Chelsea Reinhardt
By Hunt Palmer
Wednesday came and went without answers.
Lane Kiffin’s touch down in Baton Rouge a week ago provided stability to LSU’s offense throughout his tenure. On defense, he brings questions. At Ole Miss, his first offense ranked third in the country. The defense ranked 126 of 127. Marginal improvements came in three years that followed, but the Rebel defense never cracked the top 70. It wasn’t until Pete Golding arrived in Oxford that Ole Miss found some answers defensively.
In Baton Rouge questions surrounded defensive coordinator Blake Baker’s future as well as the commitments of five big-time defensive commitments. Answers didn’t come.
Baker spurned his alma mater Friday night and will remain the defensive coordinator at LSU for a third season. For 2026, LSU’s defensive answers remain in their offices on Skip Berman Drive at LSU.
Baker has been responsible for a remarkable turnaround in the Tiger defense. The unit ranked 108th in total defense prior to his arrival. This year the Tigers finished 25th. Part of the success was due to the fact that only nine defenses nationally allowed fewer red zone possessions than LSU. Another part was that only four allowed touchdowns at a lower percentage on red zone tries.
The defense smothered Clemson, Florida and South Carolina in wins. It held Oklahoma to a season low with a healthy John Mateer and limited Alabama to 20, its worst output in a league game. Rather embarrassingly, LSU needed its defense to dominate Louisiana Tech and Western Kentucky to beat those Conference USA foes.
Baker deserves immense credit for that, but so does his staff. And they may not be moving any furniture in the office or at home.
Kevin Peoples and Jake Olson were picked by Baker to leave Missouri for LSU to coach edge rushers and safeties. LSU’s safety play went from atrocious to All-Conference under Olson. AJ Haulcy deserves that honor in a couple of weeks. Peoples transformed Bradyn Swinson and Sai’vion Jones into NFL Draft picks a season ago.
The Godfather of DBU has that train back on the tracks. Corey Raymond will be in Orlando in a week with Mansoor Delane for the Thorpe Award presentation. At one point he had a standing Disney World resort reservation for that event. The way DJ Pickett played down the stretch, he may want to let the concierge know he’ll be back.
LSU was seventh in the country in interceptions and allowed the ninth fewest passing touchdowns. Two years ago, prior to Raymond’s return, LSU finished 118th in passing defense.
Those days are over.
Baker told everyone who would listen this week that he was the LSU defensive coordinator. He had not decided to take another job. That includes four of the best defensive line prospects in this signing class. Still, none of them inked on Wednesday.
Lamar Brown, the top prospect in the class, held off. So did Richard Anderson, the best defensive lineman in the country. Deuce Geralds flirted with Ole Miss and Georgia Tech. Trenton Henderson entertained Florida State and Auburn. In the secondary, elite California corner Havon Finney waited for clarity surrounding Corey Raymond.
In the end, all five ended up where they committed — LSU. No more questions.
National letters of intent are binding for what feels like five minutes. For every Will Campbell that signs, starts, stars and is selected in the first round, there are Walker Howards and Zalance Heards that leave immediately and never contribute. However, Kiffin came to LSU because of the access to elite players. He’s going to score points with just about whoever shows up. On defense, he needs dudes.
While small in numbers, Kiffin’s first class at LSU boasts the second highest average star rating in the country. Eight of the 14 signees play defense.
Now he has a staff to coach them.
In two short seasons, Baker has cultivated a defensive culture that pours out of his players. Tuesday after Tuesday we spoke with defenders who raved about Baker’s energy and enthusiasm. It comes through in his smile and his attire — cleats at practice, the baseball cap and custom gold hoodie.
Home came calling this week. Baker played at Tulane from 2000-2004. They offered him a job at one of the top Group of Five programs in the country, a program that has won at least nine games four straight seasons and is headed to the College Football Playoff. He could have recruited the same area and kept the streetcar running Uptown.
He decided to stay in Baton Rouge to chase bigger things with Kiffin.
It’s hard to imagine a better Group of Five situation for Baker than Memphis or Tulane. They’re in big cities and surrounded by great talent. Memphis’s last two coaches scored jobs at Florida State and Arkansas. Tulane’s coach has been introduced at Florida.
Baker’s decision to stay put indicates he’s looking for his next job to be in a power conference. He’s looking for the Kirby Smart, Dan Lanning, Marcus Freeman opening, not the G-5 route.
Maybe that spot opens next year? Maybe it takes a few seasons? Who knows what Baker’s defense and Kiffin’s offense will produce in Baton Rouge? Those remain questions.
But between Thursday and Friday, LSU’s defense got some answers.
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