BREAKING: LSU finalizing deal to hire Tulane's Slade Nagle

LSU is finalizing a deal to hire longtime Tulane assistant Slade Nagle as the program’s new tight ends coach, sources tell The Bengal Tiger staff.

The Tigers saw offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Mike Denbrock leave Baton Rouge after two seasons to take the same job at Notre Dame.

Now, Nagle will take over a talented tight end room in Baton Rouge that is coming off signing the nation’s No. 1 tight end prospect in Zachary High’s Trey’Dez Green.

Nagle spent eight seasons with Tulane, most recently serving in a handful of roles as the Assistant Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach. He also took over as interim head coach following Willie Fritz’s decision to take the head coaching job at Houston.

Prior to 2023, Nagle spent seven years as Green Wave’s tight ends coach. 

Under Nagle’s leadership, Tulane’s offense saw top finishes in the AAC for red zone offense, scoring offense and rushing offense, while ranking top five nationally for fewest interceptions. The tight ends also became a consistent target in the passing game under Nagle’s tutelage in 2022, while also playing a key role in blocking for Tulane’s rushing game, helping pave the way for an offense that totaled nearly 6,200 yards of total offense. 

Senior tight end, Tyrick James, finished the season tied for fifth in total touchdowns, while contributing 287 all purpose yards. Freshman tight end Alex Bauman, made a key play in the 2023 Goodyear Cotton Bowl, hauling in a six-yard touchdown pass with only nine seconds remaining in the game to put the Green Wave in position to win the game.

In 2021, Nagle’s tight end unit allowed the offense to gain nearly 2,000 yards on the ground and totaled over 4,600 yards of total offense. Junior tight end Tyrick James finished first on the team in total receptions with 31 for 429 yards and four touchdowns.

During the 2020 campaign, Tulane running backs rushed over 2,600 yards on the ground and totaled over 4,700 yards of total offense. 

Junior tight end Tyrick James also emerged as one of the Green Wave’s top receivers, as he finished the year with over 200 yards receiving and caught three touchdowns. James’ three receiving touchdowns ranked third on the team. 

In 2019, Nagle’s tight end unit helped pave the way for Tulane’s offense to pile up over 5,800 yards of total offense (5,841 yards). Tyrick James ranked fourth on the team with 19 receptions and 283 yards. 

In 2018, Nagle’s tight end unit helped pave the way for Tulane’s offense to pile up over 5,200 yards of total offense (5,214 yards). 

Following the year, Charles Jones II inked a free agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars after he put together a strong senior campaign. 

In 2017, Nagle played a key role in helping the Green Wave offensive unit surpass 4,600 yards in total offense while helping tight ends Charles Jones II and Kendall Ardoin become prominent contributors to the Tulane offensive attack. 

Prior to Tulane, Nagle served as the running backs coach and special teams coordinator for the past four seasons at his alma mater, McNeese State, and helped the team to a combined record of 33-13 including a pair of 10-win seasons and two Football Championships Subdivision (FCS) playoff appearances.

During Nagle’s final season at McNeese State, the Cowboys posted a 10-1 overall record, a perfect 9-0 mark en route to a Southland Conference titles and fell to Sam Houston State in the first round of the FCS playoffs. McNeese State’s rushing attack averaged 233.3 yards per game (2,566 on the year) and accounted for 25 touchdowns. The Cowboys averaged 25.5 yards on kick returns and 10.29 yards on punt returns.

In 2014 under Nagle’s tutelage, the Cowboys’ running back corps rushed for 2,441 yards and scored 28 touchdowns while marking the second straight season the Cowboys rushed for over 2,400 yards as a unit.

Nagle helped coach McNeese special teams to a record-breaking season in 2013 where the team set a new single-season record with 1,514 kickoff return yards and three KO returns for touchdowns.

Nagle joined the Cowboy staff in the spring of 2012 after serving as running backs coach and assistant head coach at Central Arkansas. He has also had previous coaching experience at Texas State, LSU and Northwestern State.

A 2001 graduate of McNeese, Nagle played for the Cowboys for three years from 1999-2001, leading the team to two appearances in the NCAA playoffs and to a Southland Conference title. An all-conference selection during his playing time, he completed his career as the school’s seventh ranked performer in total offense (4,977 yards), sixth in passing yardage (4,596), fifth in passes attempted and completed (378 of 653) and fifth in touchdown passes (35). Nagle’s career completion percentage of .578 is one of the best in school history. In 2001 he quarterbacked the Cowboys to the SLC title, completing 113 of 198 passes for 1,279 yards and 14 touchdowns. During his career he had a 19-8 won-loss record as the Cowboy starting quarterback.

After graduating from McNeese, Nagle served as graduate assistant coach at Northwestern State (2002-03), as the quarterback coach at Dodge City (Kansas) Community College (2004-05), as the quarterback and wide receiver coach at Northwestern State (2006-09), as an administrative assistant working with the special teams at LSU (2009), as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Texas State (2010) and as the running backs/assistant head coach at Central Arkansas (2011).

A native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Nagle earned all-state and all-district (three times) honors at Barbe High where he set school records for passing. 

He signed with Clemson out of high school and played as a freshman before transferring to McNeese. His father, John, is a veteran football coach in the state on the college and high school level.