LSU's talented linebacker room begins overhaul this spring

LSU’s linebacker room is filled with talent entering the 2024 season. Returners Greg Penn, Whit Weeks, and West Weeks accounted for 154 tackles last year, but the hire of Blake Baker as the new defensive coordinator and linebackers coach put the status of star defensive dynamite Harold Perkins into question.

After two years of uncertainty pertaining to Perkins’ position, it didn’t take long before Baker decided he needed to move inside for the 2024 season. Bakers’ decisiveness has Perkins learning every day looking to grow.

Penn, a senior captain on the defense, sees Perkins’ work first hand and is confident in his strides forward.

“It will be a smooth adjustment for [Harold],” Penn said. “If Perk really put his mind to it, he could play any position he wanted to. He’s athletic enough and strong enough to play anywhere. I don’t think it’ll be a big adjustment. He played linebacker last spring and coach Baker is going to do a great job of using him and his strength.”

Going back to 2021, when Baker was the linebackers coach at LSU before going to Missouri, Penn remembers watching him get the most out of the linebacker room, including Damone Clark who became a Butkus Award Finalist after struggling for a few years.

Baker is known for his infectious energy and early in spring camp, that’s been the defining characteristic of the practices so far.

“It’s definitely a little different because he’s the defensive coordinator now so he calls the whole defense, not just the linebacker room,” Penn said. “I love playing for coach Baker. He does a great job in our room, getting guys playing to their strengths. The whole defense loves him and the energy he brings everyday.”

Along with Perkins, maximizing the potential of sophomore Whit Weeks also remains at the top of Bakers’ lengthy to-do-list over the offseason. 

Weeks ended last season with 49 tackles in 11 games and showed flashes of being a dynamic playmaker from sideline to sideline and could be the perfect fit in Bakers’ aggressive defense.

“Whit is doing a great job right now,” Penn said. “He’s very fast. He’s a very smart player. Him and West are really intelligent guys and Whit is doing a great job and getting better every day. We’re all making mistakes early, myself included, but we’re trying to learn from those mistakes and learn the defense as fast as possible.”

In 2023, LSU struggled to get a consistent pass rush and finished as one of the worst third down defenses in the SEC. Those two were the strengths of Bakers’ defenses at Missouri. 

It’s a new approach after the read and react defense Matt House ran the past two seasons to try to avoid mistakes and busts. Now, it’s about individual talent and pressing the issue on offenses to force them to be perfect. 

The linebacker room will be a prime example of that as Penn and his peers begin to adjust to the change in approach.

“It really helps to have coach Baker,” Penn said. “He gets on you when you have more in the tank. It’s a great new voice for us to just turn the page from last year. We’re trying to move past that and form a new identity. Coach Baker always says his defense is based on getting TFLs to get the offense behind the chains, so that will help us get more third and longs so guys like Perk can rush and get to the passer.”