absolute best out of his guys as the CEO-type necessary to win it all. Obviously, there is a lot riding on Baker taking over for House, but these are the type of decisions that win championships.
By hiring Baker away from Missouri, the LSU has gotten better, while simultaneously hurting Mizzou.