A Look at LSU Coaching Hires Through Lens of a Former College, NFL Head Coach
For the second time in as many years, Ed Orgeron has revamped the LSU coaching staff with the hopes that this time, a younger, eccentric core will not only be innovative with their ideas but relate to the players.
We've heard it from day one since the coaching hires of Jake Peetz, DJ Mangas, Daronte Jones, Blake Baker and Andre Carter were made public. LSU is trying to recapture the magic that was the 2019 season and that all starts with a team that's pulling in the same direction on all fronts.
Jim Mora has been a college coach and knows just how important having that chemistry between the coaching staff and the players is to success. While he was the head coach at UCLA from 2012-17, Mora led the Bruins to four straight winning seasons and posted a 37-16 record in those seasons with four bowl appearances.
Mora has noticed the trend in college and professional football in recent years has been to go after those younger, innovative minds, much like LSU did with Joe Brady two years ago. Before that, the Tigers brought in a young defensive coordinator in Dave Aranda.
There are many different qualities that Mora looked for when he was a head coach at the collegiate level and believes LSU's new staff possesses all of them to make it work this season.
"Certainly you like for coaches to be great recruiters, dynamic recruiters that can connect with the players, conenct with their parents and have success bringing those guys to LSU," Mora said. "You need some ideas guys, some guys that when they get in the staff room, they come up with unique and creative ways to defend or attack on offense.
"You need technicians, guys that are grrat fundamental coaches. You need motivators, guys whose voice carry a lot of weight with the players. When you think of Coach O, his voice resonates, people respond to the way he talks, what he says and how he says it. He has a firm grasp on that team."
In college, Mora knows that not only are these players looking to have success and most importantly, win, but also that they're trying to get to the next level. Guys like Peetz, Jones, Carter and Mangas have all spent time at the NFL level and have seen what NFL front offices are looking for and have the coaching talents to get the most out of each player.
"It remains to be seen how the players react to the new staff but I think they'll relate well. I think that defensively was a disappointment but knowing the types of players that LSU brings in, they bring in tough guys," Mora said. "They bring in competitors that want to win a national championship and want to get drafted. They want to be coached by young, enthusiastic, hard nosed, demanding coaches and that's what Coach O has tried to populate his staff with."
