LSU to Hire Mike Denbrock as Next Offensive Coordinator

LSU was waiting for the appropriate time to make the move official but the program officially announced the hiring of Cincinnati's Mike Denbrock as the team's next offensive coordinator.

Denbrock, who helped guide Cincinnati to an undefeated regular season and College Football Playoff berth, is set to take over an offense with plenty of weapons and positive momentum heading into the 2022 offseason. The move was reported by Yahoo Sports Pete Themal, who also reported that Louisiana Tech offensive coordinator Joe Sloan will become the next QB coach for the Tigers.

Denbrock has been one of the popular names to surface in coaching searches as the Bearcats offense has been one of the best during the program’s 13-1 record. Cincinnati is averaging 38.8 points a contest to go along with 429 yards per game as well.

A seasoned coach with experience coaching alongside Kelly, Denbrock served as wide receiver coach, tight ends coach, associate head coach and offensive coordinator throughout his six years at Notre Dame alongside Kelly. Before his time with the Irish, Denbrock spent time at Stanford, Buffalo and Grand Valley State, racking up 35 years of coaching experience. He has been the Bearcats play caller since 2017 and built a tremendous resume along the way.

Denbrock will have plenty to work with as veteran quarterback Myles Brennan recently announced his return while Kelly and the LSU regime have worked extremely hard at upgrading the offensive line during the early signing period. Along with quarterback Walker Howard signing, the Tigers are also set to bring in offensive linemen Will Campbell, Miles Frazier, Emery Jones, Bo Bordelon and Fitzgerald West.

On Friday evening, the Bearcats season came to an end with a loss to No. 1 Alabama with a trip to the national championship on the line. LSU also recently announced the hirings of Matt House as defensive coordinator and Robert Steeples as a defensive assistant as well.

With the staff now starting to come together for the first year of the Kelly era, the Tigers will shift focus to the Texas Bowl on Jan. 4 against Kansas State. The team departed for Houston on New Year's Eve for what will be the final game of the 2021 season.