re: Why Did LSU Fire Blake Baker Two Years Ago?

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DC who specialized in linebackers.

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Is that why our linebackers were always no where near the the ball

I would google it before I put something on here. It’s simple to know what happened. The DC coached the same position and the entire defensive staff was let go when Kelly took over. Not that hard to understand.

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for the millionth time, Baker was our LB coach and our incoming DC was supposed to be able to coach LBs.

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Fixed it for you. I didn't pay much attention to Missouri this year. Watched their bowl game and wished our defense played like that. Funny how things worked out.

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Then you turn around and make him the highest paid assistant coach ever

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How much is LSU paying Baker? He is a good DC but hardly worth elite money ...

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Well you guys seem excited. There truly is no where to go but up for LSU’s defense

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That much is true

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I still can’t remember of a single time a program fired and rehired a guy like this though. I wonder if any defensive recruits are asking WTF?

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It makes a ton of sense, and I'm sure it's happened a few times before.

Orgeron hired him because he was a hot young guy making a name for himself in the state, thought he could handle the recruiting and might develop into more than a position coach (maybe down the road).

Orgeron was fired, and the new coach hired a new group of guys. Getting House was considered an accomplishment, because a fair number of people thought his progression was going to be in the NFL as a DC eventually (working with Andy Reid and the Chiefs can have that effect on your career).

Meantime, Mizzou then picked Baker up, and he developed/proved his worth there.

Had House performed as expected, Baker would still be at Mizzou, unless another major team came along and poached him. Nobody really knows why House dropped like a sack of concrete this season. Nothing in 2022 suggested that would happen, but the entire defense just cratered. Every position, every aspect of the scheme, personnel evaluation, the works. You and I could go meet up Sunday afternoon at the park and play better defense in a pickup game than what LSU trotted out. Epic failure, which prevented a playoff berth for LSU (who managed to still win 10 games with the worst defense in America).

A fix was needed, and Baker met all the requirements- both schemes and local recruiting contacts. Lucky on LSU's part, bad luck for Missouri.

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That is an awful lot for an unproven DC.

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It’s just funny money that someone else comes up with. That’s why there’s so much irrationality in big time college sports contracts.

Thank you for an actual reasoned and well thought out explanation.

Instead of just reflexively vomiting out “idiot”, “pussy”, “retard”, and whatever else I am leaving out.

Kelly is too dim to recognize or develop talent. He poaches shiny objects.

To directly answer your question, hindsight 20/20, it was obviously a mistake to let him go.

The reason we did let him go has been clearly and logically explained (House as an LB coach, new coach, etc).


All that being said, the lsu defense after Coach O got the non-steel toe boot in 2021 was very good and fun to watch.
So I’m hopeful that type of defense comes back because this year was hard to watch, even with Jayden.