Who Could LSU Football Turn To in Defensive Coordinator Search
After openly pursuing and missing on Ryan Nielsen for the defensive coordinator position, there isn't much known about who the Tigers could be targeting for the position. There's no denying that the program needs to hit with whoever it brings aboard but the fact that very little information has come out on who's next in line in the pool of candidates is a little troubling.
This is a process that Ed Orgeron has talked about wanting to take his time with because he knows how important it is to get this hire right. But even Orgeron at this point would've liked to have the position filled.
LSU has already started football school and with no defensive coordinator, defensive line or safeties coach hired at this time, Orgeron and cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond are left to do much of the work until a defensive coordinator can be found. There isn't much known about who the Tigers could be looking at but a recent report from the Atlanta Journal Constitution gave an inkling of who the Tigers could be looking at.
According to the AJC, the Tigers have recently reached out to Georgia linebackers coach and assistant defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann about his interest in the defensive coordinator position. While these are just preliminary conversations, it's the first real news about who the purple and gold are thinking of after missing out on Nielsen and Marcus Freeman.
The 30-year-old linebacker coach for the Bulldogs started his career as a student assistant in 2008 at Alabama and eventually graduated and became a graduate assistant with the Crimson Tide from 2011-14. When longtime Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart was hired by Georgia to be the next head coach, he eventually brought Schumann with him to coach the linebackers.
“[Schumann] was my right-hand man for four or five years over there,” Smart said back in 2016 when he officially brought Schumann on as linebackers coach.
A guy who's spent the last 12 years around two of the brightest defensive minds in all of football in Nick Saban and Smart would be a good place to start for LSU. During his seven year stint with Alabama, Schumann won four national championships which was the height of Saban's defensive prowess with the Crimson Tide so he's a proven winner as well.
Again there is no real traction on a deal at this time and whether or not Schumann is a real candidate to replace Bo Pelini remains to be seen. The Tigers need to act fast on a coordinator search as many coaching positions are starting to fill up.
