The plan all along in Baton Rouge was to surround Ed Orgeron with an all-star cast of assistants and let them handle their units while he handles the duties he’s best suited for. It’s debatable whether the Tigers have that elite staff at the moment but they are paying Coach O’s assistants as if that’s that case.

With the salary of safeties coach Bill Busch being published by Ross Dellenger of The Advocate, Busch will make $375,000 this season, that figure puts LSU over the $6 million dollar mark for an assistant salary pool. Of course, a large portion of that money ($2.5 million) goes to defensive coordinator Dave Aranda.

Only Ohio State, Clemson, and Georgia will pay their assistant coaches more than LSU is prepared to pay in 2018.

Considering all those programs are coming off conference titles, while LSU is coming off a 9-4 season with a 6-2 SEC record, Orgeron and his Tigers better have something to show for all the money being thrown their way or they could find themselves collecting paychecks somewhere else in 2019.