Early Returns on LSU Offensive Coaches Jake Peetz, DJ Mangas Extremely Positive
LSU coach Ed Orgeron knew he had to get the offensive coordinator and passing game coordinator hires locked down first. He and his staff had kept in touch with former Tigers' passing game coordinator Joe Brady, wondering what the best course of direction would be once those two positions opened up in Baton Rouge.
We all know the story by now, that Brady recommended Jake Peetz and DJ Mangas for the jobs and early last week those hires became official. Peetz will be a first time play caller as offensive coordinator while Mangas figures to handle much of the duties on third down and in the red zone, much like Brady did during that 2019 season.
Orgeron gave his first thoughts on the two hires in an interview with Off the Bench on Tuesday, stating that he believes the purple and gold offense will look much more similar to that historic 2019 offense.
"We went hard with Joe Brady's recommendation," Orgeron said. "When we were going through the season, we remained in constant contact with Joe. We're so excited about Jake and DJ coming back, they've already meeting. Rave reviews from players, the parents they talk to and we're going strictly to our offense we had two years ago and I know our fans are gonna be excited about it."
Mangas of course has experience being with the team during that 2019 run, which was important for Orgeron to get someone in the building that will make play calls who's seen how it's done and how the offense can be most effective. Finding those young, innovative offensive minds has kind of been the staple across college football the last handful of years and bringing in Peetz and Mangas fit that mold.
"That's why I hired them and in the interview process those guys obviously knew Joe Brady's offense," Orgeron said. "Especially the empty package and the passing game out of it. The teaching of the quarterback, the teaching of defense, how to read defenses and the multiplicity in which we could do things."
Orgeron explained that he feels both Peetz and Mangas understand what he's asking of them and that is to get the LSU offense back in a position where it's more efficient and is able to consistently get its playmakers in the open field.
"I think you're gonna see a new offense, it's gonna be similar to the one we had with Joe but these guys are gonna expand on it. They have free reigns. I told them what I wanted to see, an offense that scores a lot of points, a spread offense that gets the ball to our playmakers in space."
Orgeron is set to introduce both Peetz and Mangas in a press conference at 11:30 on Wednesday.
