LSU makes Blake Baker the highest-paid assistant coach in the country with a $2.5MILLION annual salary after hiring the defensive coordinator from Missouri for the Tigers
LSU will make Blake Baker, its new defensive coordinator, the highest-paid assistant coach in the country with a $2.5million annual salary.
Baker departed Missouri, where he was the Tigers’ defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, on Friday for LSU. Mizzou’s defense ranked No. 25 in the FBS with allowing only 20.9 points per game.
Maybe more importantly, Missouri finished the season 11-2 and defeated blueblood Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
When Baker took the Missouri job, after not being retained at LSU when Brian Kelly was hired at the school in Dec. 2021, he we taking over a defense that ranked No. 113 in college football in the same category.
Baker signed a contract extension through the 2025 season with Missouri 13 days ago, on Dec. 23, that also came with a pay bump from $1.4million per year to $1.9 million.
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LSU Tigers Lose Talented Running Back To The Transfer Portal
The LSU Tigers are hoping to be back on top of the SEC in 2024. While there were great moments in 2023, the team couldn’t topple the leaders. After the bowl games this weekend, another wave of players has entered the transfer portal. Starting running back Logan Diggs announced he is taking his talents elsewhere in 2024.
🚨NEWS: LSU RB Logan Diggs has entered the NCAA transfer portal, @PeteNakos_ confirms.
Diggs has rushed for 1,703 yards and 14 TDs in his career. He started his career at Notre Dame.https://t.co/BYll8QTHrR pic.twitter.com/8Jq6gC64tK
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal_) January 5, 2024
LSU Tigers Lose RB Logan Diggs To The Transfer Portal
Diggs was a transfer from Notre Dame last season. He rushed for 653 yards and seven touchdowns in his lone season with the Tigers. The lack of production was likely due to a very crowded backfield. There were many mouths to feed and quarterback Jayden Daniels took a lot of opportunities away from running backs. Diggs likely is trying to find a program where he can be more of the featured back.
2024 Outlook
The Tigers open up the season in Las Vegas against the USC Trojans. Ole Miss and Alabama are likely to be the toughest matchups in the SEC but the conference is so deep that every game can be tough. Florida, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas A&M are no pushovers. Head coach Brian Kelly will need to first figure out the quarterback position if the Tigers will have any kind of success. The good news is that LSU continues to be able to recruit well and should land some players of their own through the portal.
This loss hurts for the LSU Tigers but they have great backfield depth so the impact will be limited. It will be interesting to see how Kelly tinkers with the team to get it back to competing for national championships.
