LSU Football Moving On From Defensive Coordinator Bo Pelini
It seemed like an inevitability most of the season but on Monday it was reported that LSU is expected to part ways with defensive coordinator Bo Pelini, sources confirmed to Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger. Safeties coach Bill Busch will not return to the team and defensive line coach Bill Johnson is expected to retire according to Dellenger.
Pelini, the former Nebraska and Youngstown State head coach was the leader behind a unit that was rife with confusion and communication issues on the field which led to many breakdowns.
According to a report from The Advocate’s Brooks Kubena, Ed Orgeron has been given limited resources to reshuffle his staff and that Pelini’s buyout will take up a significant portion of those funds.
Statistically one of the worst defenses the program has ever run out, it ranked 124th out of 127 in total defense, allowing 492 yards per game and 7.26 yards per play. Only two times did the defense hold a unit under 400 yards in a game and allowed 600-yard games four times. The Tigers also ranked dead last in allowing plays of over 40 yards on the season.
It was probably the worst kept secret out there as week in and week out LSU's defense just didn't perform like it needed to. Ed Orgeron said all along he would wait until the end of the season to evaluate his coaching staff and athletic director Scott Woodward said a few months back that the program is always prepared should coaching changes need to be made.
LSU and Pelini released a statement on Monday evening.
“While this year has been challenging in many ways, the decision to return to LSU – a place that I love with many wonderful memories – is something that I’m thankful for. However, after meeting with Coach O and discussing the future of the program, we have mutually decided that it’s best we part ways,” Pelini said. “I wish nothing but success for LSU, Coach O and the players that I thoroughly enjoyed coaching and getting to know this year. I was proud of how hard our team competed down stretch, the way our young guys stepped up and were developing and the overall direction we were headed.
“I am grateful to call Coach O a friend and I am thankful for the opportunity to come back to LSU, but I have decided to move on in my coaching career. I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Coach O, the staff, the players and the entire LSU community. I will be pulling for the Tigers wherever my next stop may be.”
Now, the vacant defensive coordinator position instantly becomes the most critical part of this offseason for a multitude of reasons.
First and foremost, Orgeron will likely want to act quickly to fill the position as there are recruits out there who are waiting on what the Tigers do with their coaching staff before signing with the program. It'll also be interesting to see if Orgeron sticks with his guns and hires a coordinator who can run the 4-3.
Applying pressure on opposing quarterbacks is always the goal for a defensive line minded coach like Orgeron and if he can find someone who can shore up the explosive plays and communication issues, then it's a model worth exploring.
Pelini does have an expensive buyout as the Tigers will have to pay $4.6 million in addition to the $2.3 million he made this season. While that's a bitter pill to swallow, it'll also be interesting to see what the program is willing to pay its next coordinator and how it affects who they target in the coming weeks.
The additional loss of Johnson as defensive line coach and Busch as safeties coach are two other areas Orgeron will need to address with limited funds. Busch joined the program in 2018 to take over the safeties position while Johnson was brought in right before the 2019 championship season to head up the defensive line.
It's still too early to throw out any names who could be targeted but Vanderbilt recently cut ties with coach Derek Mason and South Carolina fired Will Muschamp as well. Muschamp of course was the defensive coordinator for the Tigers from 2002-04, a stretch where the program won a national championship in 2003.
Hiring another former defensive coordinator for the Tigers might not be the way Orgeron elects to go considering what just happened with this season.
It's going to be the job to monitor in Baton Rouge and will be interesting to watch unfold.
