Brian Kelly explains what made Blake Baker the right fit as LSU's defensive coordinator

As Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy in 2023, LSU’s offense hummed. The Tigers led the SEC in total and scoring offense with Daniels leading the charge in Mike Denbrock’s system.

It was a different story on defense, though – and Brian Kelly opted to make a change after the season. Matt House was out, and Kelly turned to a familiar face in Blake Baker to replace him. Baker previously worked at LSU under Ed Orgeron in 2021 before heading to Missouri under Eli Drinkwitz.

Mizzou was a top-half defense in the SEC the last two seasons, which helped make Baker stand out. But to Kelly, it was more than just the X’s and O’s.

“I think when you look at college football, not only do you need to recruit, you need to engage,” Kelly told J.D. PicKell on The Hard Count. “And I think his ability to recruit and engage his players. And then obviously, at the end of the day, have success with the guys that he’s engaging on a day-to-day basis. In my limited exposure to him when I first came on, I was able to spend some time with him and I really liked his ability to relate to the players.

“Matt House is a smart football coach. He was dealt a very difficult situation here, and I needed somebody to come in and really build the confidence back in our football team. And I felt Blake carried himself that way. Extremely confident in what he does and how he does it, and he engaged his players that way. That made him the right fit for me.”

What Brian Kelly and LSU are getting in defensive coordinator Blake Baker

Missouri’s defense was a big piece of the Tigers’ success in 2023, ranking fifth in the SEC with 336.1 yards allowed per game and fourth with 20.8 points allowed on average. For comparison, LSU allowed 416.6 yards and 28 points per game – second-worst in the SEC in both categories only to Vanderbilt.

Now, Baker will try to replicate his success with LSU, which made waves with its contract offer to hire him.

The Tigers gave him a three-year contract worth $2.5 million per year, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported — an increase from the $2 million salary he was going to get from Missouri as part of a new contract extension. For comparison, Baker made $1.4 million as part of his previous deal with Mizzou, according to the On3 Coach Salaries Index. It also would make him the highest-paid coordinator in the nation.