BATON ROUGE – Alex Atkins, the former offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Florida State, has been named LSU’s tight ends coach and run game coordinator, head coach Brian Kelly announced on Wednesday.
Atkins joins the Tigers after nearly five years at Florida State where he helped the Seminoles to a 13-1 mark as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in 2023. Florida State finished the 2023 season ranked No. 5 in the final CFP Poll and played in the Orange Bowl.
He joined the Seminoles in 2020 as offensive line coach for two years. He added offensive coordinator duties in 2022 and in his first season directing the Florida State offense, the Seminoles won 10 games and ranked No. 10 nationally in total offense with 484 yards per game.
“We are excited about Alex and his addition to our staff,” Kelly said. “He brings a great deal of experience as a coordinator, but more importantly his depth and background in the run game as an offensive line coach, he adds another perspective in that room with (offensive line coach) Brad (Davis). Brad has done a great job. This is really having somebody who will coach the tight ends and have a specific focus towards our run game and how it matches with what I’m looking for in our overall offensive structure.
”Having somebody that is dedicated to that, having somebody that has his eye on it every day, I felt like where we are today, that was a great need. To get someone with his type of experience in building runs games, the need and the timing, make it a great fit.”
During his time with the Seminoles, Atkins produced three first-team All-ACC selections on the offensive line along with the 2023 ACC Player of the Year in quarterback Jordan Travis. Florida State
Prior to joining the Seminoles, Atkins spent the 2019 season as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Charlotte where he helped the 49ers to the first bowl game in program history. The 49ers won seven games in 2019 and featured the only the third NFL Draft pick in program history.
From 2016-18, Atkins was Tulane’s assistant head coach and offensive line coach. He added running game coordinator responsibilities his final season in New Orleans. In his first season with the Green Wave, he helped direct a remarkable turnaround from the 118th rushing team in the country in 2015 at 115.8 yards per game to the NCAA’s 26th-best rushing attack in 2016 with an average of 228.1 yards per game. The improvement continued in 2017 as Tulane averaged 231.5 rushing yards per game, No. 20 in FBS. In his final year with the Green Wave, Tulane won seven games and the Cure Bowl behind an offense that posted the 23rd-highest rushing average in the country at 218.2 yards per game.
Prior to Tulane, Atkins coached the offensive line at Georgia Southern for two seasons and helped lead the Eagles to back-to-back nine-win seasons. In 2014, as Georgia Southern was transitioning into FBS, the team finished 9-3 and averaged a Division I-best 381.1 rushing yards per game. The next season, the Eagles finished 9-4 after winning the first bowl appearance in program history and led all FBS schools with an average of 363.0 rushing yards per game.
Atkins arrived at Georgia Southern following two years as offensive line coach at Chattanooga. In 2012, Chattanooga won six games behind an effective offense that ranked second in FCS with only nine turnovers and converted 61.5 percent of its fourth-down attempts. The next season, the Mocs finished 8-4 including a program-record six conference victories.
Atkins began his coaching career at UT-Martin, his alma mater, serving as a graduate assistant in 2007 and coaching tight ends in 2008. He was then a graduate assistant at Marshall in 2009. His first full-time coaching stop was at Itawamba Community College in Mississippi. As the offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, he helped produce an offense that was top-25 in the country in both 2010 and 2011.
A four-year starter at offensive guard for UT-Martin, Atkins twice earned all-conference honors. His senior year he helped lead the Skyhawks to an OVC championship and the program’s first FCS playoff appearance. He blocked for two 1,000-yard rushers that season as the Skyhawks finished 9-3 and ranked 12th in the country.
Atkins, a native of Chicago, earned his bachelor’s degree in history from UT-Martin in 2007. He is married to the former Brittany Mitchell.
**LSU Press Release**
