No SEC unit was a bigger disappointment than the LSU defense.

It was a bummer to watch LSU struggle to cover anyone. It was frustrating to watch LSU’s heralded defensive line fail to generate pressure. And above all else, it was maddening to watch Harold Perkins be turned into an off-ball linebacker who played in coverage on 287 snaps compared to just 166 snaps as a pass-rusher (12 per game).

As a result, LSU’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and the nation’s No. 1 offense couldn’t even do enough to get the Tigers to a New Year’s 6 Bowl game.

On second thought, let me rephrase that “no SEC unit was a bigger disappointment than the LSU defense” thing.

No unit in the country* was a bigger disappointment than the LSU defense.

How else do you explain these types of numbers from a preseason top-5 team?

  • No. 81 in FBS in scoring defense
  • No. 87 in FBS in rushing yards/game allowed
  • No. 91 in FBS in rushing yards/carry allowed
  • No. 104 in FBS in opposing QB rating
  • No. 106 in FBS in yards/pass allowed
  • No. 108 in FBS in yards/game allowed
  • No. 109 in FBS in yards/play allowed
  • No. 114 in FBS in opposing 20-yard plays allowed
  • No. 117 in FBS in opposing 3rd down percentage
  • No. 118 in FBS in passing yards/game allowed

Yeah, that’s how an entire defensive staff gets canned.

Brian Kelly did just that over the last couple of weeks. It wasn’t simply that he fired Matt House — a move that some expected earlier but instead came after the bowl game — and replaced him by poaching Blake Baker from Mizzou with the richest contract in America for an assistant ($2.5 million/year). It was that Kelly got rid of all of his on-field defensive staff and started over with a slew of big-time hires, including defensive line coach Bo Davis from Texas and the return of longtime LSU defensive backs coach Corey Raymond after 2 years at Florida.

The question that LSU fans are wondering is obvious — how much does the defensive overhaul change the 2024 ceiling?

We know that last year’s team had a ceiling limited by a defense that held just 2 Power 5 teams to less than 30 points. It was Auburn and Mississippi State, who averaged 22.6 and 14.7 points, respectively, against Power 5 competition. Those teams also didn’t crack the top 110 teams in America in passing offense. In the 8 other games against Power 5 competition, LSU allowed an average of 331.3 passing yards/contest.

What happened to “DBU?” It’s a fair question. A lack of depth and hits in the portal didn’t help. Raymond, who originally opted for Billy Napier’s staff at Florida 2 years ago, won’t return to LSU and instantly turn it into a top-10 passing defense. At least not with the current personnel.

So far, 3 of LSU’s 6 transfer portal additions are Power 5 defensive backs, though Jardin Gilbert (Texas A&M), Jyaire Brown (Ohio State) and Austin Ausberry (Auburn) have a combined 1 season of starting experience. But they’re joining a secondary that should have much more depth than it had in 2023.

That includes a trio of blue-chip defensive back recruits from the 2024 class, as well as returning starters Major Burns (844 snaps), Sage Ryan (691 snaps) and Zy Alexander (418 snaps), who was LSU’s top corner until he got hurt late in the year. Plus, LSU’s late-season true freshmen cornerback starters Javien Toviano (302 snaps), Ashton Stamps (264 snaps) and Jeremiah Hughes (38 snaps) will all return, as will former Ohio State transfer JK Johnson, who missed all of 2023 with a leg injury.

That’s the good news for Raymond in his return to the Bayou. Guys won’t be thrown into the fire. There’s a foundation to work with, which Kelly highlighted as a reason for 2024 optimism.

“There’s depth there, there’s athleticism. That was not the case obviously over the last couple of years,” Kelly ahead of the Outback Bowl (via the Lafayette Daily Advertiser). “So what we’re starting to see is a stabilization and depth within the program that really was devoid of that.

“I think that’s why you didn’t see us jumping into the portal. We really want to be able to develop these younger players.”

Mind you, that comment was before Kelly cleaned house with his defensive staff. Baker, who also coached the safeties while having total autonomy over Mizzou’s defense, flipped that group after he arrived in 2022. The year-to-year difference with Baker was significant:

Mizzou defense
2021 (without Baker)
2022 (with Baker)
Points/game allowed
33.8
25.2
Passing yards allowed/game
207
215
Rushing yards allowed/game
228
126
Yards/rush allowed
5.3
3.7
Yards/play allowed
6.4
5.3
Opp. 3rd down %
43.4%
34.4%

Oh, and Mizzou also ranked in the top 20 in FBS in tackles for loss in 2022 and 2023. That should be music to the ears of LSU fans who would love to see Perkins back in an attacking role instead of rushing the passer just 12 times per game as we saw in 2023. With Baker’s blitz-heavy scheme, Perkins will have a better shot at looking like the guy that we saw terrorize SEC offenses in the latter half of his true freshman season in 2022. You can bet that appealed to Kelly.

You can also bet that bringing Davis back to his old stomping grounds appealed to Kelly after he watched a talented, but underperforming defensive line in 2023. At Texas, Davis turned that defensive front into the strength of a Playoff team. It’s easy to forget that neither T’Vondre Sweat nor Byron Murphy were decorated recruits. Sweat was a 3-star recruit in the 2019 class while Murphy was barely a 4-star recruit in 2021. They became game-wreckers who are now moving on to NFL riches.

LSU has to find its version of that in 2024. For one reason or another, that wasn’t there in 2023. Between Mekhi Wingo’s injury and Maason Smith’s disappointing return from injury, the Tigers never found that consistency on the defensive line. With both of those guys off to the NFL, there’s hope that promising returner Jacobian Guillory will be that guy.

Whatever the case, it’s hard to imagine that the Baker/Davis combination won’t yield a significant improvement up front. Really, you can apply that to the entire LSU defense.

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Once upon a time, that unit was as reliable as they come. From 2009-17, LSU had a top-25 scoring defense in 8 of 9 seasons (the 2015 group missed out by having the No. 32 defense). The 2023 group (easily) clinched 6 consecutive defenses outside of the top 25.

It’ll always be one of the great “what ifs” of LSU history. If the Tigers had simply been a top-50 unit that allowed 23.8 points per game (that’s what the No. 50 scoring defense allowed), it’s hard to deny it would’ve missed the Playoff. After all, LSU scored 24 points in every contest and it was only held to less than 34 points twice, one of which was when Jayden Daniels got hurt early in the 4th quarter at Alabama.

And yet, the ReliaQuest Bowl was the final destination.

There’s reason to believe that the 4th different defensive coordinator since Dave Aranda’s post-2019 departure should lead to a higher overall ceiling. After all, we’re in the 12-team Playoff era now. In a different year, 9-3 could’ve given LSU a shot to play for a national title. Making the expanded Playoff should be the expectation. Garrett Nussmeier’s ability to excel with a shuffled offensive staff could determine the rest of that ceiling.

Even in the likely event that the LSU offense takes a step back, the “ceiling” is higher when a team can win a game in a variety of ways. We know that the Tigers couldn’t do that in 2023. Maybe they’ll be able to do that in 2024.

At the very least, Kelly made the necessary moves to make that a possibility.