LSU Defensive Coordinator Daronte Jones Aligns With What Tigers Looking For in Search
The six week saga of finding LSU's next defensive coordinator officially has come to a close. On Tuesday, the program announced the hiring of Daronte Jones as the defensive coordinator to a two-year contract worth $2.6 million.
Jones has been a coach for 18 years at all three levels, including stops in Louisiana as a high school coach. In 2015 he spent the season learning under Dave Aranda, who recommended Jones to Ed Orgeron for the position.
"Every person we spoke with raved about his knowledge and passion for the game. He's going to bring tremendous energy to our defense and he will put our players in position to make plays, no matter the situation or scheme," Orgeron said in a statement.
That last part is particularly interesting as even Orgeron said on Tuesday that the Tigers need to be multiple with the kinds of schemes that are used throughout the course of the game. We detailed why it's important that LSU run not only the 4-3 next season but also the 3-4 and pretty much a diversity of schemes to keep the SEC offenses on their toes.
Over his 18-year career at various stops along the NFL, NCAA and high school ranks, Jones has seen it all. For example, under Mike Zimmer, the Vikings ran a 4-3 scheme while Badgers back in 2015 ran 3-4 scheme under Aranda. An exact plan will be hammered out in the coming days and weeks so this time period should be about getting to know his players and what fits them best.
Another big reason Orgeron has explained over and over again is finding a coach who will eliminate some of the explosive plays that made the 2020 defense ranked 124th in total defense. Bringing in Jones, who's a sound mind for defensive backs should help eradicate some of those issues.
Hiring the 42-year-old Jones also hammers home the program's position of trying to hire young, up and coming coaches and though Jones has never been a coordinator, he's an energetic mind looking to move up the coaching ladder. It's a strategy very similar to what Orgeron took when making the hires of Jake Peetz (37 years old) and DJ Mangas (31 years old).
Another step which Orgeron hopes to finalize in the next few days is solidifying the rest of the defensive staff by hiring a defensive line and linebackers coach. There are a few candidates that Orgeron has already singled out and could be finalized soon.
The Jones hiring came about pretty late in the process so it's important that the program gets its ducks in a row pretty hastily before spring ball starts. This was as important a hire Orgeron has ever made and the process to putting out a more consistent, productive defense starts now.
